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Dead Watch
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Dead Watch
Unavailable
Dead Watch
Audiobook10 hours

Dead Watch

Written by John Sandford

Narrated by Richard Ferrone

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Lucas Davenport novels delivers "a page-turner with a new hero, [and a] breakneck pace" (Minneapolis Star Tribune).

Former senator Lincoln Bowe, a Republican, has been missing for several days, setting off alarms on both sides of the political aisle. Finally, he is discovered in the remote Virginia woods, barb-wired to a tree, burned almost beyond recognition and missing his head. Democratic "research assistant" (read: fixer) Jacob Winter, ex-Army Intelligence, wounded in Afghanistan, is called in by the Democratic president to unravel an extremely messy situation and shield his office from any hint of scandal. As this runaway train picks up speed, innocents are murdered, and the guilty come to Jesus. . . . 
 
"Sandford is a master at creating believable, indelible characters like Winter. . . . [He] is peerless when it comes to economical, taut plotting, most notably at building tension. Dead Watch is anything but politics as usual."-San Antonio Express-News
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 16, 2006
ISBN9781429585743
Unavailable
Dead Watch
Author

John Sandford

John Sandford is the pseudonym for the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Camp. He is the author of thirty-three Prey novels, two Letty Davenport novels, four Kidd novels, twelve Virgil Flowers novels, three YA novels co-authored with his wife, Michele Cook, and five stand-alone books.

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Reviews for Dead Watch

Rating: 3.569620192405063 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

237 ratings16 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    John Sandford's Prey series = great reading.John Sandford's Dead Watch = mess.Sandford's long-running and highly enjoyable Lucas Davenport series really has just one recurring flaw: on occasion, Sandford allows the plotlines to slip the harness and run rampant; in the end, though, his characterizations and other strong writing still makes these police procedurals good reading. Here, however, characterization is weaker, Sandford's not on familiar ground in terms of setting, and the plot just seems ridiculous. Loosely, Dead Watch is a political thriller in which a lone maverick smart-but-tough guy type takes on the establishment, kicks ass, woos babe, etc., etc. Not recommended, especially if you've never read any of Sandford's police procedurals; start with one of them instead.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a stand alone political crime/mystery novel. The story moved right along and had a good pace. Some things didn't necessarily flow from evidence to conclusion and there where a couple coincidences that were a little far out but overall it was a very entertaining book and I will continue reading his works.The book starts out with a missing ex-senator and his wife railing to the media about how a rival politician has kidnapped him to shut him up. The stink from the whole deal is starting to stick to the current president and he wants something done about it. In comes Jake Winter the fix-it guy.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    OK. A little too nasty for most church members but not X rated.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book's fatal flaw is that while written and set in 2006, it gives us a Democrat president and anxious Republicans trying to wrest back power - and that just isn't the case and in a political thriller makes no sense (not even in a West Wing kind of way) I looked at the copywrite three times hoping it had been published in 1996 but no, it had not.John Sandford is a highly competent author, so the book writes smoothly, but the premise is just crazy, too convoluted and clever by half. It starts with the suspicious disappearence and subsequent death of Republic ex-senator Lincoln Bowe and spirals out from there. Fine for an airplane, this feels like a throw away book, read once, enjoy, but no need to visit again...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A new character, semi-new-to-me author. After getting through a fairly choppy beginning, the story flowed well. Very interesting twists and turns in the plot. The adventure parts were good - a little bit Rambo-ish in one part, but I liked Rambo.

    The dialogue was good, too, and there was more than one place that I laughed out loud.

    Listening to the full-length, unabridged version of this book was not a chore.

    I'll be reading more by this author.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This stand-alone novel by John Sandford takes a break from the Lucas Davenport series and introduces Jacob Winter, a former military intelligence officer who now works in D.C. in what he calls forensic bureaucracy. The book starts off strong, with Winter being called to the White House to look into the disappearance of Senator Lincoln Bowe, and foreshadowing that his wife and best friend may have had something to do with it. The story quickly gets complicated, convoluted and unbelievable, but it's fun. I don't know if I was tired towards the end of the book, but I lost interest during the last couple of CDs. I may have just been really into what I was working on. I had to rewind a few times to catch what I missed and I was kind of disappointed.Eric Conger's narration was very good.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Jacob Winter is the guy that wrote the Rules of Washington politics. Former military intelligence, Winters is now a political writer. He's also the guy that "the guy" calls when things go wrong at the White House. Former Senator Lincoln Bowes has gone missing, presumed kidnapped, and his wife is making allegations that the Dems would find politically inconvenient. Jake's assignment - get to the bottom of things...Packed with conspiracy, murder, sex and political corruption of all sorts, it's business as usual in D.C.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not as good as the "Prey" books by Sandford.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I am not a huge fan of John Sanford's Prey series, but I was pleasantly surprised with this book. It was a political thriller as well as a mystery with a believable storyline...sort of.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a well-done and engaging audio book. I enjoyed the political-thriller aspects, even if some of the relationship aspects were predictable. Eric Conger did a consistently good job with his performance.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    As the Davenport character from the Prey series began to get involved with politics Sandford probably wondered how to get this plot in to the series. A hardcore political story wouldn't match the Prey series and thus, Jake Winter, specialist in forensic bureaucracy, was born. A latter-day Sherlock Holmes, with a military background, just in case the story needs some action scenes. Dead Watch requires concentration and the first few chapters are confusing, with lots of characters in various political positions being introduced - it felt like starting a book in the middle of a trilogy. Not far in though it syncs in to place and as the intrigue builds the characters also begin to flesh out, ultimately building a well developed cast, with realistic dialogue and scenarios. Dead Watch is a victim of it's own plot, which is set in a complex world and deliberately builds a complicated mystery. The central protagonist is the book's strength and your belief in him should ensure you see this one through until the final page.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Listened to this as an audiobook. Read by a favorite: Richard Ferrone who seems to make a specialty of John Sandford's books.

