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Two strangers with one overwhelming link: fear. For him, it's fear of losing his mind. For her, it's the fear is of losing her life...
Retired professor Adrian Thomas knows all about fear from a lifetime studying human psychology. Now he's been diagnosed with degenerative dementia, all his thoughts are of ending his own life while he still can.
But before he can put the gun to his head he witnesses a kidnapping: a beautiful teenage girl, snatched off the street and bundled into a white van. Jennifer Riggins was picked up by a twisted couple who run the elite subscription-only website, What Comes Next. Viewers can watch what torture befalls their victims and Jennifer is to become the latest star, Victim Number Four.
When the police dismiss Adrian as a confused old man, he knows he might be this young girl's only hope and he begins the race to save her. But, with Adrian's grip on reality fading with each day, it's not only Jennifer whose life hangs in the balance...
What readers are saying about What Comes Next...
'An experience akin to riding the scariest roller coaster ride'
'I raced through this book'
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
April 1, 2013 -
Formats
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781781851395
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781781851395
- File size: 2138 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from March 26, 2012
Set in a small western Massachusetts college town, bestseller Katzenbach’s impressively powerful and emotional thriller delves into dementia, teenage angst, and Internet voyeurism. After receiving a diagnosis of degenerative dementia, a slow but sure death sentence, Adrian Thomas, a retired professor alone in the world who has “spent much of his academic life studying fear,” decides to go home and shoot himself, but fate intervenes. When Adrian pulls into his driveway, he witnesses a man and a woman in an unmarked van kidnap 16-year-old Jennifer Riggins, who’s running away from home. The couple have seized Jennifer to star in Whatcomesnext.com, a Web site where viewers watch the girl’s torture in real time. Despite his failing mind, Adrian is able to use the psychological insights he gleaned as a professor to hunt for Jennifer. The tense plot smoothly shifts between Adrian, who teams with a skeptical, compassionate detective, and the captive girl. Katzenbach (The Wrong Man) avoids the clichés of dementia, while deftly showing the inner resolve that Adrian and Jennifer each discover in themselves. Agent: Moses Cardona, John Hawkins & Associates. -
July 30, 2012
Katzenbach’s latest thriller charts the efforts of retired college professor Adrian Thomas to solve a kidnapping he witnessed on the usually peaceful streets of his picturesque New England town. His journey leads him into a sinister world of unspeakable sexual exploitation, available for viewing via the Internet with just a few clicks of a mouse. William Roberts turns in an effective, nuanced performance in this audio edition. His evocative reading captures the horror of the dark basement in which Jennifer Riggins finds herself held hostage, and his rendition of Jennifer’s inner monologue is sincere and touching. Roberts also successfully navigates a potential minefield in his balanced portrayal of the convicted sex offender who uses his unsavory experiences and desires to help Adrian work the case and attempt to free Jennifer. And while Roberts occasionally fails to distinguish the book’s male characters during sections of dialogue, this is a minor flaw in an otherwise entertaining listen. A Mysterious Press hardcover.
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