With each and every new novel, Dean Koontz raises the stakes—and the pulse rate—higher than any other author. Now, in what may be his m...
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Feb 12, 2008
Todd
rated it: 
I've always thought of Dean Koontz as the master of psychological suspense. His novels are aways full of weird and over the top characters that he makes believable and then he puts them in situations which are weird and over the top and makes them believable.
This time around Dean changes things up a bit. He takes an average Joe and puts him in a seemingly no win situation. Mitch Rafferty, owner of a two man landscaping business gets the phone call no husband would want. Someone has h More...
This time around Dean changes things up a bit. He takes an average Joe and puts him in a seemingly no win situation. Mitch Rafferty, owner of a two man landscaping business gets the phone call no husband would want. Someone has h More...
Dec 16, 2009
Christine
rated it: 
I thought it started well... with a twist that surprised me and captured my interest. From there, it just got less and less believable. From a storytelling standpoint, it was marginal, but as a quality piece of writing it was much worse. It felt churned out, quickly crafted without much afterthought other than the meticulous use of landscaping vocabulary. I'll say this for it, though, there weren't a lot of words on the page so I didn't waste a lot of time getting to the end.
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Aug 25, 2008
PhoenixHearse
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 03, 2011
wally
rated it:
this is an excellent story. this guy who makes more money than i do gets this call on his cell. some crazies have kidnapped his wife...his worker, iggy, is familiar...a boardhead who uses words like fully macking tubular stuff. okay, maybe he doesn't say 'tubular stuff' but you get the drift.
mitch isn't prepared..."his parents had raised him to be prey"....his folks are...sheesh, creepy and it doesn't stop there.
68 chapters of mayham. i read someone's review More...
mitch isn't prepared..."his parents had raised him to be prey"....his folks are...sheesh, creepy and it doesn't stop there.
68 chapters of mayham. i read someone's review More...
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Dec 09, 2007
Ryan
rated it: 
I finished reading another Dean Koontz novel. This one is titled The Husband. I believe it’s his second most recently published book.
Like The Good Guy this book doesn’t follow the ‘typical’ Koontz novel in that there was no supernatural thingies involved. Also like TGG, most of the action/plot/etc revolved around a solid character that is written so well you have to like him. I liked him because he and I share the same surname, which sometimes made the book a little creepy, to be hones More...
Like The Good Guy this book doesn’t follow the ‘typical’ Koontz novel in that there was no supernatural thingies involved. Also like TGG, most of the action/plot/etc revolved around a solid character that is written so well you have to like him. I liked him because he and I share the same surname, which sometimes made the book a little creepy, to be hones More...
Dec 28, 2008
Graham
rated it:
Although Dean Koontz isn’t quite as successful as Stephen King, he’s certainly been writing for a long time now, almost as long as King himself. In the old days he used to do supernatural horrors but these days he seems to have re-branded himself as a thriller writer, and there’s no doubting that he’s extremely prolific – I see new books coming out from him all the time. The Husband was released a couple of years ago and it’s familiar territory for thriller fans: a seemingly innocuous man finds
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Nov 09, 2011
James
rated it:
First Impressions:
What I liked about The Husband has to do with the husband's reactions to the news that his wife has been kidnapped and the kidnappers seem to have unlimited resources and can kill him at any time.
Plots (some spoilers):
His name is Mitch, and he lives a good life as a gardener. He knows he does not have the money. Later the criminals get him to get his brother Anson involved, who, it turns out, is a criminal himself. The kidnappers know t More...
What I liked about The Husband has to do with the husband's reactions to the news that his wife has been kidnapped and the kidnappers seem to have unlimited resources and can kill him at any time.
Plots (some spoilers):
His name is Mitch, and he lives a good life as a gardener. He knows he does not have the money. Later the criminals get him to get his brother Anson involved, who, it turns out, is a criminal himself. The kidnappers know t More...
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Sep 06, 2011
Jordana
rated it: 
In advance, I would give 4.5 stars if Goodreads would let me.
