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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | | | | ***WINNER: 2008 Eric Hoffer Award for Best Commercial Fiction***Building on the vision of Kurt Vonnegut, the suspense of Michael Crichton, and the rich characters of Stephen King, Paco Ahlgren's first novel Discipline paints a chilling picture of a world that defies human perception. Douglas Cole is being hunted --and protected--but he doesn't know it. His life has been shattered by inexplicable tragedy, his waking hours haunted by ominous visions, but the more he pursues the questions plaguing him, the more elusive the answers become. Pushed to the brink of insanity, Douglas begins a desperate psychological battle with an enemy he cannot see, the outcome of which will determine the past, present, and future of human existence. Fusing blunt, gritty realism and philosophical passion with electrifying suspense, Discipline dissects our assumptions about reality. | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Paco Ahlgren | | Hardcover: | 448 pages | | Publisher: | Greenleaf Book Group Press | | Publication Date: | July 01, 2007 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 0979084202 | | Package Length: | 9.2 inches | | Package Width: | 6.3 inches | | Package Height: | 0.8 inches | | Package Weight: | 1.1 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 69 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 69 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 22 found the following review helpful:
 Uneven--a case of missed potential Feb 08, 2008
By ScrewTheDaisies
The book opened really well, and beyond the opening were some really engaging scenes. Unfortunately they were intermixed with flat introspection, plot points that could have been much more deftly handled, two-dimensional-to-the-point-of-caricature supporting characters, five pages of a family friend explaining quantum physics, and a narrative voice that was too often intrusive.
A major tragedy early on in the book failed to reach me on an emotional level. How could that happen? I was interested in those characters--I cared about them, or thought I did until the tragedy happened and I had no response to it. I read on for a while after that, but the antagonistic characters became overdone to the point of making me say, "Okay, I'm just not interested in this anymore." A little subtlety (or finesse) would have done a world of good.
The most disappointing thing is that the good stuff in this novel was GOOD and showed that Ahlgren had the potential to make this a fantastic book, but it's not a fantastic book; it's an uneven book that failed to hold my interest.
9 of 11 found the following review helpful:
 Don't waste your time Apr 13, 2009
By G. Langham
I bought this book primarily because the descriptions of its plot and "philosophy" were so vague that it sounded interesting. If the descriptions had been accurate, I never would have bought it or read it.
I agree that the book has many pitfalls including an omniscient, hilariously retrospective narrator, "flat introspection" as a previous reviewer said, and also hilarious character names.
And these pitfalls aren't balanced out by anything in the "plot" or "story." Around page 200 the story actually gets interesting but you have to suffer through the narrator's descriptions of his first 20 years of life (in the hilarious tone as above).
**very mild spoilers ahead**
To say that this book presents a "philosophy" is a total crock. To act like Taoism and quantum mechanics are stunningly similar is completely wrong -- ESPECIALLY if the author just states it like it's self-evident and uses it as an excuse for Matrix-style action sequences. And, it is completely preposterous to act like there is a whole new perception of reality to be had in this book when the book has the underlying mechanism for all the freaky stuff that goes on as military research into psychedelic drugs. So, people take drugs which either change their perceptions (fiction) or the drugs change their cellular functioning (science fiction) and this allows them to stop bullets (action)? No philosophy in sight, my friend.
24 of 33 found the following review helpful:
Don't waste your money Dec 12, 2007
By guess who
I made it about half way through this book and it just wasn't compelling enough to hold my interest. It tries to present intricate topics in a rather basic way and fails.
The author has managed a nice bit of hype via the internet, but don't fall for it. Selections on his "reading list" are probably better.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Hard to believe this is a debut novel! Jan 08, 2008
By M. Schaub
Most first-time novels can be seen as obviously that, a first novel - and it is difficult for the author to hide that fact. Not so in the case of Paco Ahlgren's debut book, 'Discipline' - Ahlgren writes with the confidence of an author who has been published for many years. He is unafraid to introduce to the reader many topics that are not part of most people's everyday discussion...to say the least. It is not often that somebody can combine high finance, metaphysics, personal demons, chess, politics and psychology and make it digestible, but Ahlgren does that (and more), and does it with seemingly remarkable ease. The characters are well-constructed, but without the glut of back-story found so often in debut novels, as the author is struggling to make sure you get the minutiae. The reader does get a good look back at the life story of the protagonist, Douglas Cole, but that is integral to the story line. Ahlgren trusts you to engage in the story, learning about the characters as you go, thereby freeing up the pages for more action and intrigue, of which there is plenty. Told primarily in the first person from Douglas Cole's point of view, 'Discipline' takes the reader on a wild ride across the metaphysical map, between continents and through cities as Cole struggles to cope with his own personal demons while, at the same time, making decisions that could impact everyone's economic future. The book gives its readers the opportunity to ask themselves some insightful questions, as well as to ponder some interesting "what-if"s in regards to the way our world is run.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Much More Than Science Fiction/Fantasy Jan 07, 2008
By Eddie M.
"Avid reader, writer, and editor"
Paco Ahlgren's new novel Discipline is a fast-paced, intellectual thriller that keeps you on the edge of you seat until the very end. Beginning with the first page, Mr. Ahlgren creates characters and a plot line which make putting down the book nearly impossible. This compelling and sometimes downright terrifying novel asks the question: if you found out how you die, would you change the way you live? Through mind-altering drugs, dedicated friendship, quantum physics, and the great game of chess, Douglas Cole, the protagonist of Discipline, finds his place in the universe. I highly recommend this book, and I eagerly await the sequel.
See all 69 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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