THE HUSBAND
by Dean Koontz
Bantam Books
www.bantamdell.com
ISBN 9780553804799
Hardback, 400 pages, $27
Genre: Mystery

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.