Quicksand - by William P Wood (Hardcover)

About the Book

As head of California's task force on narcotics and organized crime, Brock Andrews has earned his reputation as a tough, no-nonsense law enforcement agent. With his hardball tactics and skillful handling of informants, his team has successfully brought down some of the country's most violent and powerful criminals. But it's Brock's superior who's about to become his greatest adversary. Her name: Alison Andrews, First Assistant United States Attorney ... and Brock's wife. Publicly, Alison and Brock Andrews are a dynamic power couple at the pinnacle of federal law enforcement. Privately, their marriage is on the rocks. And the growing tension between them has only worsened with Alison's release of Edward Nelson, the disgraced CIA employee and international arms dealer Brock arrested months earlier in the biggest bust of his career. What Brock doesn't know is that Alison has recruited Nelson as her most important undercover operator in a plot to ensnare a ring of domestic terrorists smuggling arms overseas. Nelson, a master manipulator skilled at deadly games, has a plan of his own -- to turn Alison's undercover operation inside out, unleash a secret army of heavily armed militiamen, and target Washington's high-powered political arena for a terrorist act of unparalleled proportions. Nelson is once again number one on Brock's most wanted list. But with Alison protecting him from arrest, the only way to get to him is through an informant Brock has taken into custody. And while crucial information from this secret source helps Brock put together the pieces of Nelson's insidious plan, it lays open more questions -- and even more disturbing possibilities, including Alison's complicity in criminal activity. Soon, Brock finds himself deep in a morass of shifting loyalties, outright betrayals, and hidden agendas that leave him running out of trust -- and time. One thing is certain. Each hour matters, as Brock sets a dramatic trap to capture Nelson ... and stop a terrifying attack on the heart of the nation. But first, he has to uncover the most dangerous truth of all.

Book Synopsis

As head of California's task force on narcotics and organized crime, Brock Andrews has earned his reputation as a tough, no-nonsense law enforcement agent. With his hardball tactics and skillful handling of informants, his team has successfully brought down some of the country's most violent and powerful criminals. But it's Brock's superior who's about to become his greatest adversary. Her name: Alison Andrews, First Assistant United States Attorney . . . and Brock's wife.




Publicly, Alison and Brock Andrews are a dynamic power couple at the pinnacle of federal law enforcement. Privately, their marriage is on the rocks. And the growing tension between them has only worsened with Alison's release of Edward Nelson, the disgraced CIA employee and international arms dealer Brock arrested months earlier in the biggest bust of his career. What Brock doesn't know is that Alison has recruited Nelson as her most important undercover operator in a plot to ensnare a ring of domestic terrorists smuggling arms overseas. Nelson, a master manipulator skilled at deadly games, has a plan of his own-to turn Alison's undercover operation inside out, unleash a secret army of heavily armed militiamen, and target Washington's high-powered political arena for a terrorist act of unparalleled proportions.




Nelson is once again number one on Brock's most wanted list. But with Alison protecting him from arrest, the only way to get to him is through an informant Brock has taken into custody. And while crucial information from this secret source helps Brock put together the pieces of Nelson's insidious plan, it lays open more questions-and even more disturbing possibilities, including Alison's complicity in criminal activity. Soon, Brock finds himself deep in a morass of shifting loyalties, outright betrayals, and hidden agendas that leave him running out of trust-and time. One thing is certain. Each hour matters, as Brock sets a dramatic trap to capture Nelson . . . and stop a terrifying attack on the heart of the nation. But first, he has to uncover the most dangerous truth of all . . .

Review Quotes

"A fiendishly clever...downright brilliant book. I recommend it highly." -John Lescroart, New York Times bestselling author of The 13th Juror

"COMPELLING . . . A bloody showdown between manipulative killer and dedicated prosecutor from which no one emerges unscathed... Wood knows the intricacies and ironies of the legal system." -San Diego Union "SUSPENSE-FILLED . . . Realistic, fast- moving . . . Molina is the kind of criminal that you love to hate." -Daily Press (Newport News, VA) "A unique legal thriller . . . Wood knows the ins and outs of prisons, courts, government witness programs . . . Gangland demonstrates graphically the tensions, frustrations, and personal dangers often endured by the families of crime victims."-Deltona Enterprise (FL) "William P. Wood . . . knows the intricacies and ironies of the legal system. He also knows how to employ them to weave a compelling story." -San Diego Union "William P. Wood, a former prosecutor, knows well how to surprise and engross us." -Vincent Bugliosi, international bestselling author of Helter Skelter "What Joseph Wambaugh did for law enforcement, William P. Wood will do for the judiciary." -Tulsa World

Despite its somewhat ludicrous premise?a husband-and-wife team of assistant U.S. attorneys (she's his boss) who lie to each other, withhold vital information and then wonder why their marriage is in trouble?Wood's (Broken Trust) new thriller offers a great deal of action and a worthy villain. Arms dealer and former CIA agent Ed Nelson is a credible and deadly combination of softness and guile. He's more than a match for Alison Andrews, the ambitious first assistant U.S. attorney general, and her tougher, more pragmatic husband, Brock, who work out of Sacramento, live in a restored mansion where nude swimming keeps their sex life active and generally share everything but the important stuff. "Perhaps," Alison wonders, "they no longer shared the same dreams." In fact, Alison has been arm-twisted into letting Nelson walk after Brock and his team risked their lives to nail him. Justifiably miffed, Brock keeps secrets from Alison about his ongoing investigation into one of Nelson's associates?another believably weak but dangerous con named Denny Lara. In fluid prose, former deputy district attorney Wood is at his best showing how government operatives often trip over their own guns. He's on much shakier ground trying to make us care if the Andrews marriage can or should be saved. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

A senior federal investigator battles the even more senior federal investigator blocking his attempt to bring a big-time villain to justice. The switch: these investigators are wedded. Not that there's much left for them in the bliss department. It's a marriage under severe pressure from dueling egos and irreconcilable ambitions. Brock Andrews, head of a task force on organized crime, wants desperately to nail Ed Nelson, once a CIA super spook but now a sleazy, tacky, fast-buck operator who'll sell anything to anybodyarms, drugs, secrets, whatever a well-heeled buyer's heart desires. And if the prospective buyer happens to be a rogue government or right-wing US terrorist organization, so be it. Nelson's problems are never ethical, only tacticalwhere to get the wanted stuff, how to kill whoever stands in his way. First Assistant US Attorney in California Alison AndrewsBrock's wife and bossstarts out wanting Nelson's hide as much as her husband does. But that changes when a certain highly placed Washington powerbroker convinces her that there's a better plan. Turn the bad guy. Use the evidence Brock has compiled to make an informer out of Nelson. Go after the sharks, he says. There's corruption on the loose even more dangerous than what Ed Nelson represents. Alison is drawn to the idea; Brock hates it. ``Nelson's somebody you just stop. Period, '' he insists. So the gulf between them remains intact, actually growing wider as the tide of events washes away good will and mutual understanding. But then, finally, shockingly, the gulf closesafter a violent climax neither of the two foresaw or wished. A good story, twistier than it has to be, but held together by a sturdy spine: the intriguing war between the Andrewses, who love passionately even when they no longer dare to trust. -- Copyright (c)1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.