Crackpots and left-wingers have talked about it for years, but no one with any real authority has ever considered it. It would be political suicide. But President Thomas Winston has taken the boldest and most bizarre step in the War on Drugs that the United States has ever seen. Vowing to make narcotics legal and to tax and regulate them to the brink of extinction, he intends to take the billions of dollars generated from their sale out of the hands of the drug cartels and move the money into the government's coffers. The conservatives and the Bible Belt are outraged. They swear they'll fight to the death to defeat the President's proposal and see him impeached. The drug lords laugh - they're sure decriminalization will never happen. But then important and respected figures begin to speak out in the media, guardedly supporting President Winston's ideas. Security at the White House is the tightest in its history as death threats pour in daily in ever-increasing numbers. Winston is not concerned. His men are handpicked, the best in the world. Nothing can get to him before he attends the International Drug Summit at The Hague. But they can get to Dr. John VanDuyne, Winston's personal physician and oldest friend, and the one man who can have an audience with the Chief Executive at any time. Someone has kidnapped the doctor's little girl and all he has to do to get her back is poison his best friend - the President of the United States.

Wilson, F. Paul

Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

Tor Science Fiction

Forge Books

Tor Books

United States, United States of America

Reprint, 2008

Dec 30, 2008

<p><p>when The President Of The United States Decides To Back The Legalization Of Marijuana, Organized Crime Decides He Must Die. But For Them To Succeed, He Must Die Without Blame On Them. So They Are Going To Make His Friend&#151;his Personal Physician&#151;kill Him.<p>first, The Kidnap The Doctor's Daughter.</p><h3>kirkus Reviews</h3><p>cynically Formulaic Plot-by-numbers From Wilson, A Competent, Derivative Suspense Factory Best Known For His Nazi-vampire Series, Beginning With The Keep (1981).<p>taking A Break From His Mostly Well-received Medical Thrillers (implant, 1995, Etc.), Wilson Tries His Hand At Washington Intrigue With A Tale So Tiresomely Unoriginal That Not Even The Bad Guy's Nifty Internet Techno-tricks Can Pique The Reader's Interest. Dr. John Vanduyne Is The Personal Physician Of Liberal-leaning President Thomas Winston. Winston Gives A Televised Speech, Announcing That America Has Lost The War On Drugs And That He's Going To Legalize And Tax Illicit Drugs To Prop Up His Administration's Sagging Budget. Soon After, Vanduyne Gets An E- Mail Message Informing Him That His Little Daughter Has Been Abducted. To Get Katie Back, He's Told, He Must Inject Winston With An Antibiotic Having Potentially Lethal Side Effects, Thus Incapacitating, If Not Killing, Him. It Seems There's An International Conference On Illicit Drugs Coming Up, And Carlos Salinas, A Wily Colombian Druglord Who Doesn't Want His Cartel's $50 Billion Business To Disappear, Thinks That Only A Scheme This Stupid Will Prevent Winston From Unleashing His Awesome Charismatic Presence At The Conference And Making The Dealers' Global Business Evaporate. The Author Goes For A Blood-is-thicker-than-money Conceit As One Of The Kidnappers, A Ditsy Pill-popping Jersey Woman Named Poppy Mulliner, Finds Her Maternal Urges Awakened By Katie. Poppy Snatches The Child From Her Gang And Flees To A Shack In The New Jersey Pine Barrens, Not Far From Where Poppy Was Born. Confident That Her Relatives Will Protect Her From Her Vengeful Associates, As Well As From Dr. Vanduyne, Vanduyne's Klutzy Ex- Wife, Bickering Secret Service And Fbi Agents, And, Finally, A Dea Mole, Poppy Makes A Stand For Family Values In A Dark And Stormy Climax.<p> Realistic Techno And Medical Detail Won't Budge A Novel Mired With Plot Clich&eacute;s And Stale Characters.<p></p>

"When the president of the United States decides to back the legalization of marijuana, organized crime decides he must die. But for them to succeed, he must die without blame on them. So they are going to make his best friend--his personal physician--kill him. First, they kidnap the doctor's daughter."--Page 4 of cover

2024-11-26