Very good intricate plot. We are introduced to John VanDuyne and his six year old daughter, Katie. John just happens to be the personal physician and friend of the President. The President's main agenda is the decriminalization of drugs. In theory, it may be a good thing for the United States. What does all this have to do with a six year old girl? Read this book and find out. I didn't want to put it down until I knew what happened to Katie, and oh yes, what happened to Poppy. My two favorite characters, Katie and Poppy. ( )

Fantastic stand-alone novel from a master. Oh, Poppy! ( )

I felt rather mixed on this one. F. Paul Wilson is known for his works of horror--this one has no element of the supernatural but rather is a work of medical suspense/political thriller. American President Thomas Winston calls for the legalization of drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroine. A Columbian drug lord, Carlos Salinas, is fearful he could succeed and destroy the very basis of the illegal drug trade. Salinas sets out to assassinate the president through his personal physician, John Van Duyne, having the doctor's six-year-old daughter kidnapped to force him to cooperate.

I got this book years ago and remember enjoying it, and was reviewing it recently to decide whether or not to cull it to free up space in my library. It wasn't a good sign that I couldn't remember a thing about it before opening the book again. I'm actually a proponent of drug legalization for many of the reasons Wilson lays out in the book. Nor do I feel it's very preachy in that regard, but I did feel the story was written more to argue for the pro-legalization position rather than growing organically from the premise. I might not have felt that way if so many details didn't feel dated. For instance, the president is counting on the support of Milton Friedman, the famous Nobel Prize winning economist and a former adviser to Ronald Reagan and famed conservative William F. Buckley of National Review. Both men did hold the views presented, but both are also very much dead.

Beyond that, I thought the plot got more and more convoluted and far-fetched as the book went along. I'm not saying this is a turkey. It's by and large a well-written book with likable characters, thought-provoking arguments, and a suspenseful climax. But not, I decided, a keeper. ( )