China Lake: An Evan Delaney Novel (Evan Delaney) (Evan Delaney) by Meg Gardiner and Tanya ESirois

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China Lake: An Evan Delaney Novel (Evan Delaney) (Evan Delaney) from Mystery & Thrillers

China Lake: An Evan Delaney Novel (Evan Delaney) (Evan Delaney)
Available from Amazon
Price: $74.64
Updated on 6-30-2008.

Features

Audio CD

Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged Lib Ed; Library edition (June 3, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1423361180

ISBN-13: 978-1423361183

Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 6.3 x 1 inches

Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces ()

Product Description
Evan Delaney is shocked to learn that her ex-sister-in-law, Tabitha, has joined the Remnant, a religion with a dangerous and fanatical following. What is more alarming is that the unstable young mother plans to regain custody of her son and disappear with him into the fold of the church. She has the Remnant on her side, and theyll do anything it takes including murder to get what they want. But its another member of the Remnant whos killed, and when Evans brother becomes a suspect, Evan is dragged even deeper into the nightmare.

From beginning to end, China Lake is a book no reader of thrillers will be able to put down. Great characters, dynamic plot, nail-biting action Meg Gardiner gives us everything. Elizabeth George

About the Author
Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Meg Gardiner previously practiced law and taught at the University of California. She lives with her family near London. To find out more about her novels, visit Megs website at www.meggardiner.com.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: China Lake (Paperback) I really wanted to read this book but getting it proved to be a tad difficult. Stephen King praised Meg Gardiner's suspense novels in his February 9th column on the back page of "Entertainment Weekly," but pointed out that while her novels are set in California they are only published in England. I could only get the fourth one, "Crosscut," through Amazon, but who wants to begin with book four in a series? I do not always pay attention to King's recommendations, but in the back of King's "From a Buick 8" he had recommended the excellent crime novels of K.C. Constantine about Chief Mario Balzac, so I turned to the Amazon across the pond for the other four. Gardiner's fifth novel, "Kill Chain," is not due out in paperback until Spring so I selected as "few shipments" as possible to just have everything shipped then. But then they shipped the second book, "Mission Cannon" to me, followed by the third novel, "Jericho Point," the next day, in what can only be considered a blatant attempt to drive me crazy. Fortunately it was only three days later when they finally shipped me "China Lake," the first "Evan Delaney Thriller," and it arrived on Thursday, which was good because that night the Zenith City got hit by a blizzard that dumped two feet of snow and precluded mail delivery on both Friday and Saturday. But I finally had the book in my hands and could find out what King was all jacked up about. "China Lake" begins with a religious cult jeering at an AIDS funeral in Santa Barbara, California attended by Evan Delaney. When Peter Wyoming and The Remnant start spewing their hatred the better angels of her nature require her to get in this guy's face. She assumes he is just a bigot, but Evan is underestimating this guy, and when she discovers that Tabitha, her sister-in-law, is a member of The Remnant things start going downhill fast and furious. Tabitha was married to Brian, Evan's brother, and when she split on her husband, a Navy fighter pilot, it was Evan who ended up raising their six-year-old son Luke while Brian was away on carrier duty. Evan's immediate fear is that Tabitha will want Luke back, and she is determined to protect the boy. Fortunately as a Navy brat, a lawyer, and the author of a science fiction novel "Lithium Sunset" featuring the heroine Rowan (the novel is apparently quite popular in high desert cowboy bars), Evan has resources to go alone with her stubbornness and intelligence. I was hooked by page one of "China Lake." I know somebody who was analyzing the speeches of Jim Jones as a snake oil salesman BEFORE Jonestown made the world aware of the Peoples Temple. So I was not totally surprised that I had a visceral reaction to The Remnant's rhetoric. I got through the first hundred pages or so that first night sitting up in bed reading and I had to spend another half-hour reading something lighter just to calm down enough to sleep because I was as riled up about the situation as Evan. Be warned that things move so quickly in this novel that it is hard to find decent stopping points because you are always interested in finding out what happens next. I could also identify with Evan's propensity to do more harm than good in trying to make things right. Fortunately she is aided and abetted by her boyfriend, Jesse Blackburn, and some other friends and acquaintances. One of the nice dynamics of "China Lake" is that Jesse and Brian do not get along and on top of the escalating situation as The Remnants decide to do more than await the Last Days, Evan is constantly in the crossfire between the two. Gardiner really likes to pour it on her heroine. I did not recall any of the specifics of King's column regarding the plot of this book by the time I finally got my hands on "China Lake," which is the name of the military base where Brian has just been stationed. What I did remember is that King lauded Gardiner for being funny, and that comment is totally on point. Actually, since the book is told in the first person, I could say that Evan Delaney is funny but the point that made me literally laugh out loud was when two members of The Remnant were arguing over whether there is a colon or semi-colon in the particular verse from in the book of Revelation (I find hermeneutics fascinating, but when people are debating Scripture while holding firearms absurdity runs rampant). Gardiner has fun with the thoughts and utterances of her character, succeeding in walking that fine line where authors attempt to use words as their playthings. Combining thrills and laughs is a tough task and Gardiner totally succeeds in carrying it off. I also like her take on redemption in the end game of the book. Gardiner lives in London, which explains why the books of an American author are being published in the U.K., a situation that should be shortly rectified by King's enthusiasm and the resultant boost in sales. As for me, even though it turns out I could have gotten them faster from the Amazon north of the border, I will continue to get the U.K. paperbacks because (a) I want them sooner rather than later and (b) I like the looks of these Hodder paperbacks with Larry Rostant's cover images that make the set look like a set. Now my only problem is that I only have two Meg Gardiner books in the house and if I proceed directly to the next one then I will only have one left until the others arrive. Indulging myself by reading them one after the other seems inappropriate to me because books like this need to be fully savored before moving on to the next one down the line. Comment | Permalink | (Report this)

China Lake: An Evan Delaney Novel (Evan Delaney) (Evan Delaney)
List Price: $102.25
Available from Amazon
Price: $74.64
Updated on 6-30-2008.