Headlines scream across the nation as a country in near panic pleads for the capture of the killers. With little progress, U.S. President Samuel Schroeder asks Jack McCall, a veteran of the CIA and Defense Intelligence, to head up a special multi-agency task force to find the killers. A frustrated and unhappy FBI designates, as its representative, Rachel Johnstone, an agent with whom Jack has had some personal history. 

The Third Coincidence unfolds amidst continued assassinations, accusations that the president is attempting to form his own secret police, and confirmation hearings for reluctant nominees to fill the vacant positions while the Supreme Court struggles to sustain a quorum. Will a terrorist group or a mad assassin succeed in destroying these revered intuitions? 

In the spirit of The Day of the Jackal and The Manchurian Candidate, this story is juxta-posed through the eyes of both the hunter and the hunted as the devious plot to change America hurdles forward.

A madman with a thirst for vengeance against the U.S. government compels the president to have CIA agent Jack McCall create a special task force to stop the killings. With a Federal Reserve Board member and two Supreme Court justices assassinated, the entire country is in a panic. Nominees to fill the positions become targets as well, so the entire government shuts down until the murderer can be apprehended. The story line fluctuates between McCall on a manhunt and the killer with McCall in his crosshairs. Unfortunately, what should have been a gripping story actually reads like a rushed outline. The characters are shallow, the suspense lacking, and the dialogue is not convincing at all. The great premise may still draw a few readers, but this could have been so much better than it is. --Jeff Ayers

The Third Coincidence
An inventive killer takes his grudge against the Supreme Court and the Federal Reserve Board to deadly extremes: he poisons Justice Adam Monroe; cuts Justice Herbert Clarkson Montgomery's throat; and ensures Federal Reserve governor J.T. Santee suffers a fatal accident while driving too fast in the Poconos. President Samuel Schroeder calls on Jack McCall, a special assistant to the CIA director, to head a special task force. More killings follow, along with demands from someone identifying himself as Commander LW of the American Militia to Restore Representative Government. McCall's team works feverishly to identify the killer, while LW continues his one-man, cross-country crusade to eliminate a growing list of targets. Pedestrian prose, stock characters, and a repetitive plot doom this cinematic effort. (Feb.) PUBLISHERS WEEKLY