    A refreshing change from the increasingly redundant Lucas Davenport series. In this case we follow Jacob, "Jake," Winter, a "forensic bureaucracy specialist." He works for the president's chief of staff as a fixer who uses his knowledge of the bureaucracy to solve problems. He has one "Rule": who benefits? Answer that question and most every problem becomes easily solvable. Shades of Mike Lawson's Joe DeMarco, another very good series.

    Madeline Bowe's husband, Lincoln, an ex-Senator has disappeared. He was becoming a thorn in the side of the "Watchman" a nebulous group reminiscent of the Brown Shirts and Ku Klux Klan all rolled into one. Jake's "research" soon uncovers a much larger plot related to the presidential election. To reveal any more might spoil it.

    All that being said, my one complaint is that some of Jake's more extreme actions in the end of the book (endings are not a Sandford strong suit,) seem out of character and occur only because it gets the author off the hook. I much prefer conclusions that use the protagonist's intelligence to turn the evil-doer's actions back on themselves without the seemingly inevitable reliance on bullets, to my way of thinking, the dummies' way out. I suppose many authors feel the necessity to appeal to the large segment who complain if there's no "action." Action is cheap.

    Great for traveling, mowing, doing chores.

    P.S. I forgot to add one little entertaining tidbit. One of the fellows Flowers interviews mentions he had been arrested for defenestration at the New Prague Inn. If you know anything about Czech history that will bring a smile.

    It's also totally depressing to have a Pontiac Tempest be described as an antique car.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Political thriller, good as always by Sandford.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Not my favourite Sanford, by any means, but this is a question of personal taste. The storyline, in itself, is a gripping, fast paced and well recounted tale. So what didn't I like? I did not like the main character, on Jake Winter. He was a snivelling combination of outrageous and conflicting personality and character traits. A sexually obsessed, Afghan war 'hero' with a limp from the over used roadside bomb blast victim model who walks with difficulty using a cane yet nonetheless offers to kick the ass of every opponent standing in his way. He is a pro-democratic left wing sort of guy, who wears his hair a tad long and knows all the ins and outs of Washington and has the intelligence and insight of two Robert Langdon's (Da Vinci code etc. The story also maintains its politically correct posture by including a a ring of elite Gay desperadoes, as though every second politician in DC is an undercover homosexual (well that might well be actually), but again, that appears to be but yet another anti conservative sear by the Liberal Sanford, who seems to have conveniently overlooked Hollywood and the democrats on that score. This book was really a fifty fifty balance, by that I mean it is a book you love to hate. While the story line is gripping and readable the peripherals are liberally infused rubbish. It is a shame because what I found as a promising tale was let down by Sandford's, liberal bias. This was a mix between a political slumming and and excellent murder mystery. Besides these shortcomings the names of the characters were trite and unimaginative, making it more difficult to "visualize" them; Johnnie, Black, Madison (tits and ass conservative)Jake Winter (the super stud, Howard Barber (Homosexual black stud), Arlo Goodman (the red-neck conservative); Lincoln Bowes (Of course Madison's homosexual husband, Lincoln and Madison anyone??). Then there is the explicit sex scene as if such in-depth detail were necessary, which drags it down to the level of pulp fiction. Of course every young girl is hot for his Winter's body,while the character considers bonking his est friend Billy's wife on a hunting trip. A Starbucks type of guy. A pretty wretched anti-hero and particularly good example of a worthy candidate for the type of loathing Sandford reserves for conservatives and republicans. At one point he (or John Camp's[Sandford's real name] stand in states: "...most recently a schoolteacher who claimed he had a dynamite belt and attempted to blow himself up on the committees front porch, in protest of Republican educational policies. A protest, in Jake's view that was fully justified." or how about: "Undoubtedly he thought, full of that fuckin' Anyn Rand and Newt Gingrich." and on and n it went, simplistic characterizations of the worst sort.

