Freedom to Kill Lindsay, Paul

Amazon.com Review Nobody understands the workings of the FBI mind better than Paul Lindsay, who was an agent before he took to writing thoughtful, action-packed thrillers such as Code Name: Gentkill and Witness to the Truth, (both available in paperback). Special Agent Mike Devlin, the hero of Lindsay's Freedom to Kill, at first comes off as a rule-breaker and taker of unnecessary risks as he pursues a smart and nasty heavy called the Freedom Killer--an urban terrorist dedicated to inspiring fear in everyday occurrences, such as taking kids to Disneyland or giving someone an aspirin. But Devlin's relationship with his partner, a computer genius with multiple sclerosis, and with the Freedom Killer himself reveal aspects of his personality that quickly make him believable and admirable. Product Description Ebola virus unleashed on crowds at Disneyland . . . plastic explosives hidden in 747s . . . random car bombings on interstate highways--tense, thrilling, and as real as today's headlines, Freedom to Kill presents an authentic novel of suspense by a former FBI agent. Facing a madman dubbed the "Cataclysmist, " FBI agent Mike Devlin races against time to break a case that threatens the security of the whole country. From Booklist A great early scene hooks readers: looking for a witness in a Unabomber-type murder case, G-man Mike Devlin walks into a backroom gambling scene, literally duels with the denizens, survives, and the rest is mystery. Headstrong Devlin can't be shaken off the scent, despite the efforts of superiors to keep him out of danger and the cleverness of the suspect in getting him in it. Procedural investigation is the mainstay of Lindsay's narrative, but whenever the hero and his computer genius sidekick get out of the office, watch out for cliff-hanging action. The duo is after a multitalented ideological fiend who, to force Americans to appreciate freedom by depriving them of it, releases pathogens, sets off car bombs, and fires rifles at civil rights leaders. Devlin and company run into enough gunplay during their legwork to produce a roller coaster of excitement, and if former FBI agent Lindsay maintains this level of quality, he should have a successful second career. Author tour increases the buzz. Gilbert Taylor From Kirkus Reviews Detroit's own FBI cowboy Mike Devlin, who never walks away from a loaded gun, is banished to D.C. to shuffle records and get his blood pressure down--only to find himself staring down a monomaniacal terrorist. The assignment Devlin backs into is to identify the Freedom Killer, a man who starts the ball rolling by taking a doped-up Disease Control technician and two vials of African Lassa virus for an outing at Disney World. Pretty scary stuff--but the Freedom Killer is only warming up, as his grandiose, threatening letters make clear. This ``cataclysmist'' is so consumed with resentment against the US government that he's willing to do anything--adulterate drugs, plant bombs, assassinate public figures--in order to create the kind of mass hysteria that will shut the whole country down. Browbeating Tony Bonelli, an FBI records clerk with multiple sclerosis and a chip on his shoulder, into helping him, Devlin goes up against the Freedom Killer armed only with a psychological profile, the Bureau's formidable database, and the hope that he'll be able to narrow the list of suspects from a quarter of a billion to one. It's a familiar story--the lunatic loner (``Take a moment to look around and witness freedom's last dance'') versus the machinery of the heroic bureaucracy--and this time, Lindsay, who turned Devlin's hair-trigger individuality to such stunning account in Witness to the Truth (1992) and Gentkill (1995), seems stifled by the side he's chosen; the only acting-out Devlin gets to do, apart from the repeated obligatory brandishing of loaded weapons, is dueling with an I'm-so-tough bartender for a description of the killer, and facing down his loyal wife Knox (an obviou