24 Hours - Hardcover

Iles, Greg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399146245 ISBN 13: 9780399146244

Publisher: Putnam Adult, 2000

Synopsis

When a psychopathic con man kidnaps Will and Karen Jennings's five-year-old daughter, the couple decide to fight back to save their daughter. 80,000 first printing. Lit Guild Feat Alt.

About this title

Review:

This explosive suspense thriller gets off to a blistering start: the kidnapping of a little boy--in eight breathless pages--that culminates with the child's safe return and the disappearance of the successful kidnappers. That sets the stage for the book's centerpiece, the abduction of little Abby Jennings, daughter of Will, a successful physician, and Karen, a slightly dissatisfied suburban woman who's wondering where the passion in her marriage went. The criminals' modus operandi is established early on. They target the progeny of Mississippi doctors, demand a reasonable (to an affluent M.D.) ransom, release the child after it's paid, and promise the victim parents that if they ever breathe a word of the incident to anyone, their kids will be taken again and killed. The kidnappings are carefully set up, targeted to take place when one parent is out of town at a medical meeting or convention, thus ensuring the cooperation of the other. And the victim is held by a sweet, slightly retarded but humongous and powerful man whose loyalty to his cousin, the mastermind, is unquestioned.

24 Hours is a version of the locked room school of kidnap mysteries and a very good one indeed, especially when Will turns the tables on the kidnapper and takes control of the situation. Abby's diabetic condition (she needs lifesaving injections on a regular basis) notches the suspense up one last turn. It's a well worked-out plot, the pacing is terrific, and the characters likable and attractive. Iles is a master storyteller, and this one has big screen written all over it--with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as the Jennings, if we're lucky. --Jane Adams

About the Author:

Greg Iles is the author of The Quiet Game, Mortal Fear, Black Cross, and Spandau Phoenix.

About this edition

• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0399146245
• ISBN 13: 9780399146244
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 335