Terminal Event: A Novel - Hardcover

Thayer, James S

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684842106 ISBN 13: 9780684842103

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1999

Synopsis

Joe Durant, an investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, becomes obsessed in his search for clues about the plane crash that killed his wife, convinced that a bomber destroyed the plane and that he will soon strike again. 50,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

If you're intrigued about what a plane-crash scene looks like, and how investigators go about collecting evidence, Terminal Event will provide the details. If you like personal stories about believable people thrust into strange and terrifying situations, you'll find that here as well. James Thayer is the kind of writer who catches your attention early and makes you identify with his characters completely.

Joe Durant used to be a top investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. (When a cop remarks to him that he was an NTSB legend, Durant says, "We're all legends. Anybody who can work a crash site automatically becomes a legend. It's a nice benefit of the job.") But the job took its toll, and Joe left the profession to work for Boeing as an engineer. This career shift, however, didn't save his marriage; his wife walked out and Joe was left to raise his 15-year-old daughter on his own. One year after the split, Joe's wife returns for a visit--but tragically the plane she's taking from Sun Valley to Seattle crashes, killing everyone aboard. Filled with grief and guilt, Durant asks for his old job back, specifically to investigate this crash. As the FBI becomes involved, and fingers point at everyone from Idaho militiamen to warring drug dealers, Thayer never lets his careful prose go beyond the bounds of reason. His focus is always on the thoughts and feelings of Joe Durant--a very fallible but also entirely credible hero for this particular time and place.

Other examples of Thayer's art available in paperback: Five Past Midnight and White Star. --Dick Adler

About the Author:

James Thayer, author of the gripping suspense novels White Star and Five Past Midnight, is an attorney who now writes full-time. He lives in Seattle.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0684842106
• ISBN 13: 9780684842103
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352