24 Hours

Rating:
Summary: Fast Paced...Gut Wrenching...
Review: 24 Hours, superbly narrated by Dick Hill, kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I highly recommend the unabridged audiobook to commuters...time will fly.

Rating:
Summary: SHEER NAILBITING
Review: I have read other reviews and I cannot believe that ANYONE did not love this book. I just finished it and as a parent and husband I could actually feel for these characters. The author's writing puts the reader into the novel. I was scared, excited, and worried for each of them. This book deserves more than a five star rating.

Rating:
Summary: This story doesn't make it
Review: I have been delighted after enjoying Greg Iles "The Quiet Game" and as avid reader coming upon a good author proceeded to buy more of his books, but "24 hours", I confess, got me a little disappointed

The plot is simple, the daughter of a very rich doctor is abducted and taken to a remote location and his wife psychologically and sexually abused at home by one of his kidnappers while he is attending a convention far from home as a keynote speaker, that brings about a very gripping clear cut fast paced plot full of action packed suspense page after page displaying also good outlines of the villain Joe Hickey and the doctor's wife Karen but on the other hand a very bad portrait of the nationwide power of the FBI which was left to a very unacceptable passive role.

Back to the plot, well written, quality also ebbs when the author fails to provide a proper ending which begins to loom as from the time when Will, the Doctor, decides to come to the rescue of his daughter on his own, performing incredible feats not a normal human being would, which I do not find appropriate to elaborate for the benefit of other readers.

Rating:
Summary: Kidnapping Drama in Mississippi
Review: Sit down, belt yourself in and get ready for the most thrilling read imaginable. "24 Hours" will keep you glued to your seat for the few hours that it will take you to devour this book. Hollywood will definitely want to create a cinematic thriller from this plot.

Joe Hickey, his wife Cheryl and cousin Huey have fine-tuned a kidnapping script and have preyed successfully upon 5 doctors' families before settling on Will, Karen and Abby Jennings as their next victims. Working as a team, Huey swipes the kid, Cheryl accosts the husband and Joe corners the wife. Their demands of only $200,000 are small change to the successful doctors they target, and their method is foolproof. Joe calls each of his accomplices every 30 minutes, with the threat to each of the parents that a missed phone call will result in the immediate death of their child. The wife is commanded to wire transfer the funds to a bank near the husband, who picks up the cash and delivers it to Hickey, while Huey is handing over the child to the mother. All of the previous victims have complied and have had their children returned to them safely. None reported the crime to the FBI.

However, things don't go quite so smoothly with the Jennings family. Hickey wasn't aware of Abby's acute juvenile diabetes, and his flawless plan is interrupted by the need to take Karen to her for a life-saving insulin injection. The tearful, agonizing parting scene when Karen and Abby are separated distresses Huey, Joe's big oafish mentally retarded cousin, who doesn't want to hurt Abby who has been kind to him.

Cheryl also runs into problems with Will. He is unwilling to sit around and do nothing, so uses the drugs he has developed as an anesthesiologist to weaken her resolve and extract some critical information from her. Will learns that this time Joe has a score to even up, since he believes Will was responsible for the death of his mother during an operation in the past year. He believes that this time Joe will kill the child, since it's the only way he can really get even with Will.

Karen fights back against Joe's rape attempt by slashing his thigh with a scalpel that she had hidden, and manages to send an e-mail message to Will's skytel pager. At the same time, the last victims have finally decided to report the crime to the FBI, and they start to narrow in on the criminals. All this excitement happens before the book is half over; but there's still much to come.

For sheer drama, intrigue, terror and anticipation, the taut fast-paced writing and character development can't be beaten. You can just imagine the exciting, intense conclusion on the wide screen at your local Cineplex.

Rating:
Summary: 24 Hours
Review: Obviously, I am in the minority as to the "raves" about this book. I have read three previous Iles novels and enjoyed them thoroughly.........they were suspenseful, well written and most enjoyable. Sorry to say, I cannot give a "thumbs up" to 24 Hours. While the general plot of the kidnapping is good, the characterizations are unbelievable and the dialogue goes from trite to mediocre. I was most relieved to at least finish it.

Rating:
Summary: A fun thrill ride
Review: This book is very entertaining. The details are great and enjoyable to read. The action scenes fly by with tension. The only problems is some of it is way overboard. This makes the conflict resolution a little hard to accept.

Rating:
Summary: Good suspense-thriller
Review: This exciting, fast-paced suspense-thriller breaks out with a conflict of a ten-year-old boy being returned to his parents after being kidnapped by Joe Hickey and his semiretarded brother, Huey. Precisely one year after, it occurs again, this time with a five-year-old diabetic girl being kidnapped from her rich parents, in exchange for a $200,000 ransom (which seems pretty low).

The book is exciting, along with nasty plot turns, but it adds to the exciting fun "24 Hours" provides. Greg Iles borrows partially from the Hitchcockian-style of suspense, but that hardly matters because of the intriguing plot and unexpected ending.

And from the looks that "24 Hours" is going to be made into a movie, it'll be a good one, enforcing the fact that Iles wrote the screenplay himself (which will stay true to the majority of the book). Plus the fact that Charlize Theron is a perfect actress to play Karen Jennings, along with perfectly cast Kevin Bacon as the nasty Joe Hickey. If it doesn't falter from poor direction and devoid of suspense, it'll live up to its book coutnerpart. Hopefully.

Beware of young teenagers reading it, it contains graphic descriptions of lap dances, violence, and some rather graituitous profanity.

Rating:
Summary: Enthusiastic reccommendation
Review: I absolutely loved this book!!! It combines just the right amount of suspense, realism and raw terror. It really keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next.
Greg Iles wrote this book extremely well, and the way he unfolds the story keeps you turning the pages like you're watching a movie. I couldn't put it down and I don't think anyone else who reads it will be able to, either.
I highly, highly reccommend this book to anyone who likes suspense thrillers.

Rating:
Summary: Another great read from Greg Iles
Review: I have read three previous books by Mr. Iles. I was anxiously awaiting "24 Hours"-I was not dissapointed. The book begins at a fast pace and does not slow down. All the characters are well developed, which is typical Iles. "24 Hours" kept me enraptured for five straight hours one night. If you like gut wrenching thrillers then you should rush to order this book from Amazon.

Rating:
Summary: First time Iles reader
Review: This is the first book from Greg Iles I have read and I am very impressed. The story line, and characters were some of the most original I have seen or read in a long time! This book is packed with suspense and what's-going-to-happen-next page turning excitement. A great read, I am definitely going to check out some of his other titles.