The Blurb
“You get us what we want. Or your wife dies. And we will make it hurt.”
Jerome Prentice is a good guy. Loyal to a fault, he always stays on the right side of the law.
But everything changes the night he is awoken by the sound of masked kidnappers entering his home. Holding him at gunpoint, they drag his beloved wife Alicia out of the house with a promise to kill her if he goes to the police. Their demand: betray the company he’s worked for his entire adult life.
They think he’ll do anything to save his wife. But they don’t know that they’re messing with the wrong man. Because Jerome might be a good guy. But betrayal doesn’t come easily to him. And he’s not a man who will go down without a fight.
What’s more, he will hunt the people who’ve taken Alicia to the ends of the earth. And if they’ve hurt even one hair on her head, he’s going to make them pay…
This utterly page-turning, jaw-dropping thriller is perfect for fans of Lee Child, David Baldacci and Mark Dawson.
The Hostage is published by Bookoutre and is out today.
Buy Links
EBook:
https://geni.us/B09DPZCZ2Nsocial
Audible:
UK: zpr.io/C9Y7JxMtkpH3
US: zpr.io/G2nPDjSvkMRA
My Review
Having enjoyed John Ryder's previous books (First Shot, Final Second, Third Kill, The Witness) I was delighted to have the opportunity to read his new standalone. Like the others, this one is set across the pond in the US.
Jerome and Alicia are happy. Crazy in love and with plans for a future that involves kids and pets. But all that is threatened one night when masked gunmen enter their bedroom and kidnap Alicia. They have specifically targeted her because they want Jerome to carry out a task for them - a very big, illegal and dangerous task. He does this, they will release Alicia. If they are telling the truth...
Jerome is a regular guy. He goes to his job, which he's very good at, goes home to his wife. He's good looking, but not too handsome. He's fit, but not a gym bunny. Doesn't own a gun, doesn't really know how to fight although did some combat sports at college. He's loyal. In other words, he's just a normal, stand up guy. Until his wife, the most precious person in his life, is kidnapped. Then we start to see a different Jerome. He is willing to fight for her, go to prison if necessary, even die, if it means she'll survive. He really, really loves this woman.
I loved following Jerome over the most traumatic days of his life. From the initial, overwhelming fear and incomprehension about the whole situation to the anger that followed then working out what his limited options are to secure Alicia's release. We see him make decisions he hates and do things that he never believed he could do. And although he doesn't really want to, he involved his good friend Ed, who works in computing and who Jerome hopes will help him carry out the task he's been set but also help him find out more about what's going on. Jerome is very relatable even though some of his actions are maybe questionable. His love for his wife shines through. This may be fiction but I'm sure most of us would do whatever we could to save a loved one in trouble. And Alicia is not someone that can be written off - she's tougher than she first appears.
This is not a book with a high body count nor too much violence. But that does not make it any less tense and exciting. I whizzed through it in a couple of days. It's fast paced and Ryder makes even the scenes in Jerome's office, and all the tech stuff - the moments when, in different hands, the story could have lagged - seem exciting. It's a fast, breathless book because of the speed of the action. We are picked up and swept away with it. I might have got a wee bit lost with all the financial stuff but that took nothing away from my enjoyment of the story.
The Hostage is a tense exciting action thriller, one that really draws you in and keeps you close. The writing is great and the characters believable. There was really nothing I didn't like as evidenced by my quick read time. Another great book from John Ryder - I look forward to more in the future!
The Author
John Ryder is a former farmworker and joiner. He’s turned his hand to many skills to put food on the table and clothes on his back. A life-long bibliophile, he eventually summoned the courage to try writing himself, and his Grant Fletcher novels have drawn inspiration from authors such as Lee Child, Tom Cain, Zoe Sharp and Matt Hilton. When it comes to future novels, he says he has more ideas than time to write them.
When not writing, John enjoys spending time with his son, reading and socialising with friends. A fanatic supporter of his local football team, he can often be found shouting encouragement to men much younger and fitter than he is.
Author Social Media Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnRyderAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnRyder101
Website: https://johnryderauthor.com/
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