Double Take (FBI series, #11)
Catherine Coulter, 2008
Penguin Group USA
368 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780515144697
Summary
The police are convinced that Julia Ransom was guilty of the brutal murder of her husband, renowned psychic August Ransom. But after six months of investigation and media frenzy, she is free of their scrutiny, because of the lack of evidence. One afternoon she walks from her Pacific Heights home to Fisherman's Wharf, alone, unwatched—and, she realizes, happy. Standing at the railing on Pier 39, she savors the sounds around her—tourists, countless seals on the barges—and for a moment enjoys the sheer normalcy of it all.
It suddenly comes to an end when a respectable-looking man distracts her with conversation before striking her unconscious and heaving her over the railing into San Francisco Bay. If it weren't for Special Agent Cheney Stone, Julia would've drown. Cheney quickly realizes the attempt on Julia's life has to connect to the murder of her husband, and reopens the investigation with the SFPD.
Meanwhile, in Maestro, Virginia, Sheriff Dixon Noble—last seen in Point Blank—learns about a woman named Charlotte Pallack, whose extraordinary resemblance to his vanished wife, Christie, gone for three years, sends him across the country. Although in his heart he knows that this woman can't possibly be his missing wife, Dix is compelled to see her with his own eyes.
In San Francisco, Dix's and Cheney's paths cross, brought together by FBI Special Agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock. All four begin to unlock the mystery behind Charlotte Pallack's identity, as well as the forces behind Julia Ransom's attempted murder and the vicious murder of her husband.
The most fascinating aspect of the case is the extraordinary cast of psychics they meet as they push deep into the intriguing and complex world of visions, mind benders, and communications to the dead.
As the stakes and the body count rise, Savich, Sherlock, Dix, and Cheney fight for answers—and their lives. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—December 26, 1942
• Where—Cameron County, Texas, USA
• Education—B.A., University of Texas; M.A., Boston College
• Currently—lives in Marin County, California
Catherine Coulter is the author of fifty novels, thirty-eight of which have been New York Times bestsellers.
She earned her reputation writing historical romances, but in recent years turned her hand to penning—with great success—contemporary suspense novels. The Cove spent nine weeks on the New York Times paperback bestseller list and sold more than one million copies. The Maze was Coulter's first book to land on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list. A review of The Maze in Publisher's Weekly stated that it "was gripping enough to establish Coulter firmly in this genre." Coulter continues to live up to that promise with her subsequent New York Times bestselling FBI thrillers The Target, The Edge, Riptide, Hemlock Bay, and Eleventh Hour.
Catherine Coulter's first novel, The Autumn Countess, was published at the end of 1978 when she had just reached puberty. It was a Regency romance because, as she says, "as any publisher will tell you, it's best to limit the unknowns in a first book, and not only had I grown up reading Georgette Heyer, but I earned my M.A. degree in 19th century European history."
Following The Autumn Countess (a Gothic masquerading as a Regency, she says), Catherine wrote six more Regency romances. In 1982, she published her first long historical, Devil's Embrace. She has continued to write long historicals, interspersing them with hardcover contemporary novels, beginning with False Pretenses in 1988.
She pioneered the trilogy in historical romance, each of them very popular. They include: Song, Star, Magic, Night, Bride, Viking, and Legacy trilogies. She enjoys trilogies because she doesn't have to say good-bye to the characters and neither do the readers.
Catherine grew up on a horse ranch in Texas. She graduated from the University of Texas and received her masters at Boston College. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, she worked on Wall Street as a speechwriter for a company president. She loves to travel and ski, reads voraciously, and has a reputation for telling jokes—believing the publishing business is too crazy not to laugh. Catherine lives in Marin County, California with her physician husband.
Catherine Coulter loves to hear from readers. You can e-mail her at
Book Reviews
(Starred review.) At the start of bestseller Coulter's gripping 11th FBI thriller, Julia Ransom is enjoying a liberating stroll on San Francisco's Pier 39 after having been suspected of the brutal murder of her renowned psychic husband, Dr. August Ransom, six months earlier and hounded by the media. When an unknown assailant throws Julia off the pier, FBI Special Agent Cheney Stone rescues her. Stone later senses a link between the attack and the death of Julia's husband. Meanwhile in Virginia, Sheriff Dixon Noble is finally feeling his life is getting back to normal after his wife went missing three years earlier. When Noble comes to San Francisco to pursue a lead into his wife's disappearance, he gets involved in a harrowing investigation with Stone into both mysteries. As usual, the author conjures strong visual images, particularly a wild car chase through the streets of San Francisco. Credible characters and a fascinating look at the world of psychics and thieves help make this one of Coulter's best.
Publishers Weekly
With this romantic suspense novel, best-selling author Coulter returns to her FBI series, last visited with Point Blank. Most of the characters from the previous books return, including Sheriff Dixon Noble, from Maestro, VA. The story has two separate plot lines. In the first, the FBI, led by Special Agent Cheney Stone, investigates an assassin's multiple attempts to kill Julia Ransom, a widow whose professional psychic husband, August, was recently murdered. Trying to locate Julia's stalker, Cheney is drawn into the August case, as well as into the world of psychics. The second plot concerns Sheriff Noble's wife, who has been missing for three years. He is investigating Charlotte Pallack, a San Francisco woman who strongly resembles his wife, but Charlotte denies any connection. Inevitably, the FBI crosses paths with the sheriff, and they work together to solve both mysteries. The large number of characters and the switching back and forth between the two stories can be somewhat confusing. Still, this will be popular in public libraries; recommended.
Mary Knapp - Library Journal
When Julia Ransom is attacked while taking a stroll on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, an FBI agent dining nearby saves her life and finds himself drawn into her complicated world. It turns out the young, beautiful Julia is a widow; her much older celebrity-psychic husband, August, was recently savagely murdered.... Mystery-suspense fans will enjoy the colorful characters; twisting, turning plots; loads of potential suspects; and an ultimately satisfying conclusion. —Kathleen Hughes
Booklist
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Double Take:
1. Coulter has said she admires Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock—in fact, this is their 11th appearance in her books. What do you like and admire about them. Do you feel they're well-developed characters? Are they convincing? What about the others—Julia Ransom, Cheney Stone, and Dix Noble?
2. Does Cheney's attraction to Julia compromise his objectivity regarding her husband's murder? Or do his instincts matter?
3. What makes Dix so certain that Charlotte Pallack is not his wife Christie? After all, she's been missing for three years.
4. Coulter did a fair amount of research and based her psychic characters on some of San Francisco's practicing psychics. Were those parts of the book convincing to you? What are your own thoughts about psychic powers? Do they exist or not?
5. Did you enjoy the double strand of mysteries in this book? Did you expect them to come together in the way they did? If so, what were some of the clues? If not, was there anything in particular that threw you off track?
6. What is the significance of the title, "Double Take"? Is there more than one meaning—maybe a double one?
7. Are you satisfied with the ending? Does Coulter wrap up all the pieces for you? Is the ending, perhaps, too pat, or just right?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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