4 out of 4 stars
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24 Hours by Carl Strom is a paranormal novel that comes to being when a celebrity-DJ is kidnapped. While writing his Urban Design Master's Thesis on crime prevention in London, Carl Strom wasn't able to glean the kind of knowledge that could be used for a novel. He learned that police know far more about residential layouts – strangely enough – than salacious homicide investigations. Carl lives in Sweden, where he works as a creative tech expert in urban planning. He also writes thrillers of varying sub-genres.
When a planned pretend kidnapping in a bachelorette party turns out to be a real kidnapping, the wealthy Von Mullers of Stockholm hires detectives Martin Brunner and his private eye, Daniel, to investigate their daughter's kidnapping. In the process, the detectives are contacted by the ruthless abductors and Martin has no option but to surrender his colleague into the arms of the captors.
With only 24 Hours to rescue Kylee before she is killed, Martin gets ominous leads behind the kidnapping. While his instincts tell him there is an inside man in The Von Mullers' City Apartment, things take a new turn when Kylee's father Christian von Muller is also kidnapped and Kylee's fiancé, Douglas, kills her best friend, Stacey, inside Kylee’s room.
Though the book seemed to end shortly after I began reading, I enjoyed the action-packed description of events that left me wanting more. The character development has also worked magic for the novel with each character fitting well into the roles being played. I enjoy reading novels where characters grow as the story builds up and this is not an exception. Crime, romance, and drug trafficking are the main themes described and form the backbone of the anecdote.
What I liked about the book is the fact the reader is kept guessing about the possible inside man in The Von Mullers' City Apartment. At first, I kept wondering who between Stacey and Douglas could be behind Kylee’s kidnapping but I was stunned as the story kept unfolding with more suspense till the end. I must confess I was caught off-guard when the story took an unexpected turn to drug trafficking that got me totally engrossed. Unfortunately for me, this was the end of part one of 24 Hours. The writing style is also remarkable and befits all readers.
The book presented only two errors. For instance, the author wrote:" … but we'll do our own investigating…," "He's leant me his car…"
These errors were not a hindrance at all and I won't hesitate to award the book 4 out of 4 stars. For the lovers of action-packed thrillers, I would recommend the book, which I believe won't be a disappointment. However, there are scenes of sex and violence that may not be appropriate for young readers.
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24 Hours
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