Countdown - Jede Sekunde zählt (Gekürzte Fassung)

Geschrieben von Douglas Preston und Lincoln Child

Erzählt von Simon Jäger

Gideon Crew kann es nicht glauben: Sein Ex-Kollege, der unauffällige Atomtechniker Reed Chalker, wird zum Geiselnehmer. Er erschießt eine der Geiseln und dann sich selbst. Was steckt dahinter? Schnell findet man heraus, dass Chalker unter einer schweren Strahlenschädigung litt - und vor einiger Zeit zum Islam konvertiert ist. Hat Chalker eine Bombe gebaut? Während der Heimatschutz und sämtliche andere Behörden alles auffahren, um den Sprengsatz zu finden, beginnt ein unkonventionelles Team ebenfalls seine Arbeit: Gideon Crew und der altgediente FBI-Mann Stone Fordyce. Das ungleiche Ermittlerpaar gerät schnell aneinander. Doch dann entdecken die beiden, dass die Bombe in zwölf Tagen detonieren wird, in Washington D.C.! Während Crew eine heiße Spur verfolgt, bekommt Fordyce einen entscheidenden Hinweis zugespielt: Der Hintermann des Atomtechnikers Chalker heißt ... Gideon Crew! Von nun an wird Crew zum Jäger und Gejagten.

• Sprache: Deutsch
• Herausgeber: Argon Verlag
• Erscheinungsdatum: 13. Dez. 2012
• ISBN: 9783839811894

Rezensionen für Countdown - Jede Sekunde zählt (Gekürzte Fassung)

[kwskultety · Bewertung: 2 von 5 Sternen]

This was passable until about the halfway mark, then it got dull. Definitely not as good as the Pendergast series. The writing was good, just not that interesting of a plot.

[burritapal · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Really the best part of this book for me was the parts that take place in New Mexico. I know a lot of New Mexico, and the parts I don't know I can follow on Google maps. New Mexico is my favorite place in the world.
Gideon crew has a cabin in the Jemez mountains, a place I've been to throughout my childhood and also as an adult. What I don't like is when he goes fishing, catches a beautiful fish, and eats it.
Also it's pretty dumb how he succumbs to this young woman. We never find out how old Gideon is, or if he's supposed to be some hot stuff, but in this book this young beautiful woman is supposed to just melt for him once they go through the rigors of escaping from the FBI and their various government agencies.
The best part of the book for me was when they they escaped on alida's horse and finally let the poor animal go, and they find their way to an abandoned mine. They go down into this mine, and when the FBI etc go after them in the mine they find this shaft where there's an old car on rails. One of those old push-pull-handled cars like in the cartoons.
"He stumbled over something on the ground. " 'Let me have the lighter.'
She palmed it to him. He flicked it on and saw rail tracks laid onto the floor of the tunnel. An old hand car, or pump trolley, sat on a nearby siding.
A volley of shots sent them diving to the ground. Flashlight beams lanced up and around them. 'get on the handcar,' Gideon whispered. 'Quickly.'
In a second Alida had leapt onto the cart. Gideon gave it a shove, running it onto the main track and up to speed, then jumped on himself. The pump handle moved up and down with a creaking of metal, Rusty and covered with dust but still in working order. Gideon worked the handle to keep it going as more rounds ricocheted through the cavern. The car went squealing along the metal track, gaining speed as it entered a downhill grade.
'Oh, shit,' said alida.
Gideon stopped pumping -- but it made no difference. Faster and faster went the pump, its twin handles flying up and down on their own. The shots and cries began to recede.
'This was a really bad idea,' said alida, crouching and gripping the wooden sides of the handcar.
The car was now barreling downhill, in utter blackness, heading for only God knew where."
I always wanted to go on one of those handcars on the railroad. But I've never seen one that I could get on.

Now, gideon is supposed to die in about a year, at the end of this book. he's got some kind of tangle of blood vessels in his brain that is so tied up, so it stretches out until it bursts. That's what happened to my mama, actually. But I have a feeling that Gideon is not really going to die.

