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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
Format: Bargain Price
Label: St. Martin's Minotaur
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 272
Printing Date: January 10, 2006
Publishing house: St. Martin's Minotaur
Release Date: January 10, 2006
Sale Popularity Level: 369031
Studio: St. Martin's Minotaur
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Product Description:
In Thailand, two men hire a pair of international pirates to smuggle them, a small team of mercenaries, and some equipment aboard a freighter at a Russian port. It’s frighteningly easy, and the ship sails east, toward the western coast of North America.
The crew onboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Sojourner Truth, stationed in the Bering Sea along the Maritime Boundary Line, is busier than usual, catching fishing vessels on the wrong side of the line, but it’s not enough to cause undue alarm.
In Washington, D.C., a CIA analyst has been hearing rumors about the sale of radioactive material and military equipment on the grey market in deep Russia but can’t get it confirmed.
The analyst, Hugh Rincon, originally from Alaska and more keenly aware than most in Washington of Alaska’s vulnerability with its air force base and proximity to the Far East, begins to piece it all together. He can’t get anyone to take him seriously, however, least of all the director of the CIA.
Then Hugh learns that his estranged wife, Sarah Lange, is second in command on the Sojourner Truth in the Bering Sea at the heart of the potential conflict. And the chase is on.
The very first stand-alone thriller from the pen of Dana Stabenow, Edgar Award--winning author of seventeen crime novels, delivers a nail-biting, action-packed read, international in scope and frighteningly real.
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Rated by buyers 
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Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones are planning something big. The problem is, they are the only people who know the details. In fact, almost no one knows they even exist. CIA analyst Hugh Rincon does, however. He also has reason to believe that these two mysterious men were responsible for the explosion that killed a lot of people in Pattaya Beach, Thailand.
As Hugh gathers information, he discovers that terrorists Smith and Jones plan to do some serious damage from somewhere on the Bering Sea to his home state of Alaska. The only way to stop them is to recruit the help of Coast Guard cutter, Sojourner Truth, where his wife is an executive officer.
Dana Stabenow's BLINDFOLD GAME is a clever, first-rate, page-turner I couldn't put down. The plot, seemingly complicated at first, isn't confusing. Main characters, Hugh Rincon and XO Sara Lange, are strong, interesting, and well matched. Stabenow's attention to detail regarding life on board a U.S. Coast Guard cutter not only put me right in the story, but provided interesting information about the responsibilities and danger the Coast Guard faces. Stabenow's descriptions of a ferocious storm at sea had me holding my breath and grateful to be reading the book from the warmth and comfort of home.
Having been to Anchorage recently, it was a treat to read about some of the spots I'd either been to or knew a little about. But it was even more of a treat to discover this award-winning author's work.
Rated by buyers 
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Dana Stabenow is well known for her mysteries. In "Blindfold Game," she branches out into a new direction.
Taking her title from the Rudyard Kipling poem, "The Destroyers," Stabenow delves into the murky world of international intrigue, terrorism and politics. But Stabenow stays within the familiar confines of the Last Frontier, for the most part, with a few side trips to Washington, D.C., the Maritime Boundary Line and some minor side trips to South Korea, Thailand and London.
It stars the CIA, the Coast Guard, environmental activists, the FBI and illicit Russian trawlers.
Three childhood friends, who grew up together in a typical Alaskan village, all go into law enforcement: Hugh Rincon is an analyst for the CIA in Langley, Va.; Sara Lange, his estranged wife, is the executive officer on the Coast Guard cutter USS Sojourner Truth patrolling the Bering Sea; and Kyle Chase is an agent for the FBI in Anchorage. Their paths have diverged since growing up--even Rincon and Lange spend most of their 10-year marriage in different places. But in "Blindfold Game," their paths cross professionally--and dangerously.
Rincon discovers someone is buying grey market plutonium. It takes him a while, but he realizes the target is America--in fact, the target is Anchorage. His boss, an appointee with no desire to rock anyone's boat, doesn't believe him. That's pretty typical in a thriller plot.
