Dr. Lauren Chambers, a psychologist who is also a recovering agoraphobic with acute anxiety attacks, relies heavily on her husband, Michael, to keep daily life on an even keel. When Michael goes missing after a ski trip, Lauren shakily attempts to discover his whereabouts and encounters other groups with the same intention. Jacobson's fast-paced thriller swings a wide arc from CIA operatives and FBI investigators to the violent fantasies of a disturbed patient to the psychological instability of the doctor herself. Things are never quite what they appear to be, creating suspense that is intensified by the fact that readers can't tell whether Lauren's perceptions are skewed by her neuroses or are actually keen insights. Hunters become the hunted and vice versa as the plot takes hairpin turns until nearly every character's motives are suspect. Jacobson keeps readers guessing right up until the last page, so trying to put this book down is like trying not to eat the last chocolate chip cookie: most of us will just give in.

--Suzanne Young, BOOKLIST [(c) American Library Assn.] 

Library Journal

Psychologist Lauren Chambers must overcome her agoraphobia and panic attacks to search for her missing husband, Michael. From Placerville, CA to Washington, D.C., she travels with Nick Bradley, a private investigator who knows how to stay cool under pressure and ferret out the information they need. Michael Chambers has amnesia caused by an accident and has fallen in to the hands of FBI agents, who tell him that the is a former undercover agent now in the witness protection program because of testimony he gave against Anthony Scarponi. One of the most dangerous assassins in the world, Scarponi has been released from prison on a legal technicality and is out to kill the man who betrayed him and anyone else who gets in his way. From beginning to end, Jacobson (False Accusations) never falters in his handling of suspense and the multi-plot story. The characters are alive and the events credible to anyone who reads or watches the news. Jacobson has created a book that is impossible to put down and should be added to all fiction collections." 

--Joanne Vicarel



Midwest Book Review
Tense Thriller

Anthony Scarponi is an internationally renowned assassin with an organization that makes him virtually untouchable by law enforcement officials. In order to obtain the information needed to put Scarponi away for life, FBI agent Harper Payne goes undercover and joins the assassin's team. Over time, he becomes one of his most trusted employees. Eventually, Harper collects enough evidence so that Scarponi should receive a life sentence.

Dr. Lauren Chambers, an agoraphobic psychologist, has an anxiety attack when her beloved husband Michael fails to return home from a skiing trip. Private detective Nick Bradley helps Lauren track down Michael, who apparently is actually Harper. As Michael and Lauren go to extraordinary lengths to meet up and protect one another, government agents hinder their progress.

Alan Jacobson follows up his exciting best-selling False Accusations with the chilling thriller, The Hunted, a novel that keeps readers' attention all through the long cold night. Although vulnerable, Lauren shows remarkable inner strength as she goes the extra kilometer to learn just what kind of person she married. The fast-paced story line reads like a Jack Higgins thriller, but with a clearly Jacobson spin on the plot. This complex novel is worth the hardcover price.

-Harriet Klausner, Midwest Book Review/ Internet Book Watch


St. Louis Post-Dispatch

BROWSING THRILLERS
Jeremy C. Shea; Special to the Post-Dispatch; Sunday, January 28

The term "thriller" has a slightly derogatory connotation, a pulp fiction cousin to the more literate police procedural. The reality is far more complex; many of these supposedly trashy novels are expertly written, intricately plotted and, of course, highly entertaining....

"The Hunted," by Alan Jacobson is a traditional thriller, good versus evil, wild pursuits, clandestine spies and romantic asides. Jacobson has devised a fiendish plot, replete with double agents, continuous intrigue and a maze of bizarre contradictions.

The resolute heroine enmeshed in all these machinations is a young psychologist with a struggling practice and a suddenly missing husband. Her tranquil small-town life is rudely invaded by the FBI, the CIA or possibly clever imposters. Her spouse has escaped from the federal witness protection program or is returning to her former career of hired killer. Even a trusted friend is under suspicion. 

Jacobson handles these contradictions with a sure hand, providing a modern, thoroughly entertaining version of the Perils of Pauline.

The Internet Writing Journal
Claire E. White, Editor-in-chief

Psychologist Lauren Chambers has worked hard to overcome her debilitating agoraphobia and panic attacks, and has built up a practice in quiet Placerville, California. But her carefully constructed life shatters apart when her beloved husband, Michael, disappears on a skiing trip with friends. Lauren meets private investigator Nick Bradley, and the two set off on a cross-country quest to find Michael. But the more they dig into Michael's past, the stranger things get. What's worse, a professional assassin is stalking Lauren in order to get to Michael, who he believes is the ex-FBI agent who sent him to prison years ago.

Alan Jacobson, author of the bestselling False Accusations, spins a complex tale full of heart-pounding action sequences, plot twists and fascinating characters. Lauren Chambers, the psychologist who herself suffers from terrible panic attacks due to a childhood trauma, is a unique heroine for a thriller. She's smart and courageous, but she has these debilitating attacks which she must overcome. It's an interesting choice of characteristics for a heroine in a thriller, and Jacobson uses it to full effect. Is Lauren really being followed, or is she just being paranoid? And how well do you really know the people in your life? The tension builds until an exciting (and surprising) denouement. If you like thrills, psychological suspense and complex characters, this should definitely make your summer reading list.