[bettesbooks · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Gideon Crew gets invovled in trying to stop a terror plot to set of a nuclear bomb. Lots of suspense, many twists and turns as Crew and his FBI partner race to find the location. Another suspenseful read from Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

[bxwretlind · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

I've always liked Preston & Child books, and I can always count on them to deliver a fast-paced story that isn't weighty, isn't hard to digest and isn't too far out-of-this world the suspension of my belief must be paramount as I read. When I pick up one of their books, I can expect the plausible mixed with the implausible, the improbable mixed with probable.

Gideon's Corpse was certainly no exception to the rule. It was exactly what I expect from a Preston & Child book and didn't let me down. If you've never read one before, you might say things like "who says that" or "that wouldn't happen in real life". That's understandable, but the deus ex machina scattered throughout the story doesn't make it any less a bedside read than any other thriller out there. It's part of the genre. This isn't literary gold and it isn't marketed as one.

I really enjoyed Gideon's Corpse, probably more than the previous book in the series, Gideon's Sword.

[andy_dimartino · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

2nd book is never as good as the first

[lbswiener · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Gideon's Corpse is an excellent adventure. It takes place in New York, Washington DC and New Mexico today. The story has believable characters in well described settings. There are nuclear bombs, radiation, romance, cowboys, cult followers, good guys and bad guys and a great story from beginning to end. The book receives five stars in this review and highly recommended.

[highlander6022 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Another fast-paced novel from Preston and Childs. Their novels continue to be very difficult to put down once you start and this one is no different. The characters come across as very believable and the final portions of the book increase the suspense the further you go. Looking forward to the third book in the series to see where the authors are taking him, and whether any characters in this book carry over into the next.

[carol420 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

So different from their usual books. Gideon is a character that you find yourself rooting for in all his difficult situations. another good read as is all their works

[nickhowes · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

A terminally ill ex-art thief is the point man for a group that takes part in an investigation into the death of a crazed acquaintance, a Muslim who has been heavily radiated and is holding a family hostage. Does the radiation come from a bomb? Gideon steps in, an interesting character who sees the investigative circus stepping all over itself, leading him to go at things from the not-so-obvious direction. Like all of Preston and Child's novels, it is fast-moving and stays ahead of the reader with its plotting. Great read.

[dianekeenoy · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

An exciting audiobook, the second Gideon Crew book moves at a fairly quick pace. I know its not fair to compare to the Pendergast series but it's hard not to. Those books are just so very good. Still, I enjoyed this book while waiting for the next Pendergast.

[kvhardy · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

I'm a big fan of Preston and child books, but I did not enjoy this one as much as I would have liked to. I read it in early 2011, and quickly decided that I won't be following this series. I just don't care for the protagonist very much. But then again, Special Agent Penderghast is a very tough act to follow - that character is one of my most favorite quirky characters ever.

[spiritedtruthseeke-1 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

awesome new book... second in series... love it

[tommie1_1 · Bewertung: 1 von 5 Sternen]

Exciting bur I prefer Pendergast.

[karenrinn · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Fast paced and action packed - read it in one day. Definitely enjoyable.

[robert.zimmermann · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Gideon’s Corpse is the second book in Preston/Child’s Gideon Crew series. I read Gideon’s Sword (the first book in the series) late last year and was blown away by it. I was happy to finally get my hands on a copy of this book, so I could continue following along with Gideon’s story.

This book had everything I expected and more, based on my enjoyment of book one. There was action, many moments of disbelief, unexpected twists. You name it, Gideon’s Corpse had it. Preston & Child proved that once again they are some of the greatest writers in the genre.