Eventually, he discovers that the Sojourner Truth is the only American asset that can stop the attack, but the risks are great that Lange will not survive.
There's a lot going on in this book--international terrorists, bombings, piracy, double-and triple-crossing among the bad guys, death, dismemberment, torture, marital discord, career crises even the nature of old friendships come in for discussion. It's tiring, to be honest.
And confusing. There are some plot points that just don't make sense--the book opens with a bomb exploding in Pattaya Beach, Thailand. No one in the novel understands the significance of the target--and neither does the reader. The explanation later--that it was a test run for the bigger picture involving Anchorage--is a bit too theatrical.
The characters are well-drawn, and the reader can become emotionally involved in the outcome and their fate. They are also almost clichés in some ways: There's the guy who couldn't wait to get out of Dodge (Rincon), the girl who is torn between the land, the man and the job (Lange), and the guy who can think of no place else he'd rather raise a family (Chase).
Stabenow has her details pretty well nailed down, especially when it comes to the Coast Guard. She spent 16 days patrolling with the USCG cutter Alex Haley as research for this book, and it shows. The scenes on Sojourner Truth are sharp and clear, easy to see and become a part of.
But the rest--well, there's some work that needs to be done.
Being a thriller fan, I've probably read hundreds of this type of book, by the well-known and barely known. So it was easy for me to find a few problems with the plot itself--most of the set-up is unbelievable. It seems improbable that two people with a wish (I won't get any more specific because I don't want to ruin it for readers) to foster and implement such a grand-scale and wide-ranging conspiracy could manage it alone, and their motive is flimsy and dubious.
The set-up is long and involved, and the ending comes about way too quickly--like a snowball going downhill. Not only does it move fast, but it gets bigger and more difficult to believe with each foot.
And the ending--well, let's just say it was unfulfilling. First on the "Huh?" list is the epilogue, when the powers-that-be are discussing the incident. With seven Americans dead, including a Coast Guard captain, and 13 wounded, not to mention the foreign nationals killed during the pirating, the bombing and subsequent military actions, I think the government would have looked really hard for a money source. Maybe they did, but Stabenow leaves us with this: "We don't know yet, sir. We have some leads, which we are tracing now, and ..."
See what I mean?
The other thing that really bothered me was the fact that the terrorists were successful, in that their "dirty bomb" was detonated, and civilians died--albeit it years later--as a result. The callous (and unmentionably stupid in these days of 24/7 news) reaction of the administration seemed unrealistic as well.
And on a technical note; Stabenow needs a new editor. Not only were there numerous typos and other misspellings, but some fact-checking should have been done. When the bomb went off in Thailand, it had everyone wondering who was behind it, and the Irish Republican Army was named as a possibility. But the IRA had--before the cease-fire, anyway--as its goal to drive England out of Ireland. Bombing a restaurant in Thailand is not something that would have brought them closer ... Read More
Rated by buyers -
My one complaint with the book was that it was not 100 pages longer. The writing is completely engrossing, from the vividly detailed descriptions both of setting and action to the intriguing plot that built up logically in disclosure as the story went along, yet still managed to have a surprise element in its conclusion. The story is set in the Alaskan waters incorporating the elements of international fishing, the US Coast Guard and modern day bad guys with an ingenious way of carrying out a contemporary threat. Characterization is colorful. Even the bad guys are humanized, though they never to the extent that they could be wished well. All in all, a very interesting read.
Rated by buyers -
Dana Stabenow writes forcefully about the majesty of the Alaskan wilderness. I always consider a trip every time I finish one of her stories. The passion to protect her home state and to admire and uphold the native population is as familiar to her as to her favorite brand of coffee. The characters and plot of this book are as challenging as they are engaging. I had to evaluate who had the perception of the most to gain or loose in order to figure out "who-done-it". I really enjoy participating in the climax and ending even when I am wrong.
Rated by buyers -
This book was a different subject content for Stabenow. I consider it one of her best books. It is good reading, entertaining, and fast moving.
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