Freak out (Eleven Hours - Paullina Simons)

Name: Delicate_Orchid1

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Product:	Eleven Hours - Paullina Simons
Date:	01.04.06 (163 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: page - turner, grabbing storyline, good characters

Disadvantages: deeply disturbing from time to time

Didi Wood is almost nine months pregnant, expecting her baby in two weeks time. On a hot summer day she decides to visit an air-conditioned mall to keep herself cool and do some shopping for her two girls and herself. Finding herself hungry, she heads to the pretzel stand to buy a couple of almond pretzels - when all of a sudden an attractive and disturbing man appears behind her to start a conversation. The man warns Didi that she should not be carrying heavy bags and offers her to carry the bags for her. Didi declines the offer and continues her shopping - astutely aware that the man is still following her.

When Didi believes she has gotten rid of the man and is about to haul her bags into her car, she hears his voice behind her - and from one moment to the next, she finds herself abducted by this young man, who is obviously very disturbed. Didi finds herself on a journey with this stranger across the state of Texas, a journey that does not have an apparent end to it. All along there is only one thought in her mind - to save the unborn life inside of her.

In the meantime, Didi's husband Rich discovers that something has happened to his wife and contacts the police. Shortly thereafter, Rich and a FBI agent chase Didi and her kidnapper across Texas - but can they save Didi in time?


***My thoughts***

The story is nothing short of powerful. The way the author sets the scene is amazing - there is one happy mother, going about her life as usual, in a peaceful and comforting way. Just as the reader is enjoying the stroll through the mall - the nightmare of abduction begins. And from that moment onward, the reader just wants to close his or her eyes - as everything that follows is just horrific. I made the mistake of reading the first 50 odd pages and then going to sleep. That was not a good idea. The pages I had read stuck inside my head and gave me nightmares. The very next day, I pulled the book back out and vowed to finish it.

Simons is great on giving detail - both in terms of characters and scenery. I can't say that I particularly liked Didi - in many ways I did think that she had too easy of a life and could almost relate to why the kidnapper chose this specific individual, strolling through a mall in a fancy dress and spending way to much money. But I did feel her horror and I did want her to get out of the situation. I felt her pain as certain events unfolded, the hopelessness of the situation - and I almost hoped that the faster I would turn the pages, the sooner she would be able to escape. The kidnapper was a perfect portrait of a psychotic man - he simply have me the chills with his unpredictable character traits and his near-schizophrenic personality.

Whilst I enjoyed the read a lot and it was certainly grabbing, there were aspects of the story that simply just disturbed me. There are some very graphic scenes in this book that simply made my stomach turn - and also made me wonder how on earth someone could come up with this imagery and these disturbing ideas for the plot.

The story is divided into chapters headed with different times - and it switches back and forth between what Didi is experiencing and what Rich is experiencing at the same time. It is this switching back and forth between characters is certainly a great technique to bring the seriousness of the situation home to the reader. However, I can't help thinking that it may have been an even more powerful read if we had some of the kidnapper's thoughts integrated into the storyline.

What really irritated me about this book was it's religious aspect. Didi keeps praying all the time - and both her and the kidnapper keep questioning the existence of God. Didi also believes in things like karma and fate, but not to an ordinary degree. It is almost obsessive. Perhaps this is part of the author's technique to show how desperate Didi is in her situation - but if anything, it made the reader want her to shut up and lessened sympathy with such a hysterical, often one-dimensional and boring character.

I rarely read a book that spooks me out beyond belief and makes me reevaluate how I live and whether I take too many risks with my life. "Eleven Hours" was certainly one of those books that warned me in a horrific and detailed way that these days you cannot be careful enough with the places you go to or the people you let into your life. Perhaps I am a little paranoid - after all, this is only a book, right?

But it is not just a book. It is stark reality. Kidnapping of pregnant women happens more often than one would think. Motives vary. Sometimes men kidnap and even kill women to exercise some kind of control over them. After all, it is easy with a pregnant woman who is about to give birth - she cannot run very far. And sometimes women kidnap other women because they cannot have babies of their own and they think that stealing someone else's baby is the solution. More profoundly, however, the book does bring home one message: If you are out on your own and a stranger approaches you or you are feeling watched - don't just shake it off. Either call a friend or partner to meet you somewhere or make sure you only go where plenty of other people are around. You can never be careful enough.


***The verdict***

This book might have been brilliantly written and covered a horrendous story in a gripping manner, but it is certainly nothing for the weak-hearted. Throughout the read I could only wonder how Simons came up with the idea for such a disturbing storyline. Whilst I appreciate the uniqueness of this book and the powerful storyline, I have to confess that there are moments in the story that made me feel very uncomfortable - and I question why they had to be included. In fact, the author included a particular "scene" towards the end that sadly ruined the overall opinion of the book for me. The scene seemed unnecessarily cruel and gruesome - and not vital to the completion of this otherwise decent thriller.


***Further information***

Price: £6.99
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 320

Summary: A deeply disturbing page-turner.