The Watchmen

by John Altman

Book Overview

In a remote safe house in the American Northeast, a terrorist is questioned, a psychiatrist is tested, and an assassin is dispatched. . . . His previous novels have been widely praised as "sharp and refreshingly literate" (Chicago Tribune); and "taut and lean and filled with action" (Booklist). In The WatchmenJohn Altman delivers his most gripping thriller yet. An Al Qaeda prisoner named Ali Zattout is moved from Guant?namo Bay to a CIA safe house...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399151737
• ISBN13: 9780399151736
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Eerie, edgy, disturbing

The phenomenon of "hidden personality" whereby more than one persona inhabits a body (or brain to be more precise) is a controversial subject. What if, for "security" reasons, we have delved into the task of creating such personalities through a combination of drugs and torture, psychological and physical? This is a backdrop to the real story which involves two plots, both superbly realized. The first involves a CIA-trained "watcher" who notes the small, unconscious habits of people that indicate their true thoughts. In the past, he and his mentor, now near death, successfully created a second personality in a young woman through unorthodox methods. Their strained relationship introduces us to the moody, dark world of intelligence. A terrorist is captured and the watcher is called to make the determination - is he telling the truth? Simultaneously, a ruthless Arab assassin is methodically murdering all members of a sleeper cell. His real mission is to kill the terrorist before he reveals secrets. Action alternates between the watchman and the terrorist who is both devout and sociopathic, killing at the drop of hat, without remorse, a machine of death. Slowly but surely the two are drawn towards each other and the result is explosive, deeply unhinging and yet satisfying. This is a disturbing novel with a relentless, brooding atmosphere.

The Watchmen

Another riveting novel by John Altman. If you enjoy reading Tom Clancy or Lee Child (Jack Reacher series), you'll enjoy Altman's latest book. The Watchmen kept me on the edge of my seat and caused me stay up until 2:00 a.m. to finish the last sixty pages.

Couldn't Be More Timely !!

With Al Quada front and center in the news on virtually a daily basis, this book is timely and extremely entertaining. It's a psychological thriller that is at the same time very fast paced, an Altman trademark. I was a big fan of his first book, "A Gathering of Spies" but didn't love the next two. This one, however, is by far his best. The relationship bedtween the two psychiatrists, Noble and Finney, is particularly well drawn. Definitely 5 stars. I'd give it 6 if I could!

Outstanding

Dr. Louis Finney has not been in the game for over two decades, ever since he saw the results of his mentor Dr. Arthur Noble's research on people that were expendable like mentally ill human beings. Their research was instrumental in creating the techniques used today to get a spy to open up their minds and spill their secrets without breaking them entirely. Unexpectedly, Noble calls on Finney to observe the techniques that are used on Ali Zattout, a terrorist in the Al Qaeda organization. Noble is rushed to the hospital leaving Finney to be the only watcher to judge the effectiveness of the techniques. There is a mole in the unit that the prisoner is in and when he is killed, Dr. Finney takes over the interrogation. Louis has more to worry about than breaking one terrorist for Al Qaeda is worried about the secrets he could reveal. They send over an assassin who systematically kills everyone in the prison's terrorist cell before he makes a daring move on the command center where Zattout is held John Altman fills the place that John Le Carre has held for so many years and has made it uniquely his own. The prose is stark and gritty reflecting the claustrophobic cell in the compound. The actions takes place on two levels: the authorities try to run the assassin to ground while the doctors need to break the subject mentally so he can spill their secrets. THE WATCHMAN is a spy story for the twenty-first century. Harriet Klausner

BOMC says " I adored John Altman's The Watchmen"

'.... For years, I've waited for a thriller with the depth and texture of John Le Carre's Little Drummer Girl. Now, I've found it.... This is perfect pleasure. Altman has not had a bestseller for reasons I can't fathom. But you will love him. Yes, I've said this before, about The Way the Crow Flies and The Enemy. I meant it then, and I mean it now. It's the texture of The Watchmen (see page 6) that gets me. The terrorist at the center is so well drawn, you almost root for him (God forbid). There's a scene with the daughter of a motel owner that is simply one of the most affecting and terrifying scenes I've ever come across. The people in Altman's world are three-diminsional, original, completely outside the stereotypical cardboard of most suspense these days. So, once again, if you like the occasional thriller, if you long for something that will not insult your intelligence as it fixes you to the edge of your seat, read The Watchmen....' Victoria Skurnick, Editor-in-Chief, Book of the Month Club