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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Aug 2005, 304 pages
Paperback:
Aug 2006, 416 pages
An emotionally charged, heart-stopping thriller about one man's determination to take back his stolen life.
What if everything in your life was a lie?
Things are going well for 24 year-old Evan Casher: his career as a
documentary filmmaker is booming and his relationship with his new
girlfriend, Carrie, couldn't be better. After an urgent phone call
from his mother, he makes an unexpected trip home to Austin. Then the
unthinkable happens. He arrives to find his mother brutally murdered,
and narrowly escapes an attempt on his own life. Spirited away
from the scene by an enigmatic mercenary with an agenda of his own,
Evan is confronted with a shocking fact: his entire life has been
little more than a carefully constructed lie.
Pursued by a powerful, ruthless organization of killers who will
stop at nothing to keep old secrets buried, Evan's only hope for
survival is to uncover the truth about his family...and his own past.
With his mother's attackers fast on his heels and with no one to
trust—not the authorities, his father, nor the woman he loves—his
perilous search takes him from the Texas Hill Country to New Orleans,
to London, and to Miami. Full of unforgettable characters and jolting
plot twists, Panic is an emotionally charged,
heart-stopping thriller about one man's determination to take back
his stolen life.
CHAPTER ONE
The phone awoke Evan Casher, and he knew something was wrong. No one
who knew him ever called this early. He opened his eyes. He reached
across the bed for Carrie but she was gone, and her side of the bed
was cool. A note, folded, on the pillow. He reached for it but the
phone continued its insistent shrill, so he answered.
"Hello," he said.
His mother said: "Evan. I need you to come home. Right now."
She spoke in a low whisper.
He fumbled for the bedside lamp. "What's the matter?"
"Not over the phone. I'll explain when you get here."
"Mom, it's a two-and-half hour drive. Just tell me what's
wrong."
"Evan. Please. Just come home."
"Is Dad all right?...
Harlan Coben
A sleek, smart thriller that combines a family tragedy, international intrigue, and the redemptive power of love into one of this year's best books. There is no question: Jeff Abbott is the new name in suspense. Jan Burke
Jeff Abbott has all the ingredients of high suspense in Panic:
an ordinary man whose everyday life changes within minutes into an
unrecognizable landscape, a place where he is in constant danger and can
find no easy way out. Be prepared to stay up all night. Laura Lippman
A superb story, a sterling example of why we love stories about ordinary men thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Don't even try to anticipate the twists and turns in this intelligent thriller -- just hold on tight and remember to breathe. Lee Child
Panic is Jeff Abbott's best novel yet... an
instant classic immediately full of questions--who, what, why, how--that
have answers you won't see coming. Michael Connelly
Panic is a ride down the roaring rapids. Jeff
Abbott has put together a hell of a page turner. Tony Hillerman
Panic is what a reader enjoys when a really talented writer like Jeff Abbott comes up with a fresh and gripping plot. It's even better than his Cut and Run.Jeff Abbott
is a three-time nominee for the
Mystery Writers of America's
Edgar Allan Poe Award and a
two-time nominee for the Anthony
Award, given at Bouchercon (aka
the World Mystery Conference.)
In fact, all of his Whit Mosley
suspense novels have been
nominated for
major writing awards.
He was born in Dallas and grew
up in Austin and Dallas. He
graduated from Rice University
with a degree in History and
English, and worked as a
creative director at an
advertising agency before
...
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