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TERMINAL EVENT
Thayer, James
1999 37984 ABOUT THE BOOK Terminal Event - Opening with a grisly crash site scene, Terminal Event follows National Transportation Safety Board investigator Joe Durant on his hunt for clues. His search is obsessive: his wife was on the plane and died in the crash. Desperate to find answers for his devastated fifteen-year-old daughter, Sarah, Durant sets out to prove that the aircraft was destroyed by an evil bomber. With others determined to blame the crash on pilot error, Durant painstakingly searches through the tiny metal fragments, twisted chunks of aluminum, scattered body parts, and charred bits of flesh and bone that will point him to the killer. His pursuit turns frantic when the bomber sends the investigators a taunting "signature" - a fragment of the same kind of metal used in the explosive device, something only the bomber would know - and promises to bring down another plane in ten days. Durant races to find the bomber before he can strike again. FROM THE CRITICS Wagner An airline crash affects thousands of lives besides those of its unfortunate passengers. There are the authorities, such as the police and rescue personnel who must deal with the grim aftermath; the frenzied media; the employees of the affected airline; and, of course, the families and friends left to mourn their dead. Finally, there are the employees of the National Transportation Safety Board, who are charged with explaining the tragedy. The inquiries made by these investigators are meant to correct fatal flaws or bring killers to justice. One such individual is Joe Durant, the hero of James Thayer's latest thriller, Terminal Event . Readers first encounter Joe as he arrives at the crash site of an Emerald Airlines passenger jet named Sacajewea. As Joe moves about the site, readers experience the devastation firsthand through his eyes. Equipment, luggage, and human remains are strewn everywhere, nauseating even Joe, a veteran of dozens of such tragedies. Readers with weak stomachs are cautioned -- seldom has such carnage been rendered so graphically, effectively, or movingly. In the course of his grisly pilgrimage across the crash site, we discover that Joe has a personal interest in the crash -- his wife, possibly visiting Seattle to reconcile with him after a long period of estrangement, was a passenger on the plane. In addition to this sad news, we learn the crash also represents a grim homecoming for Joe, who, unable to cope with the pressures of his job, recently resigned from the NTSB. His instincts kicking in, Joe directs rescue efforts until NTSB officials arrive on the scene. Due to his unfortunate connection to the incident, he requests and receives permission to work as a consultant on the case. Thus begins a grim but fascinating journey to determine just why Sacajewea dropped from the sky. The investigation, given special urgency due to a plausible threat to down another plane within ten days, leads Joe and his FBI liaison, Special Agent Linda Dillon, from the backwoods near Seattle, where they investigate a militia group, to the testing facilities of the NTSB, where Joe pursues his pet theory of an electrical fault. ? Over the course of their inquiry, several theories are proposed and tested, hundreds of leads are investigated, and dozens of lives impacted. Slowly, the relentless investigators close in on the answer, one guaranteed to startle even the most careful reader. " Terminal Event" brings to mind "Fate Is the Hunter," a 1964 feature film starring Glenn Ford (based on Ernest K. Gann's bestselling book), and Michael Crichton's Airframe , the former due to its emphasis on the human side of an airliner crash, the latter because of its fascinating level of technical detail. Thayer effectively mixes the two approaches, treating readers to a wealth of technical knowledge even while manipulating their emotions. He also delivers a number of potent action scenes, as when the investigators raid a militia member's house, or when, in an ancillary investigation, they capture a drug dealer who had used the ....Published at Twenty Five dollars. Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group 0-684-84210-6 / 9780684842103
Hardcover As New As New Book Jacket New York, NY
Price:
14.45 USD
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