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Christopher Reich is one of a crop of new thriller writers who began to be published in the late 1990s. He started out strong with the memorable NUMBERED ACCOUNT and has continued on an ever-upward trajectory. But what has gone before will not prepare anyone for his latest work, THE PATRIOTS CLUB.
Reich takes familiar elements that might be stale in less talented hands and uses them in unexpected ways. You have the rich guy who grew up hard on the streets; lives turned upside down, for no apparent reason; and the shadowy extra-governmental group that manipulates everything behind the scenes.
Thomas Bolden is the rich guy with the Oliver Twist childhood, the kid who was in and out of foster homes and reform schools but who brought his street smarts to Wall Street and made a killing. Bolden is an up-and-comer with the acquisitions department of a major bank, maintaining an edge in matters financial while never forgetting the kids on the street and the life he left behind. What begins as a late-night mugging, however, turns into something far more, as Bolden comes to realize that he is being pursued --- and that his pursuers have so many resources that they seem to be omnipresent. The worst part is that it appears they have made a mistake, and that Bolden isn't the target at all.
Within the space of twelve hours, Bolden is on the run, his life in ruins as he is sought by the police for a murder he did not commit and by a group of fanatics who will stop at nothing to eliminate him, believing that he is a threat to their operation --- one that will affect the most powerful office in the world.
Bolden finds an ally in a mysterious woman, a 1960s student radical who has been wanted for murder for decades. Bolden doesn't know her, but she knows him --- and she is part of the reason why he finds himself running for his life. Bolden's only hope for survival lies with her, an aging cop whose heart is a beating time bomb, and Bolden's own street smarts, even as his pursuers close in upon the greatest prize of all in Washington, D.C.
Reich kicks out all the stops in THE PATRIOTS CLUB, a meticulously plotted, exquisitely told story that will keep you up past your bedtime. There is a pivotal scene near the beginning of the novel --- when Bolden's life is turned upside down --- that is worthy of Hitchcock. And the rest of the book is its equal. There were times when I thought I should be reading it with a bottle of beta-blockers in one hand and a bronchodilator in the other. Don't miss THE PATRIOTS CLUB --- it's one of the best thrillers of the year.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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