I was already a fan of Gideon’s character from the first book, but I think by the end of book two that I really grew to appreciate just how bad ass he is. He’s a nuclear physicist, former art thief, master of disguise, and on top of all this he has gained some friends in high places. He’s not a trained James Bond type special agent. Gideon is closer to the average man than many “heroes” character’s I’ve read…keep in mind the average man doesn’t have his brains or experience in certain areas, but he is still believable and likable. He’s not over the top “I can get out of any situation because I’m perfect either.” I also enjoyed having Special Agent, Stone Fordyce along for the ride. This FBI agent surprised me many times during the book with his actions, both good ones and questionable ones. Together they made a great team.

I could go on and one about the twists and turns the plot took, but I’d just be giving everything away. I’ll say that it was well done in that it kept moving along at a great pace that wasn’t too fast and wasn’t too slow. It also wasn’t predictable for the most part. Obviously there won’t always be parts that come out of nowhere, but the real shockers, were just that. They really shocked me, and made me smile because I was caught off-guard.

If you’re a fan of a great thriller, with believable characters and a plot that barely touches on being impossible in real life, Gideon’s Corpse might be the book for you. Don’t forget to start with Gideon’s Sword though. I’d say that book 1 isn’t necessary to understand everything book 2 has, but I think knowing Gideon more will help with the enjoyment of this book.

[shannaredwind_1 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Great book! Lots of action, interesting characters and well paced. Looking forward to reading the rest of Preston and Child's books.

[monica67_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

I have a mixed review for Gideon's Corpse. The story began right where Gideon's Sword left off, updating a bit for those who might not have read the first. But after a few chapters, there was a huge information dump of basically all of Gideon's backstory, even of information they'd already given the reader. And it went on and on. I found it annoying, not so much because I knew the information from the previous book, but because it repeated info we already got in this book. Plus it was all dumped in one block. Very unlike the authors. One problem with the first half of the book: the scenario was there was an Islamic terrorist. I thought, Really? You couldn't be more original? It's the easiest and most overdone idea in crime fiction these days. And then the cliché ramped up--Islamic terrorists with a nuclear bomb. Yawn.Eventually there were clues that the cliché setup of the radicalized Islamic convert-turned-terrorist was some sort of red herring, and I began to have hope for the story. But I would have been happier to get some of those hints earlier, if only to avoid the feeling I was reading a cliché, cookie-cutter storyline. I was not amused by the chainsaw fight, though. It was too horror-flick like, bordering on the ridiculous. And I have a high tolerance in fiction. If you establish something as acceptable, I'll usually go along with it. Perhaps that was the problem. Gideon was supposed to be kind of average, if more intelligent than most. Nothing in his background said he'd be able to swing chainsaws with a cult nut. However, midway through the story, with a sudden and unexpected plot twist, the story became suspenseful, unpredictable, and more interesting. Many times I could not guess how Gideon would get himself out of the situation he'd gotten into. It was strange. The second half of the book was the caliber I'd come to expect from Preston and Child. Not sure what happened for the first half. The only problem I had after that was the closing chapter. It was rather hokey and sentimental, and I felt, extraneous and unnecessary. I kept expecting a paragraph to be the last line, and then there was more (I listened to the audiobook). So, a mixed, ambiguous review. Not even sure how many stars to give this one. The first half is about a two star, but the second half would be at least three and a half, maybe four.Overall, I have to say, can't wait for the next book in the Pendergast series.

[bohemiangirl35 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Gideon's Corpse is the second in a new series for Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I've listened to both and I'm not really feeling this series like I did the Pendergast books. Gideon Crew seems like an okay character, but the pace and action in both books was just off. In this book, Gideon unwillingly teams up with various people to save America from a suspected terrorist plot to detonate a nuclear device in Washington D.C. The plot contained one over-the-top misadventure after another as Gideon was pushed forward on his mission. The dialogue was a little stilted. Even though odd phrasing worked for Pendergast in the last series, Gideon is a more down-to-earth guy. His words ring true most of the time, but the people he interacts with just seem like characters instead of people.Might or might not read another one. Depends on what else the library has when it comes out.

