Rating: 
Summary: A good thriller, despite a cardboard villain.
Review: "Hush" was a book I grabbed off the bargain pyramid, and as such, I wasn't expecting a whole lot from it: just a thriller to keep me going when I was moving house and had nothing hooked up or working right yet. On that level, the book succeeded wonderfully: the tension is high, the villain stalks the heroine and a child mercilessly, and you twitch and jump and get skittish.The basic premise is this: A sociopathic pedophile has killed a childs mother and taken the child in order to prey on him better. The child withdraws, becoming a voluntary mute, and a biter. A woman who is an "Art Therapist" (a psychologist who uses the artwork of children to 'decode' their stress/troubles) then gets the boy's case, and ensuing thriller begins. The heroine, Celia, is very well crafted, with depth and a personality that lines nicely with her career. Moreover, she's not perfect - her marriage is on the rocks, she has doubts sometimes in her conclusions, and her job is unstable since the head of the hospital thinks what she does is a fraud and has no real psychological validity. Likewise, Davy, the child, has a very rich character - he is surviving a level of awful abuse (and sometimes even the hints of what is happening to him are very painful to read), and his mind is as complex as it would be given the condition. It's the villain where the complexity dies a little. The pedophile character is cardboard and 1-dimensional, and you only get a random hint or two as to his background, motivation, or the like. In most thrillers I've read, you get a detailed past from the villain, as he or she tries to validate what they're doing (an impossible task, but a quirk of most major sociopaths or the like). Still, on the basis of making you jump and being a solid thriller, this is a good read: you'll twitch and gasp and hold the book white-knuckled. Just don't expect literary depth from anyone in the book except the heroine and the child. 'Nathan
Rating: 
Summary: An intriguing, though somewhat disappointing novel
Review: A good first novel written by an obviously gifted writer. The plot, though predictable, is still interesting, and though by the time the characters have been introduced it is painfully obvious how it is going to end, you still find yourself sticking around to see how things reach the highly predictable conclusion. Despite it's obvious outcome, the events leading up to it are totally original, and you start to get involved in the story and it's characters, who, though their psyches are explored indepth, tend to lack personality. With a little less filler and a little more experience, Nykanen obviously has the imagination and the gift for good writing to produce more wonderful novels to come.
Rating: 
Summary: More plodding than suspenseful, annoying in its wordiness
Review: After reading so many good reviews, I was really looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, I felt the book did not live up to the glowing reviews. It was plodding and cliche'-ridden to the end. And speaking of the ending, I pretty much had it figured out about halfway throught the book. I did like the insight into art therapy and how it is used in child abuse cases. Other than that, I'd have to say that this "suspense" novel was more annoying than suspenseful.
Rating: 
Summary: Mesmerizing.
Review: As seems to be the status quo, I picked this book up from a bargain bin - in Acme of all places! The title sent a little shiver down my spine. And once I started reading I absolutely could not stop! This book is horrifying and so well-written that you feel you are in the room, in the woods, in the water, in the truck, experiencing everything with Davey and/or Celia... When I audibly gasped at one point my co-worker came around the corner to see what was wrong. When I explained what had taken part in the story SHE was hooked! I had to give her a blow-by-blow summary each afternoon of what happened next! A horribly scary, scary book - the suspense is palable. A definite recommendation - but not for the faint-hearted! And don't read when you are alone!!!
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing.
Review: As seems to be the status quo, I picked this book up from a bargain bin - in Acme of all places! The title sent a little shiver down my spine. And once I started reading I absolutely could not stop! This book is horrifying and so well-written that you feel you are in the room, in the woods, in the water, in the truck, experiencing everything with Davey and/or Celia... When I audibly gasped at one point my co-worker came around the corner to see what was wrong. When I explained what had taken part in the story SHE was hooked! I had to give her a blow-by-blow summary each afternoon of what happened next! A horribly scary, scary book - the suspense is palable. A definite recommendation - but not for the faint-hearted! And don't read when you are alone!!!
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written, darkly disturbing, page-turner
Review: I don't usually like thrillers, but this one was so beautifully written (in a dark, disturbing kind of way) that I literally couldn't put it down. I stayed up most of the night reading it, hoping that the sicko would get his! It's a frightening look inside the mind of a degenerate, yet written in a lean, almost poetic, way. Reminds me of a combination of Patricia Cornwell and "Silence of the Lambs."
Rating:
Summary: Captivated and couldn't put it down!
Review: I found this book to be very suspenseful and a psychologically thrilling novel. It kept me on the edge of my seat and always wondering what was going to happen next. If you like a race, against good and evil, then you'll like this book.
Rating:
Summary: A PAGE TURNING READ! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Review: I picked this book up merely because it was on sale! What a great find. The characters are realistic, in depth, and it just has a multitude of layers to the plot. Each character has their own drama going on, not necessarily related.
Davy is a beautiful young boy who is scared silent. This is so scary in how children REALLy do deal with traumatic events in their lives. Highly recommended for all readers.
Rating:
Summary: A PAGE TURNING READ! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Review: I picked this book up merely because it was on sale! What a great find. The characters are realistic, in depth, and it just has a multitude of layers to the plot. Each character has their own drama going on, not necessarily related.
Davy is a beautiful young boy who is scared silent. This is so scary in how children REALLy do deal with traumatic events in their lives. Highly recommended for all readers.
Rating:
Summary: Reading Hush for the second time- very exciting!
Review: I read Hush about a year ago and was facinated from start to finish. Last month I picked it up again wondering if I would
be just as excited. Yes I was! I had forgotten how captivating the story and characters were. The feelings of fear and anger twards the characters were remembered. I found myself yelling advise and many times laughing out loud,
feeling guilty later about the dark humor that amused me. I love this book. I recommend it to anyone who likes to be thrilled and wants to feel fear from the prespective of an
twisted killer. The insight into Art Therapy as a means of uncovering child abuse was refreshing and original. I can't wait to read Hush again nexr year. Unless of course there is a sequel!!
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