★ 06/26/2017 Richtel (The Doomsday Equation) grabs his audience by the throat from the start of this intelligent nail-biter, which riffs on the story line of The Langoliers, a Stephen King novella. Despite the absence of any ground communications, Eleanor Hall, a Delta Air Lines captain, safely lands her aircraft in Steamboat Springs, Colo., only to find that everyone outside the plane is dead. Desperate to understand what’s going on, she recruits the help of a passenger, doctor Lyle Martin, an expert on infectious diseases, whose career is on the decline. As Eleanor, Lyle, and her first officer, Jerry Weathers, try to determine how best to keep things calm in the plane’s cabin, they are further rattled when they discover that almost all the passengers have also suddenly died from no apparent cause. The narrative flashes back three years to an encounter Lyle had with Jackie Badger, whose life he once saved and whose gift at seeing hidden patterns has made her a valued asset for her employer, Google. Back in the present, Eleanor and company must battle a lethal virus that threatens all of humanity. Compelling characters that readers will become emotionally invested in complement the clever plotting. Agent: Laurie Liss, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Aug.)
Matt Richtel rivals Michael Crichton.
A book brimming with mystery and suspense. ... Richtel ... knocks it out of the park.
With this title Mr. Richtel is surely creeping up on King and Koontz when it comes to delivering that awe-inspiring fear-factor. ... You’ll be glued to the pages. ... It’s extremely rare that any writer has the ability to scare you to death, but with this book, Matt Richtel can count himself among those chosen few.
Begins with one of the most chilling openings that I have ever read. ... Establishes Richtel as one of the premier thriller writers working today. ... Once you start, you won’t want to put it down.
A brilliantly imaginative, intricately plotted thriller that draws on Matt Richtel’s years of reporting for the New York Times .
There’s suspense on every page. ... A taut techno-thriller.
Similar in atmosphere and style to Michael Crichton and Stephen King. ... A race-against-the-clock thriller. The pacing is excellent. ... An enjoyable and gripping read.
Richtel sets things up beautifully with a terrifying opening chapter. ... Matt Richtel has taken his place as an heir to Michael Crichton. ... Dead on Arrival is great entertainment with a very troubling message buried deep within it.
Is this the next Stephen King? ... Wonderfully confounding. ... Richtel has conjured a fascinating character in Martin... [and] ties it all together in the final pages. So much so, a reader is hopeful Martin will be back again, solving medical mysteries and saving mankind in the process.
If you’re looking for a heart-stopping thriller to pack for your summer vacation, look no further. ... Should keep you riveted until the very last page. ... Dead on Arrival is a must-read for Michael Crichton fans.
Dead on Arrival joins the ranks of classic paranoid thrillers about human achievement run amok, with Stephen King’s The Stand and Michael Crichton’s Terminal Man . It’s hard to imagine a novel more timely.
Michael Crichton meets Stephen King at their finest: Topical and timely, with the creepiest opening chapters I’ve ever read, Dead on Arrival , Matt Richtel’s gripping and ominous new thriller, explores our fears about technology and proves they might be even more justified than we think.
A high wire act of pure, exhilirating storytelling. From a stunner of an opening to an end I never saw coming, here is a book that will keep you glued to your seat and furiously turning pages. Grab a copy and prepare to lose a day.
2017-10-02 In a thriller with the gut-wrenching tension of a doomsday countdown clock, Richtel (The Doomsday Equation, 2015, etc.) goes high concept, viewing worldwide connectivity through cell-level immunology.Observing our ever connected social media world, a crazy genius obsesses over the idea that "ubiquitous transmissions had the impact of putting people into kind of a catatonic state" and decides to press pause. After the rogue Google contractor recodes a good idea for nefarious purposes, the story begins when world-renowned infectious disease specialist Dr. Lyle Martin heads for a Colorado conference. Martin's been lured to the site of the wacko's beta test. From airport baggage handler on down, he discovers people comatose in midseizure. Puzzling enough, but he later comes awake home in San Francisco with the sketchiest of memories of the Colorado visit. Martin's a well-drawn character, a driven, obsessed man so smart his marriage collapsed because of his passion for his work. Supporting characters include his fellow witnesses to the Colorado episode, the female airline captain and her gun-toting first officer. Martin's ex-wife is another cast member done up in enviable style. The villain, not so much—standard Freudian twisted childhood warping into an Adam and Eve fantasy—all motivated by a god complex, because "people are gorging on ideas that reinforce their political and social views...losing their ability to empathize, cooperate, compromise." Toss in a massive march on Washington by gun owners worried about the Second Amendment, and things threaten to wobble toward social chaos. The theme is as current as tomorrow's news, but the pace sometimes outpaces clarity.More science faction than science fiction, this is a novel requiring close reading to comprehend, and fear.
