#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "Koontz is America's No. 1 author of thrillers [and] The Husband is one of his finest novels."--The Denver Post
We have your wife. You get her back for two million cash. On an ordinary afternoon, an ordinary man, a gardener of modest means, gets a phone call out of his worst nightmare. The caller is dead serious. He doesn't care that Mitch can't raise that kind of money. If she's everything to you, then you'll find a way.
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Mitchell Rafferty is a landscape gardener--not a rich man--who receives a phone call that he initially thinks is some kind of a hoax: he is told that for two million in cash, he can get his wife back from the people who have abducted her. But he is quickly given an object lesson in the seriousness of the people he is dealing with--while on the phone, trying to take in what he's been told, it s suggested to him that he looks at a man across the street. A rifle shot rings out, and the man falls, shot in the head. The terror and desperation that Rafferty feels are compounded by one simple fact: he has absolutely no way of acquiring such a massive sum. But his caller doesn't seem to be interested in such niceties--if Mitchell loves his wife enough, he'll find a way. And he has exactly 60 hours in which to do it.
With a premise like this, any halfway decent writer would be able to ratchet up the tension to ensure that the reader is comprehensively gripped. But Koontz isn't just interested in the execution of a precision-tooled plot (although, God knows, he s an old hand at handling such things). What we get along with the cleverly orchestrated tension is a series of killer twists--the kind that Koontz has always been adept at. It goes without saying that a setup such as this allows little room for nuances of characterisation, but that's never been Koontz s métier in any case. However, if you're looking for a thriller that is the purest escapism, look no further.
--Barry Forshaw
"A pulse-pounding thriller with echoes of Hitchcock."--Publishers Weekly
"Moves like a roller coaster without brakes . . . Koontz is America's No. 1 author of thrillers [and] The Husband is one of his finest novels."--The Denver Post
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Book Description Condition: New. 2012. Reprint. Paperback. . . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780345533333
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER We have your wife. You get her back for two million cash. On an ordinary afternoon, an ordinary man, a gardener of modest means, gets a phone call out of his worst nightmare. The caller is dead serious. He doesnt care that Mitch cant raise that kind of money. If shes everything to you, then youll find a way. Mitch loves his wife more than life itself. Hes got sixty hours to prove it. He has to find the two million by then. But hell pay a lot more. Hell pay anything.BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Dean Koontz's The City. In this #1 "New York Times" bestseller, Koontz offers the story of an ordinary man whose commitment to his wife will take him on a harrowing journey of adventure, sacrifice, and redemption to the mystery of love itself--and to a showdown with the darkness that would destroy it forever. Available in a tall Premium Edition. Reissue. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780345533333
Book Description Condition: New. 2012. Reprint. Paperback. . . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # V9780345533333
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Book Description mass_market. Condition: New. Reprint. Product Description#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERWe have your wife. You get her back for two million cash. On an ordinary afternoon, an ordinary man, a gardener of modest means, gets a phone call out of his worst nightmare. The caller is dead serious. He doesn t care that Mitch can t raise that kind of money. If she s everything to you, then you ll find a way.Mitch loves his wife more than life itself. He s got sixty hours to prove it. He has to find the two million by then. But he ll pay a lot more. He ll pay anything.BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Dean Koontz's The City.Review"A pulse-pounding thriller with echoes of Hitchcock."-Publishers Weekly"Moves like a roller coaster without brakes . . . Koontz is America s No. 1 author of thrillers [and] The Husband is one of his finest novels."-The Denver Post"Breakneck speed and complexities . . . Koontz is a master of the edge-of-your-seat, paranoid thriller-and perhaps the leading American practitioner of the form."-The Star-Ledger"[A] hair-raising thriller . . . Nothing should be given away about this sinuous nail-biter s developments . . . all help ratchet up the suspense."-Booklist (starred review)About the AuthorDean Koontz, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirits of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Chapter OneA man begins dying at the moment of his birth. Most people live in denial of Death s patient courtship until, late in life and deep in sickness, they become aware of him sitting bedside.Eventually, Mitchell Rafferty would be able to cite the minute that he began to recognize the inevitability of his death: Monday, May 14, 11:43 in the morning-three weeks short of his twenty-eighth birthday.Until then, he had rarely thought of dying. A born optimist, charmed by nature s beauty and amused by humanity, he had no cause or inclination to wonder when and how his mortality would be proven.When the call came, he was on his knees.Thirty flats of red and purple impatiens remained to be planted. The flowers produced no fragrance, but the fertile smell of the soil pleased him.His clients, these particular homeowners, liked saturated colors: red, purple, deep yellow, hot pink. They would not accept white blooms or pastels.Mitch understood them. Raised poor, they had built a successful business by working hard and taking risks. To them, life was intense, and saturated colors reflected the truth of nature s vehemence.This apparently ordinary but in fact momentous morning, the California sun was a buttery ball. The sky had a basted sheen.Pleasantly warm, not searing, the day nevertheless left a greasy sweat on Ignatius Barnes. His brow glistened. His chin dripped.At work in the same bed of flowers, ten feet from Mitch, Iggy looked boiled. From May until July, his skin responded to the sun not with melanin but with a fierce blush. For one-sixth of the year, before he finally tanned, he appeared to be perpetually embarrassed.Iggy did not possess an understanding of symmetry and harmony in landscape design, and he couldn t be trusted to trim roses properly. He was a hard worker, however, and good if not intellectually bracing company."You hear what happened to Ralph Gandhi?" Iggy asked."Who s Ralph Gandhi?""Mickey s brother.""Mickey Gandhi? I don t know him, either.""Sure you do," Iggy said. "Mickey, he hangs out sometimes at Rolling Thunder."Rolling Thunder was a surfers bar."I haven t been there in years," Mitch said."Years? Are you serious?""Entirely.""I thought you still dropped in sometimes.""So I ve really been missed, huh?""I ll admit, nobody s named a bar stool after you. What-did you find someplace better than Rolling Thunder?""Remember coming to my wedding three years ago?" Mitch asked."Sure. You had great seafood tacos, but. Seller Inventory # BKZN9780345533333