Glass Tiger

by Joe Gores

Book Overview

Brendan Thorne, ex-Ranger, ex-sniper for the CIA, has foresworn violence when his presence is demanded at a top-secret meeting. Halden Corwin, legendary Vietnam sniper and mercenary, has vowed to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0151011214
• ISBN13: 9780151011216
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Gores breaks some rules--and that's good!

At first glance Joe Gores' Glass Tiger fits neatly into the genre of political thrillers that recruit past agents to plan nefarious deeds for which they are then blamed, and spend the rest of the story proving their innocence. Don't be deceived. Joe Gores begins breaking the rules almost immediately. He brings a fresh and human approach to the old story. The protagonist is Brendan Thorne, an ex-assassin who is unwillingly recruited to help out think a sniper who has threatened the President. It doesn't take long for Thorne to learn that he isn't wanted by all the members of the team. Thorne had been living in Kenya, but was framed in order to force him to cooperate. There is a good reason that Thorne went to Kenya. He went to live out the vow he made to never kill again. The team surrounding the President needs Thorne's input but the team leader in particular is eager to use Thorne's scars against him. The novel proceeds at a breakneck pace as the layers are peeled back and Thorne is forced to look hard at his own life and choices. I always enjoy a book that takes a cliché and turns it on its head. Joe Gores' Glass Tiger does this and more. His characters are well developed. The story is complex and well constructed. I found that the more I read, the more I enjoyed the story. The ending is very satisfying. Glass Tiger also manages to make profound statements about the world we live in without ever becoming preachy or moralistic. Glass Tiger is a book that defies expectation. I will be looking for more of Joe Gores' books. According to his web site, Gores is one of only two authors to receive Edgar Awards in three separate categories: Best First Novel, Best Short Story and Best TV Series Segment. His novels 32 Cadillacs and Come Morning were nominated for Edgars as Best Novel, and his 1973 novel Hammett was adapted for the screen by producer Francis Coppola and director Wim Wenders. He has also written episodes of such popular TV crime shows as Mike Hammer, Columbo, Remington Steele, Kojak and Magnum, P.I. Armchair Interviews says: Stunning read!

It takes a sniper to bag a sniper

Under the theory that it takes a sniper to understand a sniper, FBI agent Terrill Hatfield pressures ex-Ranger and ex-sniper Brendan Thorne into tracking down Hal Corwin, a legendary Vietnam operative who has threatened the life of new President Gustave Wallberg. Backed up against the proverbial wall by the machinations of the ruthless and ambitious Hatfield, Thorne starts to shadow Corwin's footsteps, getting into his prey's head, puzzling out just how and when the killer will strike. Doing so, he develops a grudging admiration for the man, whose tragic past bears eerie parallels to his own. Digging into Corwin's seemingly twisted motivations, he also discovers secrets which make him dangerous to Hatfield and the current Administration. Although it starts from a similar premise as Stephen Hunter's Point of Impact (determining the best way to assassinate a target) and explores similar terrain (extraordinary individuals in extraordinary situations), Joe Gores' latest is very much its own book, an engaging battle of wits between two very similar men whom life has treated very badly. Gores brings each of his main characters to vivid life; readers will have a difficult time deciding whom to root for over the course of the novel, as its twisting course provides different perspectives on each. Fast paced and surprising, Glass Tiger finds Gores getting better with age--at a time in his life when the majority of his contemporaries are content to (literally) rest on their laurels, this multiple Edgar Award wining scribe continues to pen novels that challenge and entertain.

deja vu all over again

If you've read Gores 1989 novel 'Wolf Time' you'll recognize the back story of this book...except the names have been changed. Corwin was called Fletcher, Wallberg was Westergard, Nisa was Nicole etc, etc, The familiar plotline drove me crazy until I finally remembered where I'd read it before...why it was not 'billed' as a sequel to 'Wolf Time' is a mystery; the answer maybe known only to Joe Gores and his publisher. Gores is always great but his remixing of a previous book was disconcerting and vaguely annoying. 5 star rating would have to be 32 Cadillacs!

"He had not only the sniper's eye, he had the assassins mind."

This is excellent genre fiction, boasting an edgy plot that begins with an assassination attempt on the newly-elected President of the United States, Gus Wallberg, the author skillfully building the tension between the pursued and the pursuer. Everybody has an agenda in this thriller, from the President-Elect, who wants his potential assassin, a man from his past, eliminated, to his chief of Staff, who indulges in rough after-hours sex games, and top FBI agent, Terrill Hatfield, head of the Hostage and Rescue/Sniper Team, who is determined to come out on top when the dust settles, no matter who he has to intimidate. Ambition is a powerful motive and none of the power-brokers around Wallberg shirk from violence in the name of expediency. Besides Hal Corwin, Wallberg's friend from his high school years, is an ex-Vietnam sniper and arguably the best in his field; Brendan Thorne is the wild card in this cat-and-mouse game. Thorne is minding his own business, a guide for rich tourists in Kenya, his killing years for the CIA left behind, when selected by the administration to track down Corwin before he surfaces. Corwin is a virtual doppelganger for Thorne, a match in wits and expertise. True to form, the FBI, in the person of Terrill Hatfield, heavy-handedly maneuvers Thorne into an untenable position, his future return to Kenya at stake. Doing their bidding, Thorne uncovers sensitive information that unfortunately renders him a target just as he is closing in on his quarry, now an endangered species just like Corwin. In top form, Gores' prose is relentless, the plot a serpentine maze that inevitably leads to the heart of the killing field, fueled by one man's crime and another's ambition, both feeding upon power and greed. With Corwin in his sights, Thorne's Ranger training kicks in, in spite of insurmountable odds and the awesome power of the Feds on the hunt. Thorne proves a formidable threat to the status quo, especially when someone he cares about is threatened. In this brave new world of terrorism and politics, Glass Tiger adds a chilling element to this assassination tango, the power of a rouge agent to threaten the lives of citizens under the banner of National Security. In the end, Thorne barely escapes his intended fate, sure that that killing "is for younger men whose consciences have not yet made cowards of them all." Luan Gaines/2006.

action-packed thriller

The CIA and the FBI deem the threat real. Apparently legendary American assassin Hal Corwin, though dead for years, has resurfaced with the election of Gustave Wallberg to the Presidency. Hal sent a congratulatory note to his former best friend, the president elect, by simply mailing a note: "Congratulations to a dead president. Corwin." The FBI decides the best man for the job of stopping Corwin is retired Ranger and former CIA assassin Brendan Thorne, who swore he would do no more violence though he was selected from a special top secret data base because of his feral skills that match that of Corwin. Reluctantly, Thorne leaves his Kenyan home to hunt his elder but equal predator in order to prevent the murder of the next president, but as he seeks his prey nothing is quite like the way the Feds insist it is. Fans of action-packed thrillers that grip the audience from the onset and never let go until the final confrontation though throughout the readers knows that there are questionable plausibility gaps will appreciate Joe Gores' fast-paced tale. The story line never slows down as Corwin surfaces with his threat from Truckee, California. Mr. Gores' readers will enjoy the battle between two highly skilled killers (sort of like the first Ali-Frazier fight) not knowing what will happen next and who will remain standing. Harriet Klausner