Rating: 
Summary: Fast paced and exciting book!
Review: This was the first book I have read from this author but it will not be my last! I could not put this book down, I wanted to get to the end and find out what happened. It kept me engaged all the way through. I loved it.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than the movie
Review: I read 24 hours on a whim and I am glad I did. The ploit was good and the story was just as good. They have made a movie based on this book I think the name of it is Trapped. It stars Kevin Bacon and Charzine Therzon (spellin of her name not correct). The movie was terribile and if you saw the movie and thought well I won't read that book rethink that because the movie does not do the book justice and if I were Mr. Iles I would not let them do another of my books as a move with out consulting me first. Give this book a try you won't be dissapionted.
Rating:
Summary: 24 HOURS will kidnap you.
Review: When I'm in a bookstore, one of the determining factors that often influence my choice as to whether or not to buy a certain book is to read the opening lines. If the book has a good enough "hook", then I'll take a chance on it, considering that the concept hasn't already grabbed me. Iles did a masterful job in setting up a cinematic prologue that details the safe return of a kidnapped child to his frantic mother. It's an anticlimax that works to the story's advantage.
Joe Hickey, his cousin Huey and a woman have perfected an ingenious system for kidnapping children of prominent Mississippi physicians and for not only eluding capture but to even make their existence unknown to the authorities. But when they kidnap Abby Jennings, the small daughter of Will and Karen Jennings, Joe Hickey and his accomplices have picked on the wrong family.
Impeccable research into the intimate details of families like the Jennings make their master plan foolproof and not knowing that Abby Jennings had juvenile diabetes strikes me as something that a criminal genius like Hickey would've known. When they spirit the child out of the house only to subsequently discover that she's been separated from her life-saving insulin, Hickey is forced to alter The Plan.
But the family's will and resourcefulness make the carefully laid plan spiral more and more off course until both sides are adlibbing in a deadly game of chess, with Abby being the most important piece.
The Jennings, however, are targeted for reasons other than money and Hickey's motive for revenge is rather generic and uninspired. What *is* inspired and unique is the thrilling climax that takes place in the interstate, a denouement that has cinema written all over it.
24 HOURS has pacing and suspense that's as smooth and sharp as a scalpel on flesh and the characterization is as topnotch as Dean Koontz's. The relationship between the ringleader Joe Hickey and his giant cousin Huey has a feel reminiscent of OF MICE AND MEN, a dynamic used by other authors such as Scott Smith and John Gilstrap but without as much skill. Iles, however, pulls it off and one of threads of tension that runs throughout the book is the question of which force has more control over the gentle giant, the one who's watching Abby- Hickey or Huey's own conscience. Cheryl, a cynical, hard-assed former stripper, comes across as a solid, living woman and the reader can't help but sympathize with her as well as Huey.
Iles is indeed a master storyteller at the top of his game and, if he isn't, it's only because he has yet to peak.
Rating:
Summary: Tired of King and Grisham? Try this...
Review: A very good read. Kept me up a few extra hours. Refreshing, and I hate to use an old saying, but "All Killer-No Filler". Lots of action and charecters you can relate to and very little 'down time'.
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch Thriller!
Review: Joe Hickey thought the Jennings family would be just like all the other rich families whose children he and his wife, Cheryl, and his cousin, Huey Cotton, have kidnapped in the past. Karen Jennings is a beautiful suburban wife of successful anesthesiologist Will. They live a comfortable lifestyle and dote on their daughter Abby. They are settled into their marriage but neither quite knows when they started drifting apart. Then they are faced with something more important than anything they've ever known. Abby is kidnapped. What do you do if you're faced with seemingly insurmountable odds and pushed into a corner to save your family? If you are Karen and Will Jennings, you fight tooth and nail to save your child and to bring the culprits to justice--even if that justice is delivered by your own hand. What ensues is a torturous, heart-pounding cat and mouse game between the "victims" and the perpetrators.
This novel has it all: car chases, explosions, guns, tenderness, sexual tension, fear, anger, suspense. You name it. Iles seems to write for the sheer enjoyment of telling a good story. This one is sure to keep you awake until you turn the final page.
