24 Hours - Hardcover

Iles, Greg

4.03

12,764 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0340770058 ISBN 13: 9780340770054

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, 2000

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Will Jennings, his wife and little girl are a happy American family, living in Mississippi. Hickey is a con-man and kidnapper. He targets his victims very carefully and takes great pains to make sure no one is ever hurt. He has yet to kill. All his victims have come up with the money and the authorities have never been involved.

His perfect record is down to two things: One, he always stays with the parents or person with the money. Two, he never asks for money than they can afford.

But when he tries to rip Will's family apart, he get's alot more than he bargained for... All in one fateful day.

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Review:

Greg Iles's explosive suspense thriller 24 Hours 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 centrepiece, 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 MD) ransom, release the child after the money's been paid and promise the victim's parents that if they ever breathe a word of the incident to anyone, their child 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 likeable 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

Review:

Start with an irresistible plot, add a heavy dose of historical intrigue, mix a host of shadowy characters, just a dash of terror on very page ... and you have Spandau Phoenix, a scorching read (John Grisham)

MORTAL FEAR is a fine piece of writing and a tremendous thriller. In it, technology knows its place - as fiction's servant never its master (Independent)

Books such as MORTAL FEAR marked out Iles as a novelist of distinction and ambition but the level of achievement in this new book comes as a surprise; the author's ability to take on powerful themes such as the limits of personal responsibility (while never losing the momentum of an accessible thriller) is singularly impressive (Publishing News)

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