I don’t know if it has come up in my wonderful wife’s other writings but I, the Alex, LOVE to read. Reading and playing video games are always at war for the distinction of my favorite hobby. So when Anne received a book to review that wasn’t up her alley, mainly romance or nonfiction, she offered it to me to read.

The book that we received was Gideon’s Sword by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child released (2/22/11).

I have to admit that I have never heard of either of these writers seeing as my own literary canon is, for the most part, restricted to science-fiction and fantasy and this book is in the cloak and dagger category. I HAVE read the first three Bourne books (and I watch Chuck on NBC which is the closest I have come to being addicted to secret government agencies) out of respect for the movies and my everlasting curiosity to know if a movie is as good as the book and this book has much more in common with the Bourne movies than with the books.

Gideon’s Sword is very linear with little in the way of the vast eccentricities involved in the Bourne series. I do really like the idea of a self-trained secret agent who learns all of his skills to right a wrong and then is given an opportunity to use those skills for President and country (the Brits really have it good with their “For Queen and country” crap) once his vengeance is sated. The idea to set a limit on the number of books that can be written about Gideon Crew, the protagonist of this series, due to a terminal illness, of which he finds out shortly after the conclusion of his plot for revenge, is a novel idea. Many authors today will milk a character to death if it will keep paying the bills. So Gideon is given one year to live and then accepts a mission of national security. There are some twists and turns throughout the story but nothing that will truly shock you while reading it. This is meant to be a series and ends in a chapter that can be used as a first chapter for the following book. It was a pretty quick read, only 342 pages, and while I cannot honestly say that I am in a fervor to read the next installment (unlike another book that I have been waiting 5+ years for Mr. George RR Martin) I have become emotionally involved with this caring and witty character and would genuinely like to see where the story is going to go from here.

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Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book at no cost to me in exchange for my honest review.