I've read a few other Dean Koontz novels and this one began much the same as some of his others. However, as far as a thriller/suspense novel, it had some twists and turns I really wasn't expecting, and I liked that. But before I get to that part, I'll go into some of the basic things that made the book good.
First of all, the characters were genuine and believable. That's something that I always look for in a book More...
I've read a few other Dean Koontz novels and this one began much the same as some of his others. However, as far as a thriller/suspense novel, it had some twists and turns I really wasn't expecting, and I liked that. But before I get to that part, I'll go into some of the basic things that made the book good.
First of all, the characters were genuine and believable. That's something that I always look for in a book More...
Mar 14, 2011
Brenda
rated it:
This was a pretty good book. Moved a little slow at times and the ending was a little unbelievable. This was about Mitch Rafferty and his wife getting kidnapped. He was given 60 hours to come up with 2 million dollars to save his wife Holly. Mitch owned a landscaping business but nothing that earned that kind of money. The killers kill an innocent man to prove they mean business when they make that original phone call. Detective Taggart is the officer investigating the murder of the man. D
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Dec 07, 2010
Mssongbird
rated it:
Man, I really couldn't put this book down! I've read other book by Dean Koonz but this one will stick with me as a favorite. Here's the premise that sucked me in immediately:
Mitchell is an average guy who must suddenly deal with an impossible situation: the kidnapping of
his beloved wife. Worse, he hasn't got any possibility of paying the ransom of $2mil in any amount of time, let alone in the 48 hours demanded by the kidnappers. He's a gardener, for Heaven's sake!
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Mitchell is an average guy who must suddenly deal with an impossible situation: the kidnapping of
his beloved wife. Worse, he hasn't got any possibility of paying the ransom of $2mil in any amount of time, let alone in the 48 hours demanded by the kidnappers. He's a gardener, for Heaven's sake!
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Jan 02, 2010
Rachel
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I read this book in about a day, and I really enjoyed it. One of the things I love about reading a Dean Koontz book is that I can pretty much tell just by the fact that he wrote it that it will be a good read.
This book follows a man who is trying to ransom his kidnapped wife. It explores the elastic nature of human morality and is full of twists and turns. Mitch (the protagonist) is a simple gardener who finds his life turned upside down in the blink of an eye. He is forced to al More...
This book follows a man who is trying to ransom his kidnapped wife. It explores the elastic nature of human morality and is full of twists and turns. Mitch (the protagonist) is a simple gardener who finds his life turned upside down in the blink of an eye. He is forced to al More...
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Dec 17, 2009
John
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You’re name is Mitch Rafferty. You’re a gardener. You have no past as a cop, spy, or Navy SEAL–you’re just a plain old petunias and begonias guy. You’re working in someone’s yard when you get a call on your cell phone. You answer. And the guy on the other end has your wife.
He tells you that you will get him two million dollars or you’ll never see her again.
You’re lost. This has to be a sick prank. You’re just a gardener. You know peat moss and mulch. You don’t have two mi More...
He tells you that you will get him two million dollars or you’ll never see her again.
You’re lost. This has to be a sick prank. You’re just a gardener. You know peat moss and mulch. You don’t have two mi More...
Dec 12, 2009
Keri
rated it:
It has been a while since I read a Koontz book; I had forgotten how creative and clever and engrossing they are. I brought this along with me on vacation in case I didn't like the other books I brought. I ended up reading all the material I had brought with me so I started this one on the plane ride home and couldn't put it down until I had finished. Reading a Koontz book never fails to make me wonder "where does he come up with this stuff?!". The story centers around a gardner, Mi
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Apr 05, 2009
Christy
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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 ca
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Nov 02, 2011
Christopher
rated it:
My first novel by Koontz and it might've been my last had I not made it my life's mission to figure out why the guy was popular.
