The Husband

Koontz brings us the story of an ordinary man whose extraordinary commitment will take him on a harrowing journey of adventure, violence, sacrifice, and redemption to the mystery of love itself and a showdown with the darkness that would destroy it forever.

Publishers Weekly

Koontz's latest thriller, slated for fast track silver screen adaptation in a joint venture between Random House and Focus Features, presents a spellbinding Hitchcock-flavored tale of an innocent, unassuming everyman caught in an intricate web of duplicity. While toiling away in the yard of a client, Orange County landscaper Mitch Rafferty casually answers his cellular phone and learns that his wife, Holly, has been taken hostage; the humble man of the soil must raise a $2 million ransom to prevent the unthinkable from happening. Graham, fresh from such recent audiobook triumphs as John Berendt's The City of Falling Angels and Lisa Gardner's Alone, delivers a smooth single-malt scotch of a performance. Graham brings a straight-arrow, earnest 20-something cadence to Mitch's voice. He also skillfully navigates the diverse cast of Southern California characters-young Holly facing danger with both grace and bravery, a seasoned homicide detective, a sadistic kidnapper obsessed with New Age spirituality, and a high-tech entrepreneur hiding a sinister secret-with masterful use of vocal inflection and carefully timed pauses. Simultaneous release with the Bantam hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 25). (Aug.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.