Women's Worst Nightmare

Eleven Hours
by Paullina Simons

Genre; Fiction/Thriller
Publisher; Flamingo/London/1999
Pages; 299
ISBN; 0-00-655111-4

Plot: Desdemona, known to all her friends as Didi, has lead a happy life. She has two beautiful children, a loving husband and, while not rich, she is comfortable. To top all of this off, she is nine months pregnant with her third child.

On a shopping trip this all begins to crumble as a man forces her into his car are takes her on a ride across the country, gun loaded and blade sharpened.

The next eleven hours of Didi's life is frightening and unsure. Does this man want to claim a ransom for Didi, or are his motives a lot more sinister?

My Thoughts; This is one of the most gripping books I have ever read. From the first word I was engrossed in this fast paced thriller.

I enjoyed every aspect of this book; the characters, the plot, the nail-biting ending. I will admit, from the first few pages I had a fairly good idea of what the ending may be, but this didn't make the read any less thrilling.

This story is all action from the start. A lot of books take a while to warm up, particularly books from this genre. You read and read waiting for the "good bits" to start, and before you know it you have read the first third of the book in anticipation of the action. This book is not in any way as slow as that. Eleven Hours is juicy from the first few pages. Simons grips you from the start and it isn't until later that she fills you in on the back story.

What I really liked about this book is the way Simons gives her characters time to tell their story in turn. The first chapter is from Didi's point of view and the next is from her husband's. This pattern continues throughout the book; wife and then husband, wife and then husband. As I read I thought I may find Didi's chapters a lot more enthralling, but as her husband, Rich, begins his hunt with the FBI, I began to enjoy the story of him and the FBI agents just as much.

If I had to make one negative comment it could only be about the cover. The story in itself is impeccable, but the cover confused me. Didi is a brown haired, brown eyed woman and the cover is of a green eyed, blonde. Can someone explain this to me?

However, this is just me being picky. As a whole this book is perfection and I cannot think of any criticism of the story. If this is Simons' typical style I cannot wait to devour another of her books.

I recommend this to anyone and everyone as a gripping and enjoyable read. Do yourself a favour and add it to your book shelf, you will not regret it.

Happy Reading!