Characters: There are a generous handful of them. Mitch, the gardener protagonist. His brother. His parents. The Detective Taggart. The kidnappers. None of them are really developed, save for Mitch: his developmental arc centers around his realization that evil exists....except he already seemed to know it existed already. For all Koontz rantings about the fa More...
Characters: There are a generous handful of them. Mitch, the gardener protagonist. His brother. His parents. The Detective Taggart. The kidnappers. None of them are really developed, save for Mitch: his developmental arc centers around his realization that evil exists....except he already seemed to know it existed already. For all Koontz rantings about the fa More...
May 14, 2010
Karen
rated it:
Mitchell (Mitch) Rafferty is the husband. He is the owner of a 2-man, landscaping/gardening business, "Big Green."
Mitch is working at one of his client's front yard when he gets the call. The call comes from Holly's (Mitch's wife) kidnappers with their ransom demand of $2 million. It sounds insane that a landscaper would be able to come up with $2 million in 60 hours.
+++++++++++++++++++ may contain spoilers +++++++++++++++++++
It was only 'okay' for me in More...
Mitch is working at one of his client's front yard when he gets the call. The call comes from Holly's (Mitch's wife) kidnappers with their ransom demand of $2 million. It sounds insane that a landscaper would be able to come up with $2 million in 60 hours.
+++++++++++++++++++ may contain spoilers +++++++++++++++++++
It was only 'okay' for me in More...
Sep 21, 2009
Jared
rated it:
Some people kidnap Mitch's wife and tell him he can have her back for $2 million. Mitch is a gardener who doesn't make much money. To drive the point home, the kidnappers snipe a pedestrian out walking his dog a few yards from where Mitch is standing. This book really gets moving at a great pace that keeps you reading long after you should have put it down. I really enjoyed it, but gave it 3 stars because the ending is as weak as any I've seen. It's like Koontz didn't know how to finish the
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Jan 18, 2011
Matt
rated it:
Hook: What will you do for your wifes sake and your baby?
Review: For Mitch Rafferty, that phone call comes on a typical workday, and he soon finds himself embroiled in a terrifying beat-the-clock game to find the money and get his wife back in one piece. These kidnappers prove right out of the box that they mean business, killing a man walking his dog as an example of their ruthlessness.Mitch knows he can’t go to the police, so he turns to his older brother, Anson, for some help. He so More...
Review: For Mitch Rafferty, that phone call comes on a typical workday, and he soon finds himself embroiled in a terrifying beat-the-clock game to find the money and get his wife back in one piece. These kidnappers prove right out of the box that they mean business, killing a man walking his dog as an example of their ruthlessness.Mitch knows he can’t go to the police, so he turns to his older brother, Anson, for some help. He so More...
Oct 26, 2010
Johnny
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Feb 01, 2010
Brett
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I read quite a few Koontz novels in High School and really enjoyed them. I've been reading some of his older stuff over the last couple years and I don't enjoy them as much as I used to. Some are very good, and some are difficult to get through. The Husband was different than his typical supernatural/horror novels that I've always known him for. I know that he didn't want to get stuck in one genre, so I'm sure that this novel was written to prove that he can write suspensful thrillers in add
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Jan 22, 2010
Mark
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Aug 17, 2010
martin
rated it:
Escapism is one thing - and all good stories often ask us to suspend belief for a while - but Dean Koontz has really missed the target on this one. As someone else has commented, the first few pages are gripping but then it all collapses fast
I am coming to the realisation that I don't much like formulaic glamour thriller novels unless they are exceptionally well written. This book really was the prime example of a badly written one. It reminds me of a violent, 3rd rate South American More...
I am coming to the realisation that I don't much like formulaic glamour thriller novels unless they are exceptionally well written. This book really was the prime example of a badly written one. It reminds me of a violent, 3rd rate South American More...
Sep 01, 2009
Amber
rated it:
This was the first Koontz book that I've read (listened to) and there were a few things I struggled with. I wonder if it would have bothered me if I was actually reading the book rather than listening to it since I tend to glaze over annoying things and wasn't able to glaze while listening. I think if he could cut back on the embellishing statements I would have been able to give this a higher rating. Seriously if I had to hear how someone's eyes were like the autumn moon grown cold and lumin
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Jul 06, 2009
Christina
rated it:
I'm really not sure what to make of this one.
