[.ca] The Program (ISBN 0440237262)

From Amazon.com:
Alan Gregory, the Boulder psychologist who's starred in Stephen White's long-running series of suspense novels, takes second billing in The Program. The star is Kirsten Lord, a New Orleans prosecutor who lands in Gregory's office after her husband is killed and her daughter's life threatened by a criminal she sent to prison. "Every precious thing I lose, you will lose two" is the warning that sends her on the run until she finally lands in the Witness Protection Program. But the danger's a long way from over. As a prosecutor, she was a loud and public critic of "the program," and as events unfold, it appears that her deadliest enemies may not be safely behind bars. Some of the most interesting passages put Kirsten and Gregory together in scenes that underscore White's professional expertise. A clinical psychologist in private practice in Boulder, he brings his understanding of human nature out of the consulting room and onto the page. Fans of Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware will love Alan Gregory, whose relatively minor role at the start grows as the plot deepens and turns a hunt-and-chase thriller into a multidimensional, complex, and vividly realized novel. Long overdue for a place high on the bestseller list, White may well break out with this one. --Jane Adams

This has got to be Alan at his all time DUMBEST!:
In The Program, Alan Gregory has only a bit part this time but never has he been more lame. The main character, Peyton, is in the Witness Protection program because she has people wanting her and her daughter dead. Now they're missing, her house is in shambles, blood is present on the scene and Alan is once again whining about how he can't breech confidence unless he knows she's in imminent danger. Duh, Alan, what did the nice marshall just tell you about her house? He says that the front window is busted out, her bedroom furniture is all over the place and there is blood. Too bad, Alan the Righteous is still not talking! And I kid you not this is what Alan says: "Let's both of us pray that she met a guy and that her daugher's at a friend's house at a sleepover. I kid you not. Would someone please shoot Alan and put him out of his misery? Actually about the only character in this book that has enough sense to come in out of a hard pouring rain is the hit man, Carl. What a preposterous story. Weird too, the birth of their long awaited baby is barely a footnote. I would have thought it would be given more space than a bare mention. Definitely not Mr. White's best.

Good read but choppy plot:
Characters in this book were interesting. Especially Carl! The whole whale thread was very annoying and didn't mesh throughout the book. The best thing about S. White's books is he always has a fresh plotline and his writing is sharply drawn. He gives the characters humanity and humor and makes them leap off the pages. A good read but not his best.

Another clever and well-balanced mystery from White:
Alan Gregory is my favorite of the shrink detectives out there. I find his mental explorations refreshingly free from tabloid science, and while he certainly deals with the extremes in human nature it still stays in the believable range. _The Program_ is an excellent series entry and a little bit of a change via its alternating narrators. (Alternating narrators are almost universally done poorly in mystery novels-- this is the well-done exception to the rule.) Points off for some unnecessary plot convolution near the end, but overall great characters and worth the time to read.

A Great Read:
When I read the first chapter of this I didn't know if I was going to like this book or not, because I didn't know what was going on with what few details it gave. It goes straight to action without no introduction. Which, after you start reading it, makes it even more interesting as it tells the story and everything else you need to know. The main character, Kirsten, will probably be a well liked character, especially her daughter. I like how Stephem White writes in this book. How he tells a story is like telling a great story to one of your friends. No fancy talk or too much descriptions, bur just *real* conversation. Not alot of authors use that. I could never put this book down because I was desperate to know what would happen next. There is a lot of surprises in this book, romance being one. I never saw Carl as the romantic type until the main character did. Whenever he was helping her escape and especially at the end of the book. The end was most suspensful and was like watching a good action movie. This book describes what happens when you need help from a so called enemy after you try to bring them down. Not everybody will be on your side, but you have better people to help you out.

A CAN'T PUT DOWN MULTI-LAYERED STORY:
A frightening multi-layered story, The Program introduces a new protagonist for Stephen White - New Orleans District Attorney Kirsten Lord. After Kirsten's husband is murdered by a hired gun, she soon discovers that her own life and that of her nine-year-old daughter's is threatened. Feeling she has no other valid choice she seeks safety in Boulder, Colorado under the Witness Protection Program. However, once in the program she meets another who is being protected, Carl Luppo. He is a lone mob hit man very much, she suspects, like the man who killed her husband. Sensing her danger, Luppo befriends Kirsten; he appoints himself her guardian. But, he is he truly knight errant or persecutor? Kirsten's chaotic life is in stark contrast to the relative tranquility enjoyed by Alan Gregory, a psychological consultant to the Protection Program and his wife who are preparing for the birth of their first child. There's both darkness and light in this suspenseful tale as it reveals the internal workings of the Witness Protection Program and the emotional toll it takes on those who have sought safety. It's a taut, finely paced drama for thriller afficionados. - Gail Cooke