| Rules of Deception | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 70 reviews)
Sales Rank: 19861
Category: Book
Author: Christopher Reich
Publisher: Doubleday
Studio: Doubleday
Manufacturer: Doubleday
Label: Doubleday
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0385524064
EAN: 9780385524063
ASIN: 0385524064
Publication Date: July 15, 2008
Release Date: July 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Dr. Jonathan Ransom, world-class mountaineer and surgeon for Doctors Without Borders, is climbing in the Swiss Alps with his beautiful wife, Emma, when a blizzard sets in. In their bid to escape the storm, Emma is killed when she falls into a hidden crevasse.
Twenty-four hours later, Jonathan receives an envelope addressed to his wife containing two baggage-claim tickets. Puzzled, he journeys to a remote railway station only to find himself in a life-and-death struggle for his wife?s possessions. In the aftermath of the assault, he discovers that his attackers?one dead, the other mortally wounded?were, in fact, Swiss police officers. More frightening still is evidence of an extraordinary act of betrayal that leaves Jonathan stunned.
Suddenly the subject of an international manhunt and the target of a master assassin, Jonathan is forced on the run. His only chance at survival lies in uncovering the devastating truth behind the secret his wife kept from him and in stopping the terrifying conspiracy that threatens to bring the world to the brink of annihilation. Step by step, he is drawn deeper into a world of spies, high-tech weaponry, and global terrorism?a world where no one is whom they appear to be and where the end always justifies the means.
Rules of Deception is a brilliantly conceived, twisting tale of intrigue and deceit written by the master of the espionage thriller for the twenty-first century.
Amazon.com Review
Lee Child on Rules of Deception
Lee Child has crafted one of literature's most popular anti-heroes in the form of Jack Reacher, the iconic ex-military policeman of his bestselling novels. The author of Nothing to Lose talks about what makes a good thriller -- and why Christopher Reich is a novelist worthy of a gold medal.
 I discovered Christopher Reich exactly ten years ago. His first book came out around the same time my second book was published. The modest prosperity that one?s first book deal brings allowed me to pick up hardcovers that caught my eye. And Numbered Account caught my eye. And it lived up to its promise. It was fast, fresh, glossy, and very exciting. I thought: Reich is a keeper.
And then he got better. It was always clear that he had talent to burn, but he chose to accompany it with a real work ethic. His second, third and fourth books built and built until the release of the next one was an event to be anticipated. (And right there is my only complaint: Reich doesn?t write fast enough.)
His fifth book - The Patriot's Club - was a real achievement. It was a slam-dunk winner of the International Thriller Writer?s first annual Best Novel award. Awards are often awkward. There?s usually a measure of grumbling, because often people don?t agree with the choice of winner. But not a word was heard against "The Patriot?s Club." In fact nothing was heard, because the applause was too loud.
So I was really looking forward to Rules of Deception. I got an advance copy. I cracked it open. I started reading. Mostly I read like any other reader, but a small part of me reads like a writer. I think all writers experience the same thing. We sense things between the lines, especially energy and inspiration.
And ambition.
Rules of Deception starts with a short prologue, and then the first chapter introduces Jonathan Ransom, the main character. Two pages, and then nine pages. The prologue is a teaser. It baits the hook. It?s a two-page masterpiece. It?s intriguing, and then it?s really intriguing. It promises big things ahead. Then chapter one introduces the guy who?s going to have to deal with them. And why, indirectly.
Eleven pages. The reader in me wanted to race ahead. But the writer in me had to pause a moment. Because between the lines I was sensing something. Maybe because it?s an Olympic year I can only explain it like this: picture the high jump event. Six competitors are still in. Then five, then four. Then three. Then the gold, the silver, and the bronze are settled. But the rules of track and field allow the winner to go on. The bar is raised. A personal best. The Olympic record. The bar is raised again. World record height. The stadium goes quiet. The jumper stills himself on the runway. Intense concentration. The gold medal is already in the bag. Uncharted territory. The jumper rocks from foot to foot, his mind on nothing except jumping higher than he has ever jumped before.
