The Husband
by Dean Koontz
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Book Reviews of The Husband
Book Review: What Would YOU Do?
Summary: 4 Stars
Mitch is a kind, decent guy. Just a working-class gardener, not rich but comfortable with all that he needs. A nice little house, a wife he adores and a business he has nurtured. That peace is shattered on a quiet morning when he is phoned and informed that he has 60 hours to come up with two million dollars in order to get his wife back alive.
The suspense starts there, and the tension does not ease for 450 pages. When you think there are simply no more twists that could be added to this coil, Koontz throws in another one. At times the intensity of the situation is almost unbearable, for Mitch and for Koontz's readers. In this way, The Husband reminded me of Koontz's novel Intensity for the situations Mitch found himself in and the means he had to use to get out of them.
I only reduce the rating by one star because the ending is a bit "tidy," and just a touch implausible. Without giving much away, Mitch has to do some incredibly terrifying things to succeed in his quest, and I would have like to have seen the consequences of those actions explored a bit more. That wasn't the crux of the story, however, and this was a ripping good read which kept me up well into the wee hours.
Book Review: Reviewed for Midwest Book Review
Summary: 5 Stars
Mitchell Rafferty's happy living a middle-class life. He owns his own landscaping company and is deeply in love with his wife Holly. Mitch is somewhat amazed everything seems so normal for him, considering the way he and his four siblings were raised by his nontraditional parents. But his world tilts off balance with one phone call, the man on the other end of the line telling him he has his wife and she will be killed unless Mitch can raise two million dollars within 70 hours. Mitch knows he can't go to the cops because the kidnappers seem to know his every move, so turns to his older brother Anson. Anson assures Mitch he can get the money, but Mitch's world crumbles when Anson betrays him. From that point on, Mitch is on his own and will do whatever it takes to return Holly safely to him.
From page one, the book is packed with suspense and action, keeping the reader riveted to the story and rooting for Mitch to overcome obstacle after obstacle as he tries to find a way to save Holly. As always, characterization is excellent; no one does evil characters better than Koontz, nor the sweet romance between a good man and woman. Consider this another great book by the master of fiction.
Book Review: Not what I expected
Summary: 2 Stars
I have read some of Dean Koontz's novels in the past, and stopped when I realized that they were starting to sound alike. I thought this one would be better, since it was on a bestseller list.
It started out pretty interesting, but then I started getting bored with the storyline, and the characters.....they were very much one-dimensional...no depth. I felt like there should have been more character development.
It was like reading about a main character going through the motions of saving his wife, but without the 'edge of your seat' suspense. This was a letdown, but I pursued reading to the end. Then I felt like saying "Wait a minute. You can't leave me hanging like this!" The whole book left me waiting for Koontz to tie up all the loose ends, and he doesn't. And, why does the author go to so much detail about the last kidnapper, with his ramblings about New Mexico, etc, and not delve further into this?
I would not recommend it to anyone who likes to read a really well written suspense thriller. It was just an 'okay' read....something to kill time while waiting to see the doctor.
Book Review: A Thrilling read - Hardcover edition review
Summary: 4 Stars
The Husband was a book I could not put down. It is about a man who suddenly is thrown into a world of strange circumstances. The man's wife is being held for a large amount of ransom...much larger than he has, since he is just a landscaper. The book almost reminds me at times of the movie "A History of Violence", but it is better than that, much more thought provoking. Why would these men who kidnapped his wife assume he even had money? Where are they keeping her? The scene on the road out of town late at night was very scary, but even after that the book still had a ton of action in it. I particularly liked the way Koontz was able to evoke a sweet, caring love between the main character and his wife. I would have liked to see a little more character development with the one thug who is in the story towards the end, but considering his role in this whole thing, I guess it does not matter. The "twist" of this story with some of the main character's family was very surreal, to say the least. Overall a nice thriller and it shows that Koontz can write a great story without adding any supernatural powered monsters or ghosts into the fray.Book Review: What are you looking for? (bonus: no spoilers in my review)
Summary: 4 Stars
Your enjoyment of this book will depend on what you are looking for. There is no doubt that The Husband is a page-turner (sorry to use such a cliche). For me, the book moved REALLY fast, was full of suspense, and I was dying to know what was going to happen next. Having said that, I suppose the true indicator of a "good" thriller or a "not-so-good" thriller would be whether you feel satisfied at the end...and I have to admit (as much as I typically enjoy Koontz's writing), I didn't feel all that satisfied. As other reviewers have mentioned here....too many loose ends. Another issue is that the more of Koontz's recent books I read, the more deja vu I keep having...it seems that he is writing about homicidal maniacs and their crazy schemes in EVERY book these days...even the preview (at the end) for his latest book, "the Good Guy," doesn't sound all THAT different from this one or "Velocity" or "Intensity" or...etc. etc.....Finally---to return to my original point---if your expectations are not terribly lofty, if you are just looking for an enjoyable little thriller, this is not a bad choice at all.