24 Hours

By: Greg Iles

Narrated by: Dick Hill

24 Hours begins with the perfect family...on the perfect day...about to become trapped in the perfect crime.

Will Jennings is a successful young doctor in Jackson, Mississippi, with his whole life ahead of him. He has a thriving practice, a beautiful wife, and a young daughter he loves beyond measure.

But Will and his family are being watched by a con man and psychopath. A man who has crafted the unbeatable crime. A man who has never been caught, and whose victims have never talked to the police. A man whose life's work strikes at the heart of every family's nightmare: the unstoppable kidnapping.

But this man has never met Will and Karen Jennings.

©2005 Greg Iles (P)2005 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"Iles tells a riveting tale....Here is a major talent strutting his considerable stuff." ( Denver Post)

It's the Important Things That Matter

Will Jennings will fly himself to a convention where he will be the keynote speaker. This convention takes place every year. Will's wife, Karen, has stayed home this year because of a prior commitment.

Will returns to his room to see the woman who had been directing her sexual flirting in the audience to Will, standing by his room. She asks Will if could help her with her key card because it would not work. Will inserts his card into his door, wanting to lay down the many things that he has been carrying, in order to help the woman.

When Will opens the door the woman pushes by him into his room. He is unable to comprehend what has just happened. However, when he turns to see a gun pointing at him, Will slowly closes the door and turns to face the woman, whose first name is Cheryl.

Karen and Abbey have a surprise waiting at home for them. Karen opens the door and she lets Abbey know that she'll fix them a tall glass of iced tea with a slice of lemon. Abbey, who is a juvenile diabetic, begs to have oreo cookies but her mom won't concede and accepts saltine crackers instead.

Abbey goes down the hall to the bathroom while Karen is fixing their snack. Abbey stops to look into her bedroom after leaving the bathroom, making sure that all of her dolls are okay.

Someone picks her up and places a cloth over her face and Abbey will remember later that it really smelled bad. She fights, kicking her feet and flailing her arms, until she stops and her head hangs down.

Joey hands Abbey out of the bedroom window where Huey is standing to take her. Joey asks Huey if he remembers what to do next. Huey, who is a cousin of Joey's, does have learning disabilities and is extremely insecure. Huey is also a tall man, big, weighing in at 350 pounds and his looks are scary to others. He relies on Joey for everything. Whatever Joey asks him to do, Huey will do it.

Huey takes Abbey to his beat up, green truck. He remembers how to remove the truck from behind the playhouse, where the truck had been hidden. Huey doesn't turn the engine over until he's about to the end of the road.

Karen, sitting in the kitchen hears the engine, thinking that's it's odd to hear it because the house is a distance away from other homes. She calls Abbey several times to come and eat her snack until she becomes alarmed and starts towards the bathroom. Karen stops dead in her tracks. Joey is in the hallway, staring at her. She begins to scream.

Karen is told about Abbey as she is led back down the hallway to the kitchen. Joey explains the rules. Abbey is now with Huey and he will take very good care of her until Joey receives $200,000. When the money is given to him, he will let Abbey go and everything will be, " the same as before."

Karen starts coming unglued and begins to tell Joey about Abbey's juvenile diabetes and how horrible things could become if Abbey needed her insulin and didn't receive it. Abbey would die without her insulin. Karen begs Joey to let her get the supplies together and take them to Abbey.

Cheryl has already explained the rules to Will. Will asserts that there will be no problem getting the money and he'll give her more if she wants it. His main concern is about his wife and daughter.

The rules are much more convoluted then what I have described above. However, Joey has done the same scheme for the past five years and there have never been any problems. The reason being, the parents want their child returned to them and the ransom is low for the people who have so very much money. So, Joey tells Karen, follow the rules and Abbey will come home just as she was when she had left.

There are scenes that do keep you listening closely. The narrator, Dick Hill, was okay. He could have made the listening experience better. There are times when Dick Hill is excellent but then there are times when he's not too good. I think, if he had read the story with more conviction, concern and empathy, I would have given the book at least 4 stars. There were parts of the story that were repetitious and weren't needed. There are scenes laced with excitement, others that are suspenseful and then there are endearing scenes. Abbey is a 5 1/2 year old child who would rather be 6. She's not aware of what is happening outside her child's world at this time but will she ever be able to forget? However, she's written about lovingly. I did enjoy the book and glad that I did buy and listen to it.

Good story

Very good story with all the elements to make it a hang on to your seat storyline. Very well done.

great story..

loved it...great characters and excellent story. dick hill always does a great job with reading

Absolutely thrilling

I've listened to several books by Greg Iles. They were all good, exciting, and action-packed. But this one outshines them all. I'll call China my breath and come back of r more

Great Listen.. Many turns and twists.

Nice change of pace... many turns with a good ending. I would recommend a listen.

Not for me!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Would not recommend this book. It's an only moderately interesting story horribly marred by voice- and accent over-acting by narrator. The book ended up with me more annoyed than interested and hoping for it to end soon.

Would make a good movie

The book was very good. Kept my interest from the beginning. Narration was good but wish he’d paused between chapters a little longer. I’m not sure I liked the ending but not sure how else I see it. Overall, a good read. Or listen.

The Best Greg Isles I’ve Read

I don’t know what it is about this book… Perhaps it’s the narrators performance, which is exceptional. I found this book to be incredibly engaging compared to some other Greg Iles books that tend to lag or maybe distracting because the narrator doesn’t do as good of a job. But the differences in the voices and capturing the characters that the narrator does in this audible, is exceptional. Highly recommend. Plus the storyline is interesting and unexpected.

Page Turner

A great read... A thriller that kept me turning pages. Great narration! highly recommended!

Thriller! But needs better medical pronunciations

This was an excellent thriller from start to finish. The most distracting part, was, oddly, the seasoned narrator Dick Hill. Because medications, conditions and treatments were crucially important to the plot, Mr. Hill should have been given a primer in their correct pronunciations--very distracting having to figure out what he was trying to pronounce, then missing the ensuing dialogue. His southern accents seemed harsh and difficult to distinguish between better educated and lower-life accents--and none seemed anything but contrived. He does better with Reacher. However, the book was truly an edge-of-the-seat thriller about the abduction of a diabetic child without sinking into graphic cruelty. Other issues brought forward were wives sacrificing their careers to raise children and men, particularly doctors, putting their conventions and meetings above family. It also highlights the harsh reality that no one is really safe.