That?s exactly the between-the-lines feeling I was getting from Reich, eleven pages into Rules of Deception - a world-class writer preparing to accomplish something truly noteworthy.
There are a further 377 pages. They live up to the promise.
--Lee Child
Amazon Exclusive Essay: Christopher Reich on Thrillers
Name your five favorite books.
 For me they?re all thrillers. The Day of the Jackal, Eye of the Needle, The Bourne Identity , Noble House, and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. My life stopped when I picked up each of those books and it didn?t start again until I finished the last page. I didn?t actually read them so much as disappear between their covers. That was me trying to catch the Jackal before he assassinated Charles De Gaulle, and me again at the wheel of a Jaguar XKE convertible racing down the Peak in Hong Kong. The fact is that for me life is somehow better when I?m reading a great book. Richer, more exciting?heck, I don?t know, just better.
About two years ago, I decided that it was my turn to write the thriller I?d always wanted to read. I knew exactly where to start. All I had to do was "write what I know." These days, I know a lot about the intelligence community. Not the stuff you read about in the papers -- the stuff you never read about. Over the years, I?ve made a lot of friends in Washington and overseas. Diplomats, spies, soldiers, politicians ? men and women at the highest levels of government. And, I can assure you that what they?ve taught me about how the world really works is a lot more interesting and a lot more frightening than you?d ever imagine.
That?s where my newest book, Rules of Deception, comes in. It?s a story about an honest and courageous doctor named Jonathan Ransom. He?s a surgeon who works for Doctors Without Borders in some of the toughest parts of the world. He?s a happily married man with a big heart and a beautiful English wife he deeply loves named Emma who works with him. What Jonathan doesn?t know is that nothing about his life is what it seems. In fact, it?s all a web of lies and he?s caught in the middle of something extraordinarily dangerous.
I can?t say more than that, and I shouldn?t have to, because if I?ve done my job right, when you get to page five you?ll be hooked and you won?t come up for air until it?s all said and done.
--Christopher Reich
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| Customer Reviews: Read 65 more reviews...
 Rules of Deception December 16, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
The product was shipped in a timely manner and was in perfect condition; exactly as described. The price was excellent. We had to purchase this text as a replacement for a library book that was damaged while in our possession. Buying a replacement through Amazon saved us almost $25.00 in fines we would have paid to purchase a new book through the library system.
 Good book, but human rights quibble December 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Jonathan Ransom is on a ski trip with his wife in the Swiss Alps when she is injured. When he returns with help, she appears to have fallen to her death down a crevasse in the ice. In mourning back at his hotel room, he receives a note to pick up two packages at the train station arriving for her. When he picks up the packages he's assaulted by two men who also want them. Jonathan escapes with the packages, but inside finds evidence that his wife had more than one identity and was not at all who she seemed to be. He is now on the run from various groups, with each new thing he finds out deepening his knowledge of his wife's duplicity.
This is a fast read with an enjoyably complicated plot. The NYT review made it sound like the best thing since sliced bread, but I wouldn't go quite that far. At the end I almost felt inclined to go back and look over the events again in terms of how they meshed together for believability, but that might ruin the fun. A slight opening was left for a sequel; if there ever is one, I'll be inclined to read it.
I do have a specific problem with the book, which is somewhat political. Considering we have an administration (soon to end) which uses fiction as an inspiration for how they do things (ie. getting ideas from the tv show "24" as referenced in Jane Mayer's The Dark Side) I don't think it's responsible to portray extraordinary rendition or torture as useful ways of getting accurate information or keeping people safe. That is a fiction.
Rules of Deception October 31, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I received this book very quickly and it was like new. Buying from
Amazon has always been a great.
Rules of Deception and Stealing Trinity October 27, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I loved this fast paced spy thriller. Geopolitical stakes are sky high and today's technology is awesome. On the other hand, I just read a fantastic espionage thriller, "Stealing Trinity" by Ward Larsen, a World War Two spy story based on the Manhattan Project. Lower tech,as judged by today's standard, but unbelievable for that era. Both exhilerating reads.
 character over flow October 24, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Premise is great, to many characters introduced throughout the book. If you like reading backwards to catch up its a decent read
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