What a way to get introduced to Greg Iles! This is the first of his novels that I've read, and I've already added a couple more of his titles to my bookshelf. A sure page-turner, a good story, complex but realistic characters--you don't get much better than this for entertaining reading. I dare you to read this slowly!
Rating:
Summary: Was a great read from beginning to end
Review: There are many authors out there who think they must write a piece of "art". They get too descriptive and the reader gets lost in the details or a room or item. I am a slow reader and have a problem getting into the story, especially if the author draws it out. It sometimes take me a month to finish a book because I will only read a 5-10 pages in one day. I get lost in the writing and can't seem to find my way back to the "story". This book was different. It is a story...a great story. It doesn't have all the unnecessary details that other books do. It has a great storyline to it and keeps you involved. The book starts out fast paced and it ends fast paced. I read this book in two weeks and even found myself going to sleep later because of reading and reading when I should have been doing other things. If you are just looking for a good story without all the details and story building, this is the book for you. A+ all the way. I will check out his other books.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Review: I really enjoyed this book, for two reasons: 1. It has a great story line that kept my interest the entire book, 2. The main characters lived in the same area that I do. It was interesting to read about places I know like the Beau Rivage in Biloxi. This is the first book that I have read by this author, but it will not be the last!
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: This book started with so much promise, but really let me down. I found it to be completely absurd in places, totally predictable in others. Some of the things that the head "bad guy" did were ridiculous. The ending was so ludicrous that it was all I could do to complete it.
I haven't read any of his other works and, based on this one, I wouldn't read them.
Rating:
Summary: I'd expect to see a film adaptation soon
Review: The story takes of like a fighter jet from an aircraft carrier and keeps ramping up up up to the end. You'll want to race through it like a delicious piece of candy. There's not much to it, but it sure is good. Perfect fare for Hollywood. I give it a solid four stars for entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: CLOCK WORK BLACK
Review: Greg Iles is turning out to be one of the most dependable writers in the thriller genre today. In "24 Hours," his skills as a plot technician, suspense/thrill master, and most importantly, character structure, is impeccable. While not as engaging and plausible as other books I've read by him ("Mortal Fear," "Dead Sleep"), this novel nonetheless is one you can hardly put down.
Again, skipping the synopsis already well covered by other reviewers, I'd like to focus once again on the tremendous ability Iles has in giving us richly developed and flawed characters, even the heroes.
The leading characters, Karen and Will Jennings, have fallen into the recognizable "stagnant" marriage. Jennings is a doctor who has come up with an amazing new medicine, and Karen is a wife who wanted to be a doctor, but had to give that dream up when she got pregnant, with their daughter Abby. This resentment fuels the story, and is both agonizing and convincing. It's also indicated in the fact that Will's concern for his kidnapped daughter, doesn't include his wife until late in the novel. He is also tempted by the sultry Cheryl, although this is initially when she's an audience member of his presentation, and before he finds out her role in the kidnapping. Even then, his temptation for sexual relationship is obvious. (He and Karen have conflicting views on the frequency and/or need for sex). Overall, Karen and Will are piercing characters, and you end up supporting them both in their desperate struggle to get their daughter back alive.
Abby, the little girl, is a different child character than usual. She is quite a charmer, a five year old with both the innocence of youth and the wisdom of intelligent and caring parents. She is also a diabetic, and is keenly aware of the need to watch what she eats and to make sure she gets her insulin shots.
The book has three villains, so to speak, but only one is truly irreprehensible. That's Joe Hickey. This man is evil through and through, and although he uses revenge as his motive for his fifth kidnapping, the other four show how cruel he can be also. He has a perfect crime on his hands, and has been successful four times before, but he meets his match in Karen and Will. He is vile, and quite well written.
Cheryl and mildlly retarded Huey are different; you can see their good side, and how they have been enamored and "captured" by the evil in Joe. I especially liked Cheryl's character, in that she "matures" in the reader's eyes.
The ending is spectacular and breathtaking; I can see its' cinematic value. "Trapped", screenplayed by Mr. Iles, is the movie version, and though I haven't seen it, reviews have indicated it stays close to the book.
Wow, this is a great read. I look forward to catching up on all of Mr. Iles' books.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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