Wiltse, David Books

Close to the Bone

David Wiltse

List Price: $6.50 By: Berkley Amazon Marketplace: 140 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Like watching a cat stalking his prey 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

In "Close to the Bone" John Becker is after a different kind of killer, a paid assassin with skills nearly matching his own. The characters are vividly drawn by this expert of suspense. David Wiltse did it again with this book. Be prepared to hold on to this book with both hands and make sure your doors are locked. Excellent! Wiltse is truly the master of keeping the tension building

Close to the Bone 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Author David Wiltse must be prescient. A friend loaned me his copy of this wonderful book which is out of print (why?) and I was bowled over. It's about the search for a terrorist in New York City. Talk about relevant after September 11. But for all the adventure and plot (and what a great character John Becker is) he also has a very moving portrayal of a young woman in conflict with herself and her yearning sensuality. My only regret is that I didn't read it when it first came out so I could be rereading it now.

Editorial Review:

FBI Agent John Becker stalks a brilliant icepick-wielding assassin who kills for profit and pleasure, tracking him down to the U.N. Reprint. K. PW.

5th Angel

David Wiltse

List Price: $3.95 By: Pocket Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Angel is write 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I just finished Heartland, the last by David Wiltse and ran to the library to get this, one of his early works. Wow, can this guy write a story. There's more depth and characterization and personality in his stuff than just about anyone else around. Plus a highly inventive plot that seems particularly relevant after September 11.

Fifth Angel 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

If this is the Fifth Angel, who were the other 4 before him, because I'd love to read them, too. This story of a highly trained soldier who goes amuck after being nearly killed, seems all too possible, if not prophetic. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that Wiltse does not present his "hero" as some kind of Rambo killing machine, but as a real, confused, and very human being. Just superb, start to finish.

Latecomer 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I'm a latecomer to the Wiltse genre and have sort of worked backwards, but, boy, there's nothing backwards about this book. This author seems to be able to take any material whatsoever and invest it with a depth and authenticity and characterization and dialogue and humor...well, the list goes on, but check it out for yourself, read the rest of his stuff, including the plays. I have been overhwhelmed and this story of a highly-trained soldier gone amuck is just another example of his excellence. If Rambo had been anything like as complex and honest as this, he would not have become a joke.

Into the Fire

David Wiltse

List Price: $6.99 By: Berkley Amazon Marketplace: 119 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A GREAT HEART -STOPPING SUSPENSE 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

BECKER ALWAYS KEEPS US GUESSING ON HOW HE'S GOING TO GET THE NEXT CRIMINAL. VERY GOOD BOOK HARD TO PUT DOWN.

don't redeem Becker 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I loved, absolutely loved Prayer for the Dead and Close to the Bone. I was disappointed with this Becker book. I wanted more interaction between Becker and Swann and I definitely do not want Becker to lose his edge. I like my good guys bad and I am not happy with the watered down Becker. I read this book wanting the same walking on the line protagonist, but instead I got a "I'm gonna change my ways" protagonist. I feel that this is the same way John Sandford's Prey series has changed. Don't redeem our good guys, we want them real, frustrated and walking on the line between good and evil.

Still hot! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

John Becker again, doing what he does better than anyone else in the business. This time he's after two villains, one of whom is a sort of stalking horse for the brighter and more fiendish of the two. A bright and gutsy young woman is kidnapped and Becker has to go underground, literally, to flush the killer from a cavern. This book was so steamy it curled my toes and straightened my hair.

Editorial Review:

Receiving mysterious messages from a maximum security prison inmate that offer clues to a long-unsolved murder, former FBI manhunter John Becker is forced to apply all his skills when the convicted man cleverly buys his freedom. Reprint. PW. LJ.

Blown Away

David Wiltse

List Price: $6.50 By: Berkley Amazon Marketplace: 101 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

New Discovery 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I've just discovered John Becker and David Wiltse (where have I been?)and what a fortuitous discovery it is! If John Becker is not the most fascinating, complicated, sexy, clever, dangerous--and most interestingly of all--oddly virtuous character in this whole genre, I don't know of any other contenders that even come close. His villains may be be even better. Evil enough even for Dubya's list, but tantalizingly human as well. Most exciting of all for me as a reader is the author's command of the language. The words, the words! This is a genuine writer, not just a potboiler. If Blown Away is any example, I'm going to have a wonderful time with the rest of Mr. Wiltse's work.