An intellectual thrill ride that tucks searing social critique into the Trojan horse of a save-the-world page-turner…. The solution appears to be only another mastermind who has commandeered technology for personal gain, Richtel leaves us with the more sinister suggestion the true villain is us.” — New York Times Book Review
“A high wire act of pure, exhilirating storytelling. From a stunner of an opening to an end I never saw coming, here is a book that will keep you glued to your seat and furiously turning pages. Grab a copy and prepare to lose a day.” — JAMES ROLLINS
“Michael Crichton meets Stephen King at their finest: Topical and timely, with the creepiest opening chapters I’ve ever read, Dead on Arrival , Matt Richtel’s gripping and ominous new thriller, explores our fears about technology and proves they might be even more justified than we think.” — LISA GARDNER
“Dead on Arrival joins the ranks of classic paranoid thrillers about human achievement run amok, with Stephen King’s The Stand and Michael Crichton’s Terminal Man . It’s hard to imagine a novel more timely.” — JOSEPH FINDER
“If you’re looking for a heart-stopping thriller to pack for your summer vacation, look no further. ... Should keep you riveted until the very last page. ... Dead on Arrival is a must-read for Michael Crichton fans.” — Dallas Morning News
“Is this the next Stephen King? ... Wonderfully confounding. ... Richtel has conjured a fascinating character in Martin... [and] ties it all together in the final pages. So much so, a reader is hopeful Martin will be back again, solving medical mysteries and saving mankind in the process.” — Denver Post
“Richtel sets things up beautifully with a terrifying opening chapter. ... Matt Richtel has taken his place as an heir to Michael Crichton. ... Dead on Arrival is great entertainment with a very troubling message buried deep within it.” — Connecticut Post
“Similar in atmosphere and style to Michael Crichton and Stephen King. ... A race-against-the-clock thriller. The pacing is excellent. ... An enjoyable and gripping read.” — Booklist
“There’s suspense on every page. ... A taut techno-thriller.” — Mercury News
“Richtel grabs his audience by the throat from the start of this intelligent nail-biter.” — Publishers Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)
“A brilliantly imaginative, intricately plotted thriller that draws on Matt Richtel’s years of reporting for the New York Times .” — Boulder Daily Camera
“Begins with one of the most chilling openings that I have ever read. ... Establishes Richtel as one of the premier thriller writers working today. ... Once you start, you won’t want to put it down.” — CriminalElement.com
“With this title Mr. Richtel is surely creeping up on King and Koontz when it comes to delivering that awe-inspiring fear-factor. ... You’ll be glued to the pages. ... It’s extremely rare that any writer has the ability to scare you to death, but with this book, Matt Richtel can count himself among those chosen few.” — Suspense Magazine
“A book brimming with mystery and suspense. ... Richtel ... knocks it out of the park.” — Steamboat Today
“Matt Richtel rivals Michael Crichton.” — Digital Journal
“A high concept thriller with the gut-wrenching tension of a doomsday countdown clock.” — Kirkus Reviews
An intellectual thrill ride that tucks searing social critique into the Trojan horse of a save-the-world page-turner…. The solution appears to be only another mastermind who has commandeered technology for personal gain, Richtel leaves us with the more sinister suggestion the true villain is us.
New York Times Book Review
Similar in atmosphere and style to Michael Crichton and Stephen King. ... A race-against-the-clock thriller. The pacing is excellent. ... An enjoyable and gripping read.
This audiobook is not an easy listen. Jonathan Yen does a great job narrating, giving the characters distinct personalities and building tension with his voice alone. But the author’s scattershot writing style will have some listeners checking to see if their player is on shuffle. There’s a great story—getting to it is the problem. The hero is Dr. Lyle Martin, a genius in the field of infectious disease whose life has been one tragedy after another. Now he’s forced to confront a new kind of threat that could destroy humankind. But the frequent flashbacks that pop up out of nowhere are annoying and confusing, forcing the listener to try to piece the plot together. M.S. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine