Don't Say a Word

Psychiatrist Nathan Conrad confronts urban paranoia and murderous insanity when his family is watched and followed, and later brutalized, by a criminal with a twisted mind and a mad giant who thrives on the suffering of others

YA-- This psychological thriller chronicles the kidnapping of the adored child of a successful psychiatrist in New York City. From the time two men knock at an elderly woman's door and ask permission to conduct a maintenance check until Jessie is reunited with her mother, the pace never slackens. The vulnerability of the honest person to the evil purpose of criminals is made bone-numbingly clear as readers are alternately privy to the inner thoughts and actions of family members (including Jessie), the terrorists, and the police. Escape literature to spellbind mature teens and perhaps nudge them closer to discarding their youthful sense of immortality. --Barbara Hawkins, West Potomac High, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

New York City psychiatrist Nathan Conrad possesses everything required for a good, normal life--a successful practice on Central Park West, an adoring wife and a lovely daughter. He also has a reputation for dealing with the hard cases that most of his uptown colleagues prefer to pass on: catatonics, schizophrenics, the criminally insane. In this taut, superbly plotted thriller, Klavan, an Edgar-winner also writing as Keith Peterson, interweaves Dr. Conrad's disparate worlds to riveting effect. Soon after he begins treating a young woman accused of a particularly brutal murder, Conrad receives a chilling phone call at home. Suddenly his safe private life becomes a nightmarish game board, with Sport and Maxwell, two vividly drawn psychopaths, key players in his terrifying ordeal. Maxwell smiles and hums when he hurts people; Sport finds this a handy behavior in an accomplice. And the reader, meanwhile, roots for Dr. Conrad all the way to this brisk novel's heart-stopping conclusion. Major ad/promo; movie rights optioned by Kopelson Productions/Warner.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A parent's nightmare becomes reality for psychiatrist Nathan Conrad when his five-year-old daughter is kidnapped by a sociopath and his sadistic partner. With their apartment apparently bugged, Conrad and his wife cannot even contact the police. Only when he discovers a link between the kidnapping and one of his patients can Conrad begin trying to save his daughter's life. Klavan has crafted a tight, taut, edge-of-the-seat thriller with multiple plot twists and surprises, a decidedly unstereotypical hero, and a fascinating psychological background. The almost unbearable suspense of what may be the thriller of the year is guaranteed to keep the reader's heart pounding right up to the last page. Recommended for all popular fiction collections.
- Eric W. Johnson, Teikyo Post Univ., Waterbury, Ct.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.