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The Blonde (2006)

de Duane Swierczynski

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3052185,156 (3.82)15
The night before a big meeting, Jack Eisley is sitting in an airport bar in Philadelphia, chatting up a pretty young blonde. Sure, Jack has a wife and daughter at home, but this is just a little harmless flirting. Harmless, that is, until the blonde leans forward and says, "I poisoned your drink." She tells Jack that unless she can keep someone within ten feet of her at all times, she'll die. And if he wants the antidote, he'll have to take her back to his hotel room and promise to stay by her side. Jack thinks: psycho. But as the violent night wears on, and he encounters a relentless government assassin, a threatening voice on a cell phone, a deadly waitress, dirty cops, and shady cab drivers . . . He begins to believe her.… (més)
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Es mostren 1-5 de 21 (següent | mostra-les totes)
Swiercynski's writing, I believe, is an acquired taste. At least, his plotting. I found I consistently had issues with the central plot point in the story, that is, that if someone infected with the tracking virus is not in the company of one other person, standing less than ten feet away, for less than ten seconds, that person will die.

Really, it sounds like a game an eight-year-old would come up with.

But hey, let's go with it. But with this, my second book by this author, I'm starting to realize he writes novels that are breathless. The jump right into the fire and then never really come up for air until the last page. I find it wearying, and I also find that it demands that he throw in some improbable stuff. It's like he's trying to out-Ellis Warren Ellis. Ain't gonna happen, no matter how many masturbation clubs and kinky bosses he throws into the mix.

Overall, though this was obviously written to be a thrill-ride, I found myself quite bored by it before finishing a third of the book. I carried on, hoping it would improve, but it didn't.

Not recommended. ( )
  TobinElliott | Sep 3, 2021 |
The Blonde by Duane Swierczynski is an adrenaline pumping thriller that starts out fast and keeps going at a breakneck speed. Although the plot verges on the unbelievable, the action is so intense that the pages just keep turning.

The story mostly happens over the course of one night of frenzied action in the city of Philadelphia. The three main characters, Jack Eisley, a reporter; Kelly White, the blonde femme fatale; and Mike Kowalski, a secret government operative, weave in and about each other like performers in a complicated dance program. The bizarre storyline is one of nanotechnology that once installed in the victim causes their brain to explode if they not within 10 feet of someone at all times. How these three people manage to overcome this weird and incredibly dangerous technology makes for a very exciting read. Somewhere along the way, I forgot how far-fetched the plot was and just settled in to enjoy the ride.

One of my pet peeves with thrillers is that the reader often has to park his skepticism and try to accept unbelievable plot. With this book, I was able to overcome that feeling due to the author’s excellent writing and fearless way of unfolding his story. Along with it’s rapid pacing and hard boiled dialogue, the author sprinkles pop references and plenty of humor which results in a very entertaining thriller. I enjoyed this read immensely and will be looking for more from this author. I should note that my electronic copy of The Blonde also contained a short follow-up called “The Redhead” in which we catch up with a couple of the main characters and learn how they arrived at a final resolution. ( )
  DeltaQueen50 | Oct 23, 2017 |
Swierczynski’s The Blonde is a fun-filled, action-packed night in Philadelphia that encompasses two narratives. First, there is the narrative of a soon-to-be divorced man flying in to meet with his wife’s ball-crunching divorce attorney, but who stops in the airport bar, where he meets an intoxicating blonde bombshell who promptly informs him that she has poisoned his drink and that only she has the antidote, meaning he has to stick to her like glue or die within a few hours. But, that’s only the beginning of his strange adventure with her. Meanwhile, a hit man working for a super secret Homeland Security force is chasing the blonde around Philadelphia while carrying a gym bag containing a severed head. Of course, these narratives cross each other and fireworks erupt. It all takes place over the course of a single night as the clock keeps ticking towards doom among the semi- deserted streets of Philadelphia.

Swiercynski filled this dark story with some of the themes that can be found in his later works such as Fun and Games and Point and Shoot including secret covert agencies who will stop at nothing to accomplish what they need to, technological marvels that include tracking devices and seemingly no escape from the bad guys, and a narrator who truly has no idea what is going on or how he got into the mess he finds himself in.

This is a well-told tale and hard to put down. It is told irreverently and with great dashes of humor. There are points in the plot where someone being overly-critical might think it is too difficult to accept the implausible plot devices, but Swierczynski makes you accept his premises (at least for story purposes). The world he creates is one where ordinary joes get caught up in covert semi-government plots.

By the way, after reading this, you may not want to be alone for awhile – just in case. ( )
  DaveWilde | Sep 22, 2017 |
While sitting in an airport lounge, Jack Eisley is told by an attractive blonde that she had poisoned his drink. Assuming she is merely flirting and not believing any part of her threats, Jack leaves but eventually suffers unimaginable pain and sickness. Upon meeting back up with her, Jack slowly realizes just how true her threats are..

Swierczynski had stated he wanted to write a sequel to [b:The Wheelman|548772|The Wheelman|Duane Swierczynski|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316727960s/548772.jpg|536021], I suppose this was his idea. While technically linked to the previous book in the sense that a minor character in Michael Kowalski returns, there's no real sembleanse in terms of continuation; the plot is totally unrelated. That being said, I did love the nod to the events in [b:The Wheelman|548772|The Wheelman|Duane Swierczynski|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316727960s/548772.jpg|536021].

I loved the layout. The fact that Swierczynski tracks several interchangable narratives really keeps things moving at a brisk pace and helps the story stay consistently fresh. As in [b:The Wheelman|548772|The Wheelman|Duane Swierczynski|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316727960s/548772.jpg|536021], Swierczynski's penchant for lightning fast action returns with quick and brutal violence. His writing is just so.. cool (that word isn't overused is it?)

There were a few things I was kind of bothered by. The only major one was when Jack used the nanobot infection as a weapon, essentially dooming his wife at the end. Was what she was doing really that bad that it deserved a death sentence?. However, it was nothing that really ruined my experience overall.

** On a side note (not that it matters), of all the books I've read in the past year or so, I can see this one easily adapting to the silver screen. Swierczynski's writing just oozes style and seems to be built for a slick, fast-paced film. Surprisingly, I've read that his book [b:Severance Package|2461765|Severance Package|Duane Swierczynski|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312032331s/2461765.jpg|2468960] has been optioned by Hollywood so I've got that one on deck. ( )
  branimal | Apr 1, 2014 |
Fasten your seatbelts and prepare for a wild ride of Homeland Security assassins, clean-up men, a beautiful blonde who has to be within ten feet of someone or horrible death ensues, an evil man called “The Operator” (what else), nanotechnology creatures called “Mary Kates,” a Sybian Club, and a normal guy who gets caught in something way over his head.

Fun. Perfect for a cross-country plane ride or waiting for the doctor to be finished with the cute drug salesperson (ever notice how they always get in ahead of you without an appointment?) ( )
  ecw0647 | Sep 30, 2013 |
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Wikipedia en anglès (1)

The night before a big meeting, Jack Eisley is sitting in an airport bar in Philadelphia, chatting up a pretty young blonde. Sure, Jack has a wife and daughter at home, but this is just a little harmless flirting. Harmless, that is, until the blonde leans forward and says, "I poisoned your drink." She tells Jack that unless she can keep someone within ten feet of her at all times, she'll die. And if he wants the antidote, he'll have to take her back to his hotel room and promise to stay by her side. Jack thinks: psycho. But as the violent night wears on, and he encounters a relentless government assassin, a threatening voice on a cell phone, a deadly waitress, dirty cops, and shady cab drivers . . . He begins to believe her.

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