Rules of Deception, by Christopher Reich

I hate to say this about a book authored by a fellow University of Texas alumnus, but this was simply terrible. A surgeon loses his wife during an ill-advised climb in the Swiss Alps, kills a policeman trying to rob him, and then eludes an international manhunt and professional assassins while trying to foil a terrorist weapons deal. While this sounds exciting, it is one amazingly unlikely event followed by another executed by one dimensional characters. I’m all for suspending disbelief while reading thrillers, but this was so far-fetched that I simply couldn’t. It was a combination of an A-Team episode and a Knight Rider episode without any of the charm of either. And when the conclusion finally arrives it is even more ridiculous and far-fetched than the previous 500 pages! Rules of Deception is the first of a series, but the last one I’ll read.

First Sentence:

Jonathan Ransom knocked the ice from his goggles and stared up at the sky.