Publishers: Head
of Zeus
Pages: 426
Main Characters:
Adrian, Jennifer
I decided to read this book on the recommendation of my
girlfriend whom loves John Katzenbach because of his descriptive writing style
and the tension he builds in his novels. The fact that she has read most of his
novels made me really excited to read this book as I’d never really read a
psychological or crime novel before.
The novel is based around two main characters Jennifer and
Adrian. They are two very different people whom live in the same small academic
town in New England. Adrian is an aging psychology Professor who sadly and
ironically is diagnosed with Dementia. Having spent his life studying how the
mind works the Professor is rocked to the core when he finds out that in a
short period of time he will lose his mind’s functions until eventually he
passes away. Using the example of his brother and wife, Adrian decides to take
his own life before he loses the thing that makes him who he is and decides to
use his brother’s gun on himself. However, on the drive home from the hospital
Adrian sees a young girl walking past his house and thinks he witnesses her
been kidnapped. This event causes Adrian to have one last meaning in life and
with the help of his loved ones’ illusions caused by his illness, Adrian must
discover where Jennifer is.
Jennifer Riggins is a 16 year old girl who has become a
social outcast with her friends and family. With an abusive step-father and
deluded mother, Jennifer believes her only hope of salvation is to escape her
boring old town and move to New York and hopes this time her escape
will finally succeed. That is until a young couple approach her in a white van
and ask her for directions. Jennifer is quickly assaulted and bundled into the
van and taken to the couples’ secret location where she is imprisoned and
broadcast to the internet on the website whatcomesnext.com.
The couple play out their sick fantasies on Jennifer for thousands of people to
watch. The couple know that their audience will only pay attention for so long and plan to make their finale of the programme something they'll never forget! Jennifer's time is running short and she only has one hope, but will
Adrian solve the mystery of her disappearance or will his illness get the
better of him?
This was a very interesting book to read. I thought the main
plot idea of the girl been held against her will and the unlikely hero Adrian saving
her. I thought he was going to struggle with his illness but ultimately overcome
it to save Jennifer, which would make this book very entertaining because it caused
a lot of suspense.
However, there were some points that I really didn’t like.
Firstly, the pace of the book was quite slow and sometimes struggled to keep my
attention. For instance, when the girl is captured nothing really happens to
her. The author goes into some detail about the perversions of the sick couple
who kidnap her, but they don’t seem to do anything to her. Plus Adrian’s
visions and hallucinations seem a bit of a cheap way to help him solve the
crime. Anytime he struggles in the mystery one of his allusions comes along and
points him in the right direction and then everything is hunky-dory again. I
just thought if there was more emphasis and urgency on finding Jennifer it
would have made the book much more enjoyable to read.
As I said above, my girlfriend has read most of Katzenbach’s
books and assures me his other ones are much more gripping. Having reread What Comes Next again, she also believes
it was a little slow but I’m excited to try one of his other novels!
To discuss this novel head over to my Facebook page by clicking here.
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