This is my first David Wiltse book, but probably won't be mylast simply because I like the way the man writes. FBI Agent JohnBecker seems like he could be an interesting character (this book hints at a dark past), but in Bone Deep he is given little to do except whine. Captain Luv is an interesting enough character but I knew who he was as soon as Wiltse introduced him, ruining any suspense this book might have had. This makes Bone Deep overlong and boring becuase while the law enforcement officers spend the first 300 pages on the wrong track (Wiltse really wants you to believe it's someone else) the reader is detached because the solution is so obvious. Add to that the fact that every major character is either having an affair or suspecting their partner of having one and you're left with a turgid mess to wade through. There is a reason to read Bone Deep though: David Wiltse knows how to write dialogue. The conversations between Becker and his small town police chief friend are quick witted and true to life.

This is the first (and probably NOT the last) David Wiltse book I've read - I'll probaby read some of his other Becker books. This book started out pretty good - kept my interest and moved along quickly. Then, about 50 pages til the end, it just started to get boring. I had the 'villian' guessed halfway thru the book, it was that predictable. But, I liked the Becker character and his FBI-boss Karen. I will most likely read other books by this author.

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.

David Wiltse is an accomplished -if neglected -thriller writer but this , his debut novel has little to set it apart from the string of competent if routine novels the genre produces each year.
It is essentially the story of Peter Stanhope-estranged from his steely father ,the head of Stanhope Securities and Surveillance,a group called in by the US government to advise on matteres of global import-and his attempts to kill a hit man,hired by a former US president who is anxious to get his grubby little hands on $68 million ,this being a bribe by the now deposed Shah of Persia given to aid his plea for political assylum.
Stirred into the mix are Stanhope,s burgeoning love affair with an aspiring actress and his brother Austin's attempts to grab the whole pot for himself
The action scenes are punchy and visceral without grossness and the bad guy is suitably reptillian.The climax is splendid,involving a chase in Central Park but the journey to there takes too long and the writing never really grips
I suspect part of the problem is authorial inexperience in novel form and later books are more gripping and better constructed
Its not bad and thriller mavens will not be bored,but I would advise starting to read Wiltse later on in his career,with the Becker novels
Good but not great

What a wonderful, exciting, interesting book. It's very hard to believe that this is the author's first work but it does have an energy and imagination that isn't found in the novels of more established writers. The story of a security operative who had left the world of corporate spying to be dragged back in to find out who is trying to kill him. Lurking in the background are President Nixon (and who could doubt his connection to anything nefarious?) and the Shah of Iran, thus giving a unique historical twist to the tale. Toss in family dynamics and that little bit of acid that haunts us all with parents and siblings, and you have quite a book.

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.

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.

Well when I read this book I thought it was really great how Mark Sitzer was a man that you could never now what he's gonna get up too. He had no fear and that wasn't the only thing this guy had the brains of many and also the reading he did in the institute mad him more of a man to fear. I reackon David Wiltse did a great job in writing this book.

This is the second book I've read of the FBI Agent John Becker series by Wiltse. Becker's a troubled, on-the-edge sort whom the bad guys fear will go nuts and whack them just because he can't help himself. Sort of a disturbing characteristic to find in an FBI agent. Characterizations were excellent from the gangbanger street types to the hitman wannabe to the redhaired blushing female agent with the gun strapped to her thigh. Excellent

I've read and loved all of David Wiltse's Becker novels, so I would have probably loved this one no matter how bad it was. Luckily, there was enough action and dialogue to keep me entertained throughout the book. The only problem I have with his later novels is that Wiltse has been making Becker too witty and light, forgetting how tormented he usually is when on the hunt. The humor's always a nice counterpoint to the psychos though, so the light tone works effectively in this book.

Having hung tenaciously to every word ever written about John Becker, I devoured this newest offering. It did not disappoint me. Wiltse continues to develop Becker's character, embellishing on his established traits, and revealing further insights into the complexities of Becker's psyche. The end is left unresolved, begging for another book which Wiltse's publisher has declined to option. Time to write Putnam