How to write

Dean Koontz has mastered the formula for fast paced, suspenseful novels: placing average Joes in extraordinary circumstances and watching them overcome incredible obstacles.  The Husband follows the pattern predictably, but is an enjoyable read nonetheless.   

Mitch Rafferty is the average Joe in question, a gardener who lives a quiet and happy life.  He loves his wife and dreams of raising a family one day in their modest home.  His ordinary life is destroyed when he receives a call demanding $2 million dollars ransom for his wife, which he is expected to deliver in 3 days.  To prove their serious intent, the kidnappers shoot an innocent bystander walking his dog at the most unfortunately time.  

Mitch is questioned by the police for the shooting of the dog walker, but he has been warned to say nothing of his wife’s kidnapping.  The kidnappers seem omnipresent, able to monitor his conversation with the investigation officer, Detective Taggart.  Mitch hopes it is all a terrible mistake or cruel joke, until he returns home and finds it ransacked and splattered with blood. He can only imagine the horror his wife has endured. The kidnappers keep the pressure on, manipulating Mitch’s actions with taunting phone calls and threats to torture his wife.   

Mitch is instructed to contact his brother for the money, and for the first time, we, along w/ Mitch, begin to sense more is going on than a random act of violence.  Mitch’s encounter with Anson becomes a pivotal turning point to the story as Mitch fights back, willing to sacrifice everything, including his life, to save his wife.  Detective Taggart’s repeated appearances add to the tension, and the complications ratchet the suspense to heart pounding levels.  

If you’re a fan of Koontz’s early works, you may miss elements of supernatural or sci fi.  However, the characters, good and bad, are strong and relatable, a foundation on which Koontz has built his career.  “If the characters interest me in the first couple of chapters, then the plot is going to take care of itself because the characters will drive it places I never saw it coming.” (Koontz, 2007) The action starts on page 1 and doesn’t let up until page 416.  Be prepared to read this book in one sitting, because once you start, it’s hard to put down.