Product Description

Hickey is a con-man and kidnapper who targets his victims with care. By staying with the person who has the money - and by checking the amount is affordable for them - he has never yet had to kill. But when he tries to rip Will Jenning's family apart he gets more than he bargained for.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #172344 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Amazon.co.uk 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

Publishers Weekly
'Iles's latest brilliantly plotted tale walkes the razor's edge between cinematic excess and bone-chilling suspense'

Review
'A superbly-crafted and clever book that never fails to grab and hold the attention and will undoubtedly confirm Iles' position in the mainstream of big-money thriller writers' (The Times )

'Iles's latest brilliantly plotted tale walks the razor's edge between cinematic excess and bone-chilling suspense' (Publishers Weekly )

'Iles really keeps the heart-pumping suspense in top gear - plus there's an ending you just won't believe, believe me. Iles is a great thriller writer, and with this novel he's done it again' (Independent on Sunday )

'A taut well-constructed thriller.' (Observer )

Customer Reviews

A genuine thriller
This is one of the few books that have lived up to the publisher's promises. I literally was hard pressed to stop reading after the action started. The plot is relatively simple but it is fantastic how the author manages to keep the reader guessing and trying to find ways to outsmart the villains. The sense of empathy with the victimized family is overwhelming. I tried this book because his former book "The Quiet Game" was equally captivating.

Buy this book and make Greg a Star.
I think Greg Isles deserves more fame in the UK as he is practically unknown ... After the subdued Quiet Game, this book demonstrates the authors ability to grip the reader, 24 Hours is the name of the book, and also the page turning time I took to read the whole thing. 24 Hours denotes the time taken to complete a hostage transaction giving the book pace a plenty. Like a roller coaster the rides a whole lot of fun, but also like a roller coaster the ending is a bit predictable. Nice believable characters if yo ulike that sort of thing.

A fairly enjoyable thriller
Joe Hickey has figured out how to pull off the perfect kidnapping for ransom. He knows that the problem with kidnapping is the drop...you always get caught at the drop. Therefore, he has devised a plan where each family member, mother, father and child are all held in seperate locations for 24 hours where each kidnapper then places a check in call every half hour to make sure that everything is going according to plan. There is no drop, no confusion and most importantly no one gets hurt. They have pulled this off numerous times before and have yet to be caught, however, Joe didn't anticipate running into a family who refused to keep with his plan!

'24 HOURS' is an enjoyabe thriller by Iles and while I cannot say that it exactaly kept me on the edge of my seat, I can say that it was well written, well thought out and because everything was done just right I decided to give it 3 1/2 stars. While others raved about this book I didn't find that I was kept in suspence at all, I could pretty much figure out how the book was going to end from the begining, but hey, at least it kept me entertained for a day or two.