The Husband
by Dean Koontz
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Book Summary Information
Author: Dean KoontzEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-05-01
ISBN: 0553589091
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of The Husband
Book Review: "It doesn't feel real to me....It feels movie."
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had a soft spot for Dean Koontz's suspense novels ever since I read Strangers (1986) and Watchers (1987). These spine-tingling novels feature likable characters who are slowly sucked into danger, their escape becoming more and more unlikely as time passes. The plots develop quickly as the forces of good and evil compete for domination over the innocent, unsuspecting characters.
(No spoilers.) In this novel, Mitchell Rafferty, a landscape contractor, learns that his wife Holly has been kidnapped and will be killed unless Mitch pays two million dollars. To prove their seriousness, the kidnappers direct Mitch to look at the dog walker across the street. As he watches, the man is shot in the head. On his return home, his kitchen looks like the scene of a bloody struggle, the details arranged to suggest that Mitch is Holly's murderer.
Mitch and his brother and three sisters have had an unusual upbringing. Their parents, both tenured professors of psychology, have experimented on them, subjecting them to atrocities like "the learning room," in which Mitch, as an eight-year-old, spent twenty days of sensory deprivation. Home-schooled, the five children have learned to be self-sufficient atheists with no prescribed moral code, their values determined by their environment and their personal decisions. All have responded differently to their upbringing, with the unpretentious Mitch and his millionaire brother Anson being tne most different.
One hundred fifty pages elapse before Mitch (and the reader) learns why Holly has been kidnapped and understands the terrifying implications for Holly's future. Moments of excitement, an increasing body count, and several fight-to-the-death episodes keep the action high, but the novel, overall, is not as suspenseful as some of Koontz's earlier work. The plot starts slowly and feels sketchy (almost like an outline), the increasing complications coming from external forces, rather than from within the characters themselves.
Koontz does include some vibrant descriptions, often tailoring them to reflect the mood of the characters, and as is his custom, includes moments of humor, needed to break the tension. At one point, Mitch comments that "It doesn't feel real to me." And his brother responds, "It feels movie." With a sympathetic main character and an offbeat plot with a frightening premise, Koontz is certain to have another big seller here, but this book is not the equivalent in development and suspense of his earlier books, such as Strangers and Watchers. The plot is formulaic, and many details are left unresolved at the conclusion. (3.5 stars) n Mary Whipple
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