The Husband
Right from the start of THE HUSBAND, Dean Koontz barely gives you time to breathe. When the book in question is a thriller, that’s a very good thing indeed.
In accordance with the zero-to-60 style of Koontz’s recent VELOCITY, it begins with a jolt as a happily married, mild-mannered Everyman named Mitch Rafferty receives a call on his cell phone informing him that: a) his wife has been kidnapped, and b) he has 60 hours to pay a $2 million ransom in cold, hard cash. The demand seems excessive, given Rafferty is just a self-employed landscaper of a two-man operation with $11 grand in the bank, but to show they’re serious, a man walking his dog across the street is then assassinated by a sniper’s bullet. Those flowers can wait, Mitch.
Under strict orders not to involve the police, Mitch is desperate. But also desperately in love, he does what he can, playing by their rules and exacting instructions. One of his orders is to visit a specific family member who agrees to pony up the money. However, this being Koontz and the book’s halfway point not yet reached, you know Mitch isn’t getting off the hook that easily. In fact, the next couple of days will involve an ever-escalating stress case of multiple murders, deception and a bizarre religious vision.
One wonders if Koontz wrote THE HUSBAND to challenge himself, because it keeps putting Mitch into seemingly impossible corners, even moreso than characters in previous books. Yet Koontz manages to write his way out at every turn, and do so plausibly. The plotting is tight, and the suspense tightly wound, with each chapter ratcheting the already unbearable tension. And before you know it, 400 pages has flown by as if it were 40. That speed brings an end that’s a little abrupt (as is the midpoint twist), but it makes more sense than VELOCITY’s out-of-nowhere reveal. If there’s anything to really dislike about the novel, it’s the atrocious Harlequin-looking cover. I mean, THE HUSBAND may close with one of the most moving descriptions of love I’ve ever read, but this is no romance – it’s one excellent kidnapping tale, and a major return to form for Koontz. –Rod Lott
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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN: BOOK ONE – PRODIGAL SON by Dean Koontz and Kevin J. Anderson
• DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN: BOOK TWO – CITY OF NIGHT by Dean Koontz and Ed Gorman
• DEMON SEED by Dean Koontz
• THE FACE OF FEAR by Dean Koontz
• FOREVER ODD by Dean Koontz
• ODD THOMAS by Dean Koontz
• VELOCITY by Dean Koontz
[...] Forums Previous post: « The Husband posted in Features, Whatnot 12:33 pm [...]
[...] This debut melds the religious stakes of that CODE book with the marital urgency of Dean Koontz’s THE HUSBAND. That it’s able to live up to those standards for about three-fourths of the way shows extreme promise. For that, I’m recommending THE RIGHTEOUS MEN, but not as much as what I expect will be an even better follow-up. –Rod Lott [...]
[...] • THE HUSBAND by Dean Koontz • DARK HARVEST by Norman Partridge • ASK THE PARROT by Richard Stark • ECHO PARK by Michael Connelly • THE CRIMES OF JORDAN WISE by Bill Pronzini • THE DEAD LETTERS by Tom Piccirilli • THE EMPIRE OF ICE CREAM by Jeffrey Ford • ROAD TO PARADISE by Max Allan Collins • EVERYBODY KILLS SOMEBODY SOMETIME by Robert Randisi • THE CHINATOWN DEATH CLOUD PERIL by Paul Malmont –Ed Gorman [...]
[...] OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR: • DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN: BOOK ONE – PRODIGAL SON by Dean Koontz and Kevin J. Anderson • DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN: BOOK TWO – CITY OF NIGHT by Dean Koontz and Ed Gorman • DEMON SEED by Dean Koontz • THE FACE OF FEAR by Dean Koontz • FOREVER ODD by Dean Koontz • THE HUSBAND by Dean Koontz • ODD THOMAS by Dean Koontz • VELOCITY by Dean Koontz [...]
[...] THE FACE OF FEAR by Dean Koontz • FOREVER ODD by Dean Koontz • THE GOOD GUY by Dean Koontz • THE HUSBAND by Dean Koontz • ODD HOURS by Dean Koontz • ODD THOMAS by Dean Koontz • VELOCITY by Dean [...]