Book review: 24 Hours by Greg Iles

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Description:
24 HOURS --- that's how long it takes a madman to pull off the perfect crime. He's done it before, he'll do it again, and no one can stop him.

But this time, he's just picked the wrong family to terrorize. Because Will and Karen Jennings aren't going to watch helplessly as he victimizes them. And they aren't going to let him get away with it.

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Review:
This was the first time during the Authors A to Z reading challenge that I had difficulty finding an author with the appropriate last name. Who knew so few authors have last names beginning with I? The only two authors I recognized were Greg Iles and John Irving, and the books by the other authors unknown to me didn't sound interesting. I've seen Greg Iles's name before and considered reading his books but never found the time to. Now I have a reason.

24 Hours revolves around Will and Karen Jennings and the kidnapping of their daughter, Abby. The events that make up the plot are engaging if somewhat predictable. Although I often knew what was coming next, I still wanted to read the author's description of the scene because he did a good job moving the story along. My biggest problem with the novel is that I didn't find the couple to be sympathetic characters. I felt bad for young Abby, but I didn't care as much what happened to the parents, which I believe was the point of the book. In fact, I had more sympathy for two of the kidnappers than for Will and Karen! For a story in the thriller genre, I think it's vital that the reader root for the protagonists, like Lee Child is able to do with his Jack Reacher novels. In 24 Hours, Greg Iles fails to do that. It's not a bad book though. It just didn't have anything extra to push it beyond average.

I read this book as part of the Authors A to Z reading challenge. Next up: Placebo by Steven James.