Hostage (Hardcover)

First, let me provide a word of warning. The book contains references to sadism, torture, and violence against children. If such disturb your days or your sleep, perhaps you should ask a friend who has read the book how upsetting it was before deciding to go forward. I found these elements to advance the story, and not to be overplayed . . . but they are certainly there.

Hostage deals with situations where a criminal has seized someone as a bargaining chip for something they want. Hostage situations usually either lead to lots of people being killed, or everyone getting out alive. The difference is usually related to the skill, talent, and patience of the hostage negotiator.

Hostage's protagonist is the chief of police in a small town north of Los Angeles, Jeff Talley. He had served as such a hostage negotiator during part of a truncated career with the LAPD.

Having had that experience colors your view of the world in many ways. It makes you feel responsible for the hostages, the criminals, and for those who are helping you defuse the situation. That's a lot of responsibility to have on your shoulders. Also, you get used to lengthy delays, suddenly melting down psychotics, and impetuous colleagues. The criminals will make unreasonable and dangerous demands, and you have to decide how to respond with little help. Few would fail to melt under the pressure.

At one level, Hostage can be read as a classic thriller about the ins and outs of hostage situations. Those who enjoy police procedurals and seeing crimes from many perspectives (of police, hostages, and criminals) will feel like they have a front row seat. If that's all there were to the book, I would have praised it and given it a three star rating.

However, the book also operates at other levels. One develops the theme that we are hostages to someone else, whether or not that person is a criminal. Our actions are constrained by that other person, and danger lurks if we stray from the demands of the relationship. I thought this idea was very well developed and interesting. I graded the book up one star for this quality.

Several other themes also affected and impressed me, including how one obtains redemption for the consequences of avoidable mistakes, the importance of getting the facts right before taking action, being careful who you trust, and how to decide what the right thing to do is when confronted with two evils. All of this amounted to more than an additional star.

The only reason that I did not take the book up above five stars is that the character development would have had to be stronger for Hostage to become an outstanding book, rather than an excellent one.

As much as I admire the earlier novels by Mr. Crais, I felt that this one went beyond his earlier work in entering the realm of fine, mainstream novels through the excellent way that he developed the story both from a thematic and plot perspective.

In the plot, take notice that the pieces fit together inside one another . . . almost like nesting Russian dolls. That was a particularly fine device. An especially interesting element is that you will see yourself in the role of many of the characters, trying to decide what to do. It's a great mental and emotional challenge!

Ultimately, any novel lives or dies by whether or not you care about the characters and whether you find yourself inside the story. I was gripped by the third paragraph and the hold on me just got stronger as the pages passed. At one point, I realized that I had forgotten where I was or what time it was. If you are like me, you will remember Hostage for a long time to come.

After you finish Hostage (and I hope you do read it), think about where you are your brother's keeper. What more can you do to help?

Size up the situation, check your facts, be careful who you trust, and . . . take the leap!

First, let me provide a word of warning. The book contains references to sadism, torture, and violence against children. If such disturb your days or your sleep, perhaps you should ask a friend who has read the book how upsetting it was before deciding to go forward. I found these elements to advance the story, and not to be overplayed . . . but they are certainly there.

Hostage deals with situations where a criminal has seized someone as a bargaining chip for something they want. Hostage situations usually either lead to lots of people being killed, or everyone getting out alive. The difference is usually related to the skill, talent, and patience of the hostage negotiator.

Hostage's protagonist is the chief of police in a small town north of Los Angeles, Jeff Talley. He had served as such a hostage negotiator during part of a truncated career with the LAPD.

Having had that experience colors your view of the world in many ways. It makes you feel responsible for the hostages, the criminals, and for those who are helping you defuse the situation. That's a lot of responsibility to have on your shoulders. Also, you get used to lengthy delays, suddenly melting down psychotics, and impetuous colleagues. The criminals will make unreasonable and dangerous demands, and you have to decide how to respond with little help. Few would fail to melt under the pressure.

At one level, Hostage can be read as a classic thriller about the ins and outs of hostage situations. Those who enjoy police procedurals and seeing crimes from many perspectives (of police, hostages, and criminals) will feel like they have a front row seat. If that's all there were to the book, I would have praised it and given it a three star rating.

However, the book also operates at other levels. One develops the theme that we are hostages to someone else, whether or not that person is a criminal. Our actions are constrained by that other person, and danger lurks if we stray from the demands of the relationship. I thought this idea was very well developed and interesting. I graded the book up one star for this quality.

Several other themes also affected and impressed me, including how one obtains redemption for the consequences of avoidable mistakes, the importance of getting the facts right before taking action, being careful who you trust, and how to decide what the right thing to do is when confronted with two evils. All of this amounted to more than an additional star.

The only reason that I did not take the book up above five stars is that the character development would have had to be stronger for Hostage to become an outstanding book, rather than an excellent one.

As much as I admire the earlier novels by Mr. Crais, I felt that this one went beyond his earlier work in entering the realm of fine, mainstream novels through the excellent way that he developed the story both from a thematic and plot perspective.

In the plot, take notice that the pieces fit together inside one another . . . almost like nesting Russian dolls. That was a particularly fine device. An especially interesting element is that you will see yourself in the role of many of the characters, trying to decide what to do. It's a great mental and emotional challenge!

Ultimately, any novel lives or dies by whether or not you care about the characters and whether you find yourself inside the story. I was gripped by the third paragraph and the hold on me just got stronger as the pages passed. At one point, I realized that I had forgotten where I was or what time it was. If you are like me, you will remember Hostage for a long time to come.

After you finish Hostage (and I hope you do read it), think about where you are your brother's keeper. What more can you do to help?

Size up the situation, check your facts, be careful who you trust, and . . . take the leap!