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Summary
Summary
The brutal slaying of Boulder's controversial DA strikes deep at the heart of everything clinical psychologist Alan Gregory holds dear -- his wife worked for the dead man. And this is just the first in a series of high-voltage incidents in a gripping story of crime and punishment, tragedy and retribution and of human beings caught in the shattering crossfire of forces beyond their control. Taut, penetrating and terrifying, Warning Signs bears all the hallmarks of New York Times bestselling author Stephen White's earlier novels: whiplash pacing, rich characters, and a razor-sharp look at the inner workings of the human mind.
Author Notes
Stephen White attended the University of California campuses at Irvine and Los Angeles before graduating from Berkeley in 1972. Trained as a clinical psychologist, he received a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in 1979 and became known as an authority on the psychological effects of marital disruption, especially on men. His research has appeared in Psychological Bulletin and other professional journals and books. After receiving his doctorate, he worked in private practice as well as at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and later as a staff psychologist at The Children's Hospital in Denver, focusing on pediatric cancer patients.
He began writing his first novel in 1989 while he was still practicing full time. The book, Privileged Information, was published in 1991 and was the first book in the Dr. Alan Gregory series.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
When can a psychologist go to the police about a client without violating the doctor/patient contract? Boulder psychologist Alan Gregory, veteran of nine previous White suspense novels, wrestles with this dilemma in White's latest top-flight thriller. Neurotic Naomi Bigg seeks help when she suspects her high school son, Paul, plans to avenge his sister's rape and his father's murder conviction for killing the rapist, who was let off on a technicality. Paul's best friend, Ramp, an explosives fanatic, lost his mother to a paroled rapist/murderer and has his own list of targets. Alan's erratic sessions with Naomi begin to unnerve him when he picks up hints of a connection to the recent brutal murder of Boulder's DA, his wife Lauren's boss. Even worse, he realizes that Lauren, suffering from MS and just ending maternity leave, assisted in the bungled prosecution of Paul's sister's rapist. And to further complicate things, the prime suspect in the DA murder case is Boulder police detective Lucy Tanner, partner of Alan's best friend, Sam Purdy. When a car bomb kills a judge's wife in Denver, Alan is torn with indecision, but goes to Sam after explosives are found in the dead DA's house. When a bomb goes off at Alan's office and Lucy is kidnapped, Alan and Sam team up and track Ramp on his deadly bomb spree. White (Private Practices) deliciously taunts the reader with his trademark twists, smoothly weaving plots together and sprinkling red herrings among the solid clues. Could Columbine have been prevented if the shooters' parents had gone to the police? How many warning signs are needed before action should be taken? These questions have led to the "no tolerance" policies in many schools and underlie this tensely satisfying outing. National ad/promo. (Feb. 26) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
The suspense-filled curtain-raiser, the discovery of the Boulder District Attorney's corpse, provides one of the few quiet moments in clinical psychologist Alan Gregory's latest bomb-enriched thriller. Until somebody bashed him to death while his bedridden wife lay helpless upstairs, Royal Peterson was the boss of Alan's wife Lauren Crowder, who's just about to come off maternity leave to resume her normal life as an ADA with multiple sclerosis when the news comes in. It's followed by still more shocking news from Alan's old friend, police detective Sam Purdy: The prime suspect is Sam's partner Lucy Tanner, whose fingerprints have turned up on the murder weapon. In the meantime, however, Alan's on the verge of the biggest shock of all. His new patient, unlikable Naomi Bigg, keeps hinting that her son, outraged at the slap on the wrist the criminal-justice system gave his sister Marin's rapist and the heavy prison term meted out to his father when he tried to take the law into his own hands, has joined forces with his mysterious pal Ramp, still seeking revenge for his mother's killing by a paroled murderer, to get back at all the functionaries who betrayed Marin Bigg and Denise Ramp. Could those functionaries have included Roy Peterson-and could they include Lauren herself? Alan's got precious little time to consider the moral quiddities of breaking doctor-patient confidentiality to disclose the existence of a powerful new suspect in the Peterson case, because Ramp's about to go ballistic with a series of explosions that will send the case screaming out of the mystery category into the trajectory of the greased-lightning thriller-until the disturbingly quiet coda that bookends the tale reveals the final nasty secret. Though there's no time to linger over most of the rapidly sketched characters, White (The Program, 2001, etc.) runs the whole gamut from whodunit to duck-and-cover.
Booklist Review
Just as Lauren, wife of White's popular Boulder psychologist Alan Gregory, is about to return from maternity leave to her job at the D.A.'s office, the D.A. is found dead in his living room, having been beaten to death with a blunt object. Rather than return to work right away, Lauren agrees to help represent the cop accused in the murder, seeing things from the defense's side of the table for a change. Meanwhile, Alan senses danger on the horizon when a new patient, Naomi Bigg, implies that her son and his twisted friend are plotting to take justice into their own hands, both teenagers having been wronged by the system to tragic ends. Naomi broaches the subject by wondering whether the Klebolds and the Harrises--the parents of the Columbine shooters--could have known what evil existed in the hearts of their troubled sons. Which is greater, she wonders, a mother's duty to protect her children or her duty to protect potential but unknown victims? When Alan learns that Lauren was one of the representatives of the system who allegedly wronged Naomi's son, he quickly loses patience with the philosophical debate. The D.A.'s murder, the investigation of the accused cop, and the Bigg family mystery all come together for an exciting, suspenseful adventure. A high-concept thriller that works. --Mary Frances Wilkens
Library Journal Review
In this thriller featuring Boulder, CO, psychologist Alan Gregory and his attorney wife, Lauren, Lauren's multiple sclerosis symptoms recur six months after daughter Grace's birth. In addition, her ex-boss, Boulder DA Roy Peterson, is beaten to death, and Lucy Tanner, a detective, is suspected of the murder. Lauren agrees to defend Lucy, and to complicate matters, Alan's patient Naomi Biggs has a teenage son who may be involved in the crime. Together Alan and Lauren deal with troubled teenagers, their own personal concerns, and those of their clients in this well-developed suspense novel with an exciting finish. Dick Hill's voice, tones, and inflections add to the excitement. A good addition to audio collections.DSteven J. Mayover, formerly with Free Lib. of Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.