The Internet Writing Journal is part of writerswrite.com, the Internet's largest writing site, with over 2.6 million hits and 850,000 page impressions each month. Recently, Go2net.com listed writerswrite.com as the 7th most popular book site on the Internet, after Amazon, Borders and Barnes and Noble.



Tulsa World

Jacobson again proves he's one of the best psychological suspense writers working today. His ability to weave multiple storylines and plot twists into one gripping, fast-paced story provides readers with a valuable, yet disturbing lesson: things may not always be what they appear to be...

Jacobson takes no prisoners, gives no reader a chance to take a deep breath. The story races first one way, then another, until you feel you are on a tilt-a-whirl spinning into unknown space...

For sheer reading pleasure, plus a bit of great research into the workings of the CIA, DOD, and the FBI, you won't find a better novel than The Hunted."

Daily Republic

Suspenseful 'Hunted' hits mark
Barbara H. Petersen - Daily Republic Correspondent 

Fairfield, CA - Move over John Grisham and Scott Turow; make room for Alan Jacobson, author of "The Hunted," his second suspense novel. Jacobson established himself as a top-notch writer with his first bestselling novel, "False Accusations."

"The Hunted" confirms Jacobson's ability to weave a terrific psychological thriller. He smoothly transitions the point of view from one character to another, as the plot twists and turns.

Michael and Lauren Chambers, the main characters, are believable as they struggle through a harrowing event. Michael disappears following a ski trip and wakes up in a Virginia hospital with a bullet in his thigh and no memory of how he got there. His confusion, however, doesn't detract from his wily and clever ability to elude both the FBI and more sinister hunters. Lauren, a psychologist, must face her personal demons along with the very real threat posed by a world-class assassin.

Jacobson formerly worked as a medical evaluator for the state of California. He provided expert testimony in many cases. The author lives with his wife and family in Northern California.

On False Accusations

Midwest Book Review
March 1999 Vol 9 No. 3

False Accusations
Alan Jacobson
Pocket Books
$23.95, 403 pp. ISBN- 0-671-02678-X

Dance with the devil usually means losing everything and everyone dear to the partner. Dr. Phillip Madison understands this first hand due to the stalking, accusations, and outright lies publicly stated to the media and the police by his ex-employee Brittany Harding. She accuses Phillip of rape, turning their innocent outings into incriminating trysts. To get this maniac out of his life, Phillip authorizes his lawyer to pay Brittany. However, the damage has been done. Phillip's wife believes Brittany's charges and leaves him, taking their children with her.

Phillip's life spirals even further downward when he is accused of the hit and run death of two people. Witnesses identified Phillip's car at the scene of the vehicular homicides. Upon inspection, the vehicle revealed additional incriminating evidence to include a busted headlight and blood in the front of the car. Phillip knows that Brittany has framed him. He plans to do whatever is necessary to prove his innocence and her guilt so that he can get her out of his life permanently.

Alan Jacobson and suspense are synonymous as the talented author proves with his latest novel. Mr. Jacobson builds his tale until the reader swears the unbelievable heights of suspense cannot get any higher. Instead, Mr. Jacobson pulls a twist and the octaves rise beyond the stratosphere. The realistic characters allow the audience to establish a rapport with them, especially with the beleaguered lead protagonist. The probability of anyone guessing the ending is remote even though it is reasonable, plausible, and sensible. No reader will accuse FALSE ACCUSATIONS as being anything less than a fantastic reading experience that leaves the audience clamoring for an early release of Mr. Jacobson's next book, THE HUNTED.

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner


Times Record News

Try putting this down!
Honestly, False Accusations a true thriller

Frances Tate, May 16 1999

Many times when I pick up a book by an author I have never read before I simply read the story synopsis on the jacket and essentially take a chance. Occasionally that's a big mistake--but absolutely not so in this case.

False Accusations will grip you from the opening page to the understated astonishing last paragraph.

The story centers on Dr. Phillip Madison. He's rich, lives in a big house, is happily married to a beautiful woman and has the perfect family.

He is, however, the naive and trusting type and makes mistake after mistake when dealing with sexual harassment charges brought against him by the employee from hell.

The charges are pure fabrication, but even so his fairy tale life is beginning to fall apart. His wife has left him, his medical practice is disintegrating, his reputation is shot and now he has been arrested for the murder of two highly respected social workers who were killed in a hit and run by someone driving Madison's own Mercedes.

The forensic evidence is damning and Madison has no alibi for the time of the killings. An ex-cop friend of his, Ryan Chandler, is now working in forensics and Madison convinces him to take a leave of absence from his job on the other side of the country to come to his aid. With Chandler's expertise they are able to use the forensic evidence to find the real killer--Madison's employee from hell. It seems that charges of rape against Madison didn't satisfy her desire for revenge--she chose to frame him for murder.

Jacobson opens up for the reader the fascinating world of forensics with all its minutiae, and makes it interesting and easy to understand.

The question throughout the novel is did he or didn't he--and when I was sure he didn't, there was yet another twist and I had to start all over again.

The final revelation is slipped in so quietly and is so shocking, I had to read it twice to be sure.

False Accusations is a great murder mystery. I hope I don't have to wait long for another Alan Jacobson novel.