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Summary and Reviews of Keeping Watch by Laurie King

Keeping Watch by Laurie R. King

Keeping Watch

by Laurie R. King
  • Critics' Consensus (7):
  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • First Published:
  • Mar 1, 2003, 400 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Feb 2004, 400 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

Riveting, harrowing, and unforgettable, Keeping Watch takes psychological suspense to its most dizzying heights and proves again why Laurie R. King has been called by both readers and critics an undisputed master of suspense.

Acclaimed as one of the most original talents to emerge in the last decade, award-winning author Laurie R. King returns to Folly Island to deliver her most stunning achievement yet--a breathtaking novel of suspense that explores the very essence of good and evil.

Allen Carmichael came back from Vietnam a lifetime ago--but only now was he ready to return home. For years, he's lived on the fringes of the law, using a soldier's skills to keep watch over those too young to defend themselves. Some consider him nothing but a kidnapper for hire--the best in the business; others call him a hero. His specialty has been rescuing children from abusive parents and escorting them to loving homes. But after twenty-five years, he is ready to take on his final case--a case that could destroy him.

The boy's name is Jamie: He believes his father is going to kill him. Allen is convinced that the twelve-year-old is right and devises a strategy to save him. His last job done, Allen heads back to Folly Island, where he plans to settle into a quiet life. But not long after his return, a small plane piloted by the boy's father crashes, leaving behind debris--but no body. Now it is up to Allen to resolve whether Jamie's father is dead or alive--and to make sure Jamie himself stays out of harm's way. But a series of ominous events leads Allen to question whether Jamie's father is really the enemy after all. Or if the real threat is far more unspeakable...and the killer unimaginable.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

The Boston Globe
King always writes well, and her stories sweep along with an inexorable force that comes from a power greater than mere skillful plotting.

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
King is an original and skilled writing talent.

The New York Times - Marilyn Stasio
King is a careful plotter and a meticulous character builder; but in her zeal to flesh out Allen and his young charge, she burdens them with so much back story that the mind reels — and the eyes close.

Booklist - GraceAnne DeCandido
... an exquisitely wrought exploration of the many different kinds of love. King works layers within layers like carved ivory spheres and makes a tale that holds one taut on every page.

Kirkus Reviews
A gripping, intricately plotted psychological thriller, full of subtle twists ... multidimensional characters at every level and complex plotting earn the true application of that overused tag psychological thriller.

Library Journal - Laurel Bliss
As always, King delivers a masterpiece of human drama, cleverly mixing extended flashback sequences with a present-day narrative. Powerful and exceptionally well written, this is essential.

Publishers Weekly
King captures perfectly the contradictions of combat the exhilaration and the horror, the isolation and the camaraderie. This novel of harrowing suspense and wrenching resolution should earn King plenty of accolades.

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