At the young age of twelve, Gideon Crew saw his brilliant mathematician father gunned down before his eyes after being accused of treason. Twelve years later, his dying mother tells him that his father was framed and
deliberately killed as part of a cover-up. With her last breath she gives Gideon the name of the man responsible, and makes him promise to avenge his father. Gideon uses his skills to develop a mission of vengeance aimed at the perpertrator of his father’s demise. His plan is spectacular and successful, but what Gideon doesn’t realize is that someone is watching from the shadows, and that someone is planning on putting Gideon and his talents to use.
One word of warning: Gideon’s Sword is nothing like Preston and Child’s Pendergast novels. Gideon does not have that character’s unique and quirky personality, nor does he have his grace or quick wit. For all his planning Gideon tends to rush in and think things through later. There’s also a couple of things that the usually very careful team of authors put in this book that make no sense whatsoever. For example; Gideon is told that he has a certain medical condition by the shadowy group who wants him to work for them. He is given scans as proof which he has confirmed by a second Dr. What drives me crazy about this is why wouldn’t he actually go into a hospital himself and have the tests done over? I mean the scans he was given could have belonged to someone else. This is just one example of threads that are left loose in what should have been a tightly woven plot. That said, the book moves along at a very brisk pace and Gideon is a likable and sympathetic character. There’s a couple of secondary characters that show promise as well, but even here, there was not that stylish sort of writing that fans have come to expect from this fantastic writing team. I’d still recommend giving Gideon’s Sword a whirl, especially if you like adventure. Michael Bay has already picked up the movie rights and it will be a series so I’m hopeful that the next book will be better. Meanwhile I’m anticipating the next Pendergast book, Cold Vengeance which comes out in August.
Reviewed by Kim