Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The 13th Hour
When Hollywood is discussing screenwriters for the film version of a book that hasn't yet been released, you know there's something special/fantastic/awesome about it.The 13th Hour, by Richard Doetsch, is a thriller in reverse. The book opens on Chapter 12, during Nick Quinn's interrogation. He is accused of murdering his wife, Julia. The police have the murder weapon and his fingerprints are all over it. Only, Nick didn't do it.
The interrogation stops when the detectives are told Nick's lawyer has arrived. But the gray-haired man that enters the room is not a lawyer. Instead, this stranger gives Nick a special watch, a talisman, that will allow him to travel back through the last twelve hours, one hour at a time, and try to both solve his wife's murder and stop it from happening.
I could NOT put this novel down. It's a fairly quick read, just 13 chapters of intense, fast-paced thrills. The story is exciting and one of the more original books I've read in recent months, or maybe even years. The writing does feel a little bit repetitive at times, almost like the author is just trying to increase his word count (à la NaNoWriMo), but the plot is so intriguing that I really didn't care. I just had to find out what was coming next. I can't even tell you how many times I let out breaths I didn't even know I was holding.
The 13th Hour is in bookstores today and comes with a contest! You can enter to win a backwards-running watch and a signed copy of the novel! But read the contest rules before you read the book, because it does require you to pay close attention as you follow the story.
So check it out and let me know what you think!
**The fact that I received a free Advance Reader Edition of The 13th Hour in no way influenced this review.**
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"You know what they say. If you don't have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me."
~Clairee Belcher, Steel Magnolias