The Colonel

by Patrick A. Davis

Book Overview

When Colonel Margaret Wildman and her two young children are brutally slain, retired Air Force investigator Martin Collins is called in on the case. Finding evidence that links the colonel to the highest levels of the military, the government, and the commercial airline industry, Collins discovers a full-blown conspiracy which leads to a shocking confrontation on the floors of Congress. (July)

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425185605
• ISBN13: 9780425185605
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

A Well Written Military-Mystery Story

I read this book and one of the author's other books, "The Passenger." Davis writes well and obviously intimately knows the kinds of characters, places, scenes, etc, that background his novel. Perhaps it is me and not Davis who is at fault for not awarding this book five stars, but I feel it is missing something. You are whisked along, helter-skelter, through a plot with the requisite twists, turns, and roller coaster plunges... but I want more. I want it to MEAN something. This book is solid entertainment, so maybe I am wrong to want it to snare me at gut level as well as taking me for a damn good carnival ride.

Tremendous page turner

Patrick Davis has a real winner. You may think you know who dunnit but you don't. This book is one of the best I have read in a long time. Suspense from start to finish. I would love to see a new series started with Simon and Martin. You can throw in Amanda too. Bravo, great book!

Good mystery

Martin Collins, a retired Air Force investigator who is currently the police chief of Warrentown, a small town in Virginia, is on occasion called upon by the military to help in criminal investigations. This time around they would like his help in solving a multiple murder. An Air Force Colonel and her 2 children have been slaughtered. Lieutenent Simon Santos, chief homicide investigator of the Arlington County PD, who requested Collins, is working it from the civilian side. As Collins and Simon work together, they find that the government and the military seem to be covering up a defect in a popular aircraft. Character development and a steady pace with many twists and turns makes this a good read. Secret files, misleading clues and many suspicious characters, will keep you guessing. Beware the power of bureaucracy.Recommended.

Check Out Your Airline Carrier

A suspensful thriller that begins with the murder of Colonel Margaret Wildman and both of her children. Colonel Wildman was a military investigator who had discovered a cover-up involving safety certifications on the G-626, one of the most popular civilian aircrafts flying today. The evidence she had accumulated would have crippled a proposed merger between Boeing and Global, the manufacturer of the G-626. The detective assigned to the case is Simon Santos with a mystery past and a lot of money of his own. His own personal wealth and philosophy enable him to cut a few corners in his investigations. He brings in Martin Collins (Marty) who is a retired Air Force investigator who consults on military related homicides. Martin is still recovering from the death of his wife and trying to cope with a young teenage daughter. He sees the law, the crimes, the cover ups and the investigations in black and white and supposes that they will solve the mystery, expose the coverups and right all the wrongs. The character development adds to the suspense which builds and continues to the final pages of the book. If there is a flaw, it's that there are too many characters to follow. Altogether a good read, however.

A great thriller

Career military Martin Collins retired as an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel following twenty years of active duty mostly with the Office of Special Investigations. Shortly after leaving the service, Martin's wife dies from cancer. Martin raises their twelve-year-old daughter by himself even as he serves as Chief of police of Warrenton, Virginia. Occasionally, he performs investigative services for the Air Force, working as a liaison between civilian authorities and the military police. His current case centers on the professional murder of Colonel Margaret Wildman and her two children. Martin soon concludes that the children were murdered to get their mother to talk. Her refusal led to their death, her torture, and ultimately her death too. It appears as if the killers obtained what they sought. On the contrary, the victim worked in the Air Force Safety Office with no access to top-secret information, making the scenario painted by the physical evidence seems unreasonable. This leaves Martin and the other investigators shaking their heads as nothing makes sense. Patrick A. Davis has written an action packed thriller that will keep readers' interest until the final page is turned. THE COLONEL is a terrific novel because besides being well written the events appear plausible, which adds to airplane passengers playing Russian Roulette every time they fly. Martin is a wonderful person who gains reader empathy early and never loses it as his actions turn him into a real American hero. Mr. Davis is deservedly making quite a name for himself within the thriller genre.Harriet Klausner