Mitch Rafferty receives a call one day that his wife is being held hostage for two million dollars. A middle class landscaper, Mitch thinks the call must be a joke - until a nearby dog walker is murdered as proof of the kidnappers intent. Suddenly, Mitch is plunged into a desperate search for his wife and a struggle against the ties that bind.
The novel follows Mitch through a range of emotions and actions. He knows he has no way of obtaining that kind of money, and so figures the kidnappers want him to knock of a bank, or engage in some kind of similarly criminal activity. At the same time, they have managed to set the stage so that he will take the rap for any number of things - including the murder of his wife. Mitch tries to be both proactive and obedient, and winds up in a huge mess.
Mitch and his wife, Holly, are both wonderfully developed. As we follow Mitch in search of the money and fight with Holly for her survival, we become quite close to the pair of them. Holly has a tough exterior that reminds us of other Koontz women. She is both strong and proactive, not willing to engage in the 'victim' mentality as she seeks to free herself and worries about her husband. Mitch is customarily quick on his feet as he dodges the cops and tries to find both the reason for the blackmail and the money.
However, I have to say that the 'bad guy' just doesn't live up to Koontz's normal portrayal. The kidnappers are very lightly touched upon, with only the craziest receiving the most attention. Oddly enough, we never enter his mind and, in fact, never even see his face; he always wears a ski mask. Koontz has previously taken us through some very colorful criminals, people so evil they make us shudder. This time around, we only view the bad guy from the outside. It was nice not to enter such a diseased mind, but I was surprised to find that I missed it.
The secondary bad guy, who caused the whole heist to take place, was a bit more intriguing. With him, we got more of that great background information Koontz is so good with. His break with reality was easily foreshadowed, although still quite surprising, and I was impressed with how smoothly Koontz carried it off.
Another problem I had as a frequent Koontz reader was expectation. How many times has Koontz employed a sensory deprivation chamber to result in something bizarre? Of course, when such a chamber entered the novel, I braced myself for some otherworldly experience. With that sort of expectation hanging over my head, I guess I was a little disappointed in the normalness of the conclusion. That said, this should only be a problem for frequent readers (and maybe not even them), and in no way impacts the overall writing of the novel.
Koontz creates some realistic characters with great motivation. I love the way he set up the kidnapping, and his development of Mitch, his parents, and his brother was masterful. He draws us into the book and keeps us actively engaged. Another great novel from the master.
Nola Redd is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Poetry Contests. You can read more of her book reviews in her Biblio-file
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