Editorial Review:

The plot and chief characters of Wiltse's latest thriller are good: a slicker, more daring Unabomber named Jason Cole is blowing up bridges and tunnels in and out of Manhattan, and ace FBI agent John Becker has to stop him. But it's the smaller players that raise the level of Blown Away to greatness -- a gallery of colorful, often hilarious hoods, losers and lunatics who come to life quickly and linger on in the imagination long after the last bomb has gone off. (Other Becker books by Wilste include Bone Deep, The Edge of Sleep, Into the Fire, Prayer for the Dead.)

The Edge of Sleep

David Wiltse

By: Mandarin Amazon Marketplace: 13 new & used starting at $5.92

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A great book for fans of profiling and serial killers 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

John Becker is a man with a strange background. His childhood keeps him up nights, afraid of the dark. And yet, he has an uncanny ability to get into the heads of the killers he's asked to track.But this ability takes its tol on him. So when the FBI call him in, it's because they really need the help.

In this book it's to track down a killer they are calling Lamont Cranston, a kidnapper and killer of young boys. Only his profile doesn't seem to be working. Why? Because this is no typical killer. So while Becker struggles with his past and why he can't wrap his head around this case, another boy's life is in the balance.

This book, like Wiltse's others, has great pacing and keeps you wanting to urge the characters on. A wonderful ending as well.
Well worth the time to read, just be prepared to want more!

jon jordan

Editorial Review:

The mutilated bodies of five young boys are found in the north-eastern United States. There is no sexual abuse, but the corpses have been lovingly washed and groomed. FBI detective John Becker is called in, and has to relive his own hell. By the author of "Prayer for the Dead".

Prayer for the Dead

David Wiltse

List Price: $19.95 By: Putnam Adult Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $0.26

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Prayer for the Dead 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Be careful with this one, I didn't sleep for a week afterwards. So this is how John Becker got started. What a debut! I've been working my way backwards through David Wiltse's stuff, and I see he just started at the top and stayed there. Remarkably scary book!

A Typical Psychological Thriller 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a psychological thriller that introduces us to ex-FBI agent John Becker. It's one of those fast paced books that ensured that I was frantically turning pages in an effort to keep up.

John Becker is asked to have a bit of a look into some recent disappearances of some young men in the local area to see whether they are related. Becker, who is trying to enjoy his retirement, very reluctantly agrees and has soon linked the missing men through a common, yet obscure similarity. From here the chase is on to identify and track down a man who we know as Dyce. We learn a lot about Dyce quite early on, and follow along as he finds himself a girlfriend. This was probably the only part of the book that I had a problem with as the girlfriend is cast as a real desperate, so much so that she completely ignores some pretty weird things about her new boyfriend. And when I say pretty weird, I'm talking right out there, baby.

This is quite a typical psychological thriller with the usual extreme - dare I say it - psychotic behaviour by the killer accompanied by the odd flashback to his childhood to explain his present day actions. Becker's character is established, casting him as reliable in his instincts, but difficult to work with, particularly when fool superiors are involved. It's the sort of first book of a series that promises further development of a character who already has issues.

Editorial Review:

Approached by the police, former government hitman John Becker emerges from a self-imposed retirement to hunt down the twisted killer who has been preying on innocent people. Reprint. NYT. AB. PW.

Bone Deep

David Wiltse

List Price: $23.95 By: Putnam Adult Amazon Marketplace: 80 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Bone Deep 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Having just read Heartland, his latest, I have gone on a Wiltse reading binge, and boy, what a treat. I read Bone Deep in one sitting and wanted much more. I love the way this guy's mind works, funny, devious, dark and serious, and rocket fast. Why are these books out of print?! And where has this author been, why hasn't anyone told me about him until now?