[somewhatbent · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

NaNoLoMo #6Gideon's Corpse by Douglas Preston,  Lincoln ChildVision (2012), Edition: Reprint, Mass Market Paperback, 480 pages**no spoilers**Gideon's Corpse reintroduces us to Gideon Crew, a man with a past and very little future. If you haven't read Gideon's Sword it's okay – you'll pick up in short order, though some of the early character interactions will make a little more sense if you have. The book also leaves a number of loose ends dangling – there will be forthcoming Gideon Crew books from these authors.Preston & Child write in their usual high definition style. There are a lot of sneaky details that are completely credible; as someone who has spent some time around Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Jemez wilderness I can follow the action in my minds' eye and know right where things are happening.The bio/techno/terrorist premise is scary. It's truly frightening to think what a small group of terrorists might conceive of if not for the real life vigilance of the men and women protecting our country's Weapons of Mass Destruction. Fast paced and gripping, this is a story that can get inside your head and make you sit up and take notice of your surroundings.

[labdaddy4 · Bewertung: 2 von 5 Sternen]

A rather shallow book - action was almost too fast-paced - nearly frantic - very little nuance. The lead character's back story is just too far fetched to be remotely believable. I think I will stay away from additional books with Gideon Crew as the primary.

[eduscapes · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Great Book even better than the first of the series.

[suetu_1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

A toss-up between entertainment and frustrationGideon Crew is back. After a lukewarm reception from Preston & Child fans—and that’s putting it charitably—their new series here makes his second outing. Now, these gentlemen haven’t written a book I didn’t enjoy yet. Still, I do understand some of the frustration that other readers have been so vocally expressing. But first, a few words on the plot…After reluctantly completing his job for Eli Glinn and Effective Engineering Solutions, Gideon wants nothing further to do with the man. Facing his own mortality, all he wants to do is head home for some R & R. Glinn has other ideas. The U.S. is facing “a national emergency of the highest order.” Reed Chalker, a former colleague of Gideon’s at Los Alamos has died violent and raving of radiation poisoning as the book opens. Per Eli, “It seems clear that Chalker was involved in preparing a terrorist attack with a nuclear device. During these preparations, something went wrong and the uranium went critical. Chalker was irradiated. It also appears likely to our experts that the remaining terrorists spirited off the bomb, leaving Chalker to die.”Of course, Gideon is the only possible man to track down the missing nuke and disarm the threat. Except, Gideon doesn’t care. He wants a second opinion about his so-called terminal illness, and he doesn’t trust Eli as far as he can throw him. And he wants to believe that he doesn’t care about all of the endangered innocents, but he knows it isn’t true. He can’t turn his back.And so another misadventure begins. I won’t reveal more because the fun is in the twists and turns within the plot. And Preston & Child are masters at plotting. Occasionally, there would be a stroke of genius. Unfortunately, almost as often, there would be some story element that would truly beggar credulity. There was a romantic subplot that just made me want to groan. Why? Why? Why do thriller writers shoehorn in ridiculous, utterly unbelievable romances into their novels? It’s painful. And there were other moments of frustration with the story-telling that can’t be discussed without spoilers. But these were balanced by a lot of fun, excitement, and a confoundingly convoluted mystery.I still think that Gideon Crew is a character with potential, but I do wish the authors would hold his tales to the high standard of their other work.

[everfresh1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

The first book, 'Gideon's Sword', was a total garbage. This one is a little better. Still suffering from the same problems, e.g. undeveloped, unbelievable characters. But at least it's more readable. I will even look for the third one.

[twehking · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Much better than the first book in the series. Although still not as good as the Pendergast books.

[burnit99 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

The sequel to "Gideon's Sword", in which the art-thief-turned-nuclear-scientist with a ticking clock in his brain teams up with a straight-arrow FBI agent to thwart an apparent terrorist plot to detonate a nuclear bomb in Washington D.C. Lots of twists and turns and non-stop action, and a couple of surprise villains toward the end. A bit over the top, and the friendly reunion with his "employer" at the end after he left Gideon on his own when he was thought to be a terrorist kinda rankles. But a fun read, even though I prefer the authors' Pendergast books.