    Ironically, this is the second time I've read this novel without noticing it until halfway through (always a bad sign. This means it failed to impress me the first time around. Still I was able to wade through in three days, a pretty good rate for me for a 400 page book. The book may be worth reading once, maybe, certainly not twice, definitely. This was not a novel form the Prey series, so maybe someone else had a hand in drafting this, whatever the case I am now leery of any of Sandfords newer work, this one put a damper on my previous enthusiasm. Finally I had been ready to pop it with 3 stars for the quality of the writing but after careful reviewing and considering the entire aspect I knocked it down even further. Vulgar,crude coarse and overly simplistic, it will pass your time and little else. This one was a loser in my opinion.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This page-turner is a departure from Sandford's Luke Davenport and Virgil Flowers, but is the same kind of easy-reading entertainment. Jake is a political fixer, who cleans up messes and solves problems encountered by the US Executive Branch in many forms. This time, a political opponent has disappeared and the public is sure that a vigilante group of the president's party is behind the kidnapping. To spice things up, the victim's wife is very attractive and forceful, pushing all of Jake's buttons. While predictable in many ways, this is still a very enjoyable mystery.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I read a review online that compared this to Ross Thomas’s work. Funny how he keeps coming up. Maybe he’s having a resurgence of popularity. That would be his due and a wonderful thing, but I didn’t see much of Thomas in this novel. Normally I like Sandford’s work, but this was pretty thin and pale beside his Prey novels. The characters were shallow and one-dimensional. Of course the wife of the missing politician is beautiful and rich and clever. Of course Winter is tough, respected and damaged (both physically and emotionally). The villains are all vicious and slippery. No one can be trusted because this is Washington, DC. Ho hum. Nothing threw me for a loop. No surprises. No weirdness. It was pretty blah. I hope it is not the start of a new series.The plot was preposterous, but then again this is fiction and things are supposed to be somewhat of a stretch. The idea here is that Bowe was a closet homosexual and he and Madison haven’t had a normal husband-wife relationship in many years. They live apart most of the time and only stay together for appearances sake. There is no animosity though, instead a genuine affection that is more of a sibling variety. When Linc turns up missing, Madison is truly concerned and upset. All fingers point to a rival politician named Arlo Goodman. He basically ended Bowe’s career and has set up a civilian organization called the Watchmen who are spreading to all 50 states. They are supposed to be working for good, but soon things get out of hand and they are compared to the Gestapo and labeled as Goodman’s private army. That and Arlo’s psychotic brother, Darrell, give Arlo much more power than he normally would have. He’s bugged Madison’s home so they get the jump on Winter’s investigation.The real target of which is a mysterious package of damning information about the current Vice President of the United States. Everyone wants it, but not for all the same reasons. If it is revealed that this guy is a corrupt asshole too late, Goodman won’t be able to secure the post as his replacement – the Democrats won’t be able to recover in time and the Republicans will most likely get the Presidential vote. Too early and they will be able to recover, but will not give him enough time to maneuver into the job. He needs to get his hands on it and time it right so that he gets the job.Darrell does a lot of killing and maiming in pursuit of the package. But he didn’t lay a single finger on Bowe, who started the whole investigation into the package in the first place. Instead, Bowe got his friends in the gay community to help him overdose and when he was dead, set up his mutilated body in such a fashion so as to point to the Watchmen and Goodman, thus ruining his chances of any VP post. But why would a guy do this? Because he was dying anyway and thought this would bring the most benefit to his death. Destroying his biggest enemy and ensuring that the Republicans would never have to reveal the truth about their VP. See, the whole thing is really twisted. I couldn’t figure out if Bowe was trying to prevent the package from going public or not. The whole thing was too weird and convoluted.I did like the final shoot out/assassination scene though. Winter figured out that Madison’s house was bugged and the two of them set up a little trap for the Goodmans. He led them to a cabin in the woods and let them think they could get the jump on him while he hid outside waiting for them to close in on the cabin. Inside Madison was doing her part of the charade. When they came down, Winter plugged one of them, but Darrell went on the run. The bleeding slowed him down, but he led Winter on a satisfying chase before turning back towards the cabin and Madison. And the shotgun.That part was good, but the moving of the bodies and sleight of hand that wouldn’t fool any decent forensic investigator was really stupid. Of course it worked and Goodman ostensibly blamed Darrell’s death on punk kids, all the while knowing it was Winter.The absolute ending was pukey though – Madison and Winter on horses at her ranch talking about making babies. Gag me with an entire place setting. It completely castrated Winter in my eyes. All men lose their virility when confronted with fatherhood. The action hero quality that Sandford tried so hard to build in Winter was wiped out in that stupid, sappy moment. Bah.