Hits to the bone 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is a John Becker book taking place in Connecticut, but a part of the state that most readers are probably not familiar with. Becker traces an egomaniacal killer right in his own home town, one who, ultimately, threatens Becker's wife. Becker is an intriquing character, as always; troubled, gifted, smart, sensitive, absolutely ruthless and blood thirsty when the time comes. And the villain, a murderous seducer, is chilling familiar to any woman, a blind date from hell.

Editorial Review:

A serial killer seduces teenagers and au pair girls in a quiet Connecticut suburb, murders them during sex, and separates them bone by bone, and FBI agent John Becker and Police Chief Terence ""Tee"" Terhune must stop him.

Home Again

David Wiltse

List Price: $3.95 By: Avon Books (Mm) Amazon Marketplace: 14 new & used starting at $0.03

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Home Again 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

I came to this book after having read Wiltse's incomparable John Becker series and his latest, Heartland, and was fascinated to find certain strong similarities in locale between Home Again and the excellent Heartland. Both take place in a small town in the midwest and both deal with a man who returns from police work in a larger world, but the way he handles the characters and the plot are both different and fascinating. This current work is a very rare combination of elements in a thriller, it is both exciting and strongly plot driven while also being heart warming and introspective. The relationship of the narrator and his father is poignant, as is the relationship of the father/hero and his best friend. A real surprise, a real treat. I was lucky to find someone with a copy. If you're not so lucky, buy it.

great but dated 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Wiltse is a talented writer, and this effort is no exception. I was surprised to discover, though, that this book was originally published in 1986. This is a 2002 reissue. The text was more dated than I like, which is to be expected with a book written more than 20 years ago. Not disappointed with the author, just that it's an old book.

The Hangman's Knot: A Novel (Billy Tree Mysteries)

David Wiltse

List Price: $6.99 By: St. Martin's Paperbacks Amazon Marketplace: 55 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

An Honset Look at Racisim 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a great, entertaining and thought provoking read. Wiltse's characters are always very introspective. I found this to be an honest representation of a man keenly aware of and working through his feelings about race. This is an old mystery solved in the present with a realistic perspective. Wiltse writes this type of character so very well and, as always, weaves a solid mystery plot.

Editorial Review:

A 50-year-old hate crime puts acting deputy sheriff Billy Tree in the sights of a man who won't stop at murder to keep his role in it a secret. Tree, the former Secret Service agent who made his debut in Wiltse's bestselling Heartland, has come home to the small Nebraska town where he was raised, a place where he's still remembered as a star athlete and revered as a hero. Nothing much ever happens in Falls City, so when a mysterious black man appears in a town where that's a rare occurrence, and then a hangman's noose and a photograph of the lynching of Lawton Collins turn up in his own mailbox, Billy goes looking for the connection. He finds it in the last places he ever expected: his own family history and the bed of the woman he loves. The Hangman's Knot is a strong, suspenseful thriller with a complex and fascinating protagonist whose auspicious return might signal a compelling new series for its accomplished author. --Jane Adams

Heartland: A Novel (Billy Tree Mysteries)

David Wiltse

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Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Falls City, Nebraska. Just a scratch on the Great Plains. To Billy tree, it's home--the last refuge for the ex-Secret Service agent scarred in body and soul by an unforgettable tragedy. But he's trading one for another. For the quiet burg of his youth has changed over the year. darkness has taken hold. And now, the killing secrets and terrible lies buried beneath the tranquil surface of Falls City are ready to erupt.

Where it begins is with a shocking sniper attack at the local high school. No motive. No clues. Just two innocent teachers left dead, and a third injured. A woman with secrets of her own, she shares a place in Billy's heart, his past, and his fears, when a second murder paralyzes the town. Urged by the sheriff to help the investigation, Billy can't refuse. Even if it means seeing old friends in a terrifying new light, and exposing himself to the insidious rage of mysterious killer...

It all ends in the shattering silence of an isolated silo. Here blood will tell. The secrets of Falls City will unfold. And the truth could cost Billy more than he'd ever imagined...