Deadline

John Dunning, as usual is great. Every one of his books seems to be better than the last.

This is a solid thriller featuring Dalton Walker, a prize-winning reporter who gets a job with a local newspaper. His first assignment is to interview one of the Rockettes from Radio City Music Hall, Diana Yoder. She comes from an Amish background and the editor thinks her story would be a great human-interest piece--what with all the inherent conflict. What he finds out is the reason he was assigned this is that she does not give interviews. The editor has made her reporter-shy. Meanwhile, and eight-year-old girl has died in a fire. The police wait for her family to come forward to claim her body--but they never do.Others have said that this is not up to the author's later works (e.g., Booked to Die; Two O'Clock, Eastern Wartime), and this is true. But a John Dunning novel always has a lot to offer. This is not a pedestrian novel. Unlike most mysteries/thrillers, but like other Dunning novels, the focus is more on characterization and detail than on any unanswered questions. This makes for a slower read, but a nonetheless engrossing one. When Dunning writes about something you can be sure he has researched it. The evocation of Amish life in this book is like none I've read since James Michener's The Novel. There is plenty to enjoy here. Dalton Walker is a character I would like to revisit.

I loved this one. A refreshing read. Go And Buy This One and Keep It As A Treasure ...

If you like Dunning's later works you will enjoy this one. It was like reading Grisham's first piece "A time to kill" after some of his later ones...a bit rough, but clearly the author we have grown to love. This story is a great read if you like exploring both the physical and psychological worlds.

Deadline is early Dunning at his best. The story is tight and fast-paced; it kept me reading late into the night. If you're a fan of the _Bookman_ series you'll enjoy _Deadline_.