It's a rather touching story of a man's love for his wife and what he will do to save her life when she's kidnapped and held for ransom.
The book is filled with all sorts of plant names and odd descriptions of things (the sun is a "buttery ball" and the sky has a "basted sheen" - all in the same paragraph in the first few pages). The events are completely unrealistic and Mitch, the eponymous husband, knows al More...
It's a rather touching story of a man's love for his wife and what he will do to save her life when she's kidnapped and held for ransom.
The book is filled with all sorts of plant names and odd descriptions of things (the sun is a "buttery ball" and the sky has a "basted sheen" - all in the same paragraph in the first few pages). The events are completely unrealistic and Mitch, the eponymous husband, knows al More...
Sep 21, 2011
Laura
rated it:
Well I only read The Taking from Dean Koontz before and I really enjoyed it. This however is a very different book altogether. It's just so badly written it's hard to even read at times. It begins fairly well with a great first two chapters that get the ball rolling, full of suspense, horrors and mysteries.
Then the story goes from being an original story to a total ridiculous farce. So many twists and turns its hard to keep up... My main dislike about the story was the ease with which More...
Then the story goes from being an original story to a total ridiculous farce. So many twists and turns its hard to keep up... My main dislike about the story was the ease with which More...
Jul 26, 2009
Booklogged
rated it:
Now I can go on with my life. I had this book on hold at the library, but they hadn't even order it yet. I kept choosing easy, slim books to read so that I could hurry and finish them if The Husband should show up. I knew I would want to drop everything else and read it. The time came when all the easy books on my summer reading program were read and still no Koontz. So I picked up the 850 page, small print Outlander and began reading. Sunday my daughter comes come from a trip and hands me The H
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Feb 08, 2009
Desiree
rated it:
So Dean Koontz has a gift for writing thrillers/mystery/suspense (with the exception of the motorcycle scene). However, he adds in so much extra stuff that it just ruins the book. He tries too hard. I don't need a long descriptive paragraph about how hard the wind is blowing. As far as one of the bad guys, he tried too hard to make him weird. The wife's "plan" in the end of the bood was just stupid. Fine, get the guy with the nail, but why the heck did she need to stab herself in
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Dec 17, 2009
Ashley
rated it:
Dean Koontz is my all-time favorite author and he never seems to fail me.
I loved this novel from the first to last page. I love how the husband was so determined to save his wife. How he was so dedicated even after everything he was being put through.
Brilliant, just like all of Koontz's others.
I loved this novel from the first to last page. I love how the husband was so determined to save his wife. How he was so dedicated even after everything he was being put through.
Brilliant, just like all of Koontz's others.
Aug 02, 2011
Mattias
rated it:
I loved Koontz work when I was a teenager and way into my twenties but some time around the new millenium he got inceasingly worse with each book. Or maybe we simply grew apart. I have enjoyed some of his work like the Odd Thomas books but my expectations werent high when I started reading this book.
Its a rather standard thriller story with a nice twist to it and some good suspense scenes but as a whole its rather dull. The characters are the usual from Koontz; "the average man" lead More...
Its a rather standard thriller story with a nice twist to it and some good suspense scenes but as a whole its rather dull. The characters are the usual from Koontz; "the average man" lead More...
Jun 29, 2011
Davyd
rated it:
The Husband starts out good enough, the mystery and main character were good enough to keep reading, and Dean Koontz kept things moving along at a good pace. As the book went on I slowly lost interest in the plight of the protagonist. The villain ended up being completely forgettable and, well, boring. The big plot twist in the middle of the book was predictable and really didn't have the shock value I expected from a plot twist.
That said though, it's a good book in the sense that it k More...
That said though, it's a good book in the sense that it k More...
