HUSH
Description
Amazon.com Review
“Hush is almost impossible to put down.”
Hush opens with the gruesome murder of 7-year-old Davy Boyce's mother by his stepfather, Chet. Chet kills the woman with a straight razor after she confronts him about his abusive behavior towards Davy. We soon find that Chet has married Davy's mother only to be close to Davy, who he molests throughout the book. Once she's dead, Chet packs up the trailer and takes Davy to the remote, Oregon lumber town of Bentman. That's when Hush really takes off.
Chet's plan to have Davy all to himself is quickly derailed when Davy becomes both an elective mute and a biter. He is taken out of school and placed in the Bentman Children's Center where he meets 38-year-old Celia Griswold, the art therapist assigned to his case. Celia has her own problems. Her cheating husband, childless marriage, and uncooperative boss drive her to develop a bond with Davy, and the boy's sinister artwork leads her to suspect Chet of the crimes he's committed. Chet does not plan to give up "his boy," and launches an assault on Celia to ensure that he doesn't have to.
Edgar- and Emmy-award-winning journalist Mark Nykanen has written a debut thriller that is sure to chill even the most weathered mystery fan. Davy, Chet, and Celia hold the story together as both fascinating and believable characters. There are moments in the story that are difficult to believe, but despite its few weak spots, Hush is almost impossible to put down. --Mara Friedman
“Chet Boyce is a terrific creation, a dangerously insane fellow who...is drawn with such precision that he seems not only real but chillingly familiar.”—Booklist
“Emmy and Edgar-winning journalist Nykanen uncovers his characters’ psyches with wit, complexity, and originality...Nykanen’s attractively unpredictable characters will keep a stubborn hold on readers’ attention.”--Publishers Weekly
“A well-crafted and sophisticated psychological thriller that captures in frightening detail the fevered inner life of a psychopath. Elegant and darkly powerful.”
--Vincent Bugliosi, author of Helter Skelter and Outrage.
“A taut wire of a thriller.”--Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“A striking debut...Nykanen’s writing style, skill at characterization and sense of irony make HUSH [a] first-rate story.”--Portland Oregonian
“The pace is pulsing and the terror of a woman fighting for her life is so real that it is impossible to put this book down...This well-written novel is highly recommended.”--Library Journal
“I found myself unable to put the book down...Several times, I even skimmed paragraphs, anxious over what was going to happen next...Like a modern-day Wait Until Dark, it takes its time getting to its white-knuckled setpiece, but once it gets there, it takes no prisoners.” --Bentley Little, Bram Stoker award-winning author.
“Nykanen’s first novel, HUSH, is a blood-drenched, compelling variation on Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs.”--New Times L.A.
“HUSH is a unique, tremendous characterization study that dives into the guts of a psychopath and the fearful relationships he causes with the people he directly and indirectly affects.”--Harriet Klausner for BookBrowser
“[Chet Boyce] makes Hannibal Lector seems like a nice guy with an eating disorder.”--St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“HUSH is profound and ingenious and still a thriller that would keep Stephen King up nights.”--King Features
“Meet Boyce, the most despicable (and most realistic) villain to appear in a thriller in many years....[HUSH] is a full-bore thriller that packs a punch....It is bold, gusty, chillingly realistic and downright unsettling...Nykanen has more than talent--he has the style and the ability to grab the reader by the throat.”--The Salem Statesman Journal
“Unnerving enough to make readers keep checking over their shoulders--with all the lights in the house on.”--Tucson Citizen
“HUSH is an impressively grisly, haunting thriller.”--New Times Phoenix
“Hush is almost impossible to put down.”
Hush opens with the gruesome murder of 7-year-old Davy Boyce's mother by his stepfather, Chet. Chet kills the woman with a straight razor after she confronts him about his abusive behavior towards Davy. We soon find that Chet has married Davy's mother only to be close to Davy, who he molests throughout the book. Once she's dead, Chet packs up the trailer and takes Davy to the remote, Oregon lumber town of Bentman. That's when Hush really takes off.
Chet's plan to have Davy all to himself is quickly derailed when Davy becomes both an elective mute and a biter. He is taken out of school and placed in the Bentman Children's Center where he meets 38-year-old Celia Griswold, the art therapist assigned to his case. Celia has her own problems. Her cheating husband, childless marriage, and uncooperative boss drive her to develop a bond with Davy, and the boy's sinister artwork leads her to suspect Chet of the crimes he's committed. Chet does not plan to give up "his boy," and launches an assault on Celia to ensure that he doesn't have to.
Edgar- and Emmy-award-winning journalist Mark Nykanen has written a debut thriller that is sure to chill even the most weathered mystery fan. Davy, Chet, and Celia hold the story together as both fascinating and believable characters. There are moments in the story that are difficult to believe, but despite its few weak spots, Hush is almost impossible to put down. --Mara Friedman
“Chet Boyce is a terrific creation, a dangerously insane fellow who...is drawn with such precision that he seems not only real but chillingly familiar.”—Booklist
“Emmy and Edgar-winning journalist Nykanen uncovers his characters’ psyches with wit, complexity, and originality...Nykanen’s attractively unpredictable characters will keep a stubborn hold on readers’ attention.”--Publishers Weekly
“A well-crafted and sophisticated psychological thriller that captures in frightening detail the fevered inner life of a psychopath. Elegant and darkly powerful.”
--Vincent Bugliosi, author of Helter Skelter and Outrage.
“A taut wire of a thriller.”--Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“A striking debut...Nykanen’s writing style, skill at characterization and sense of irony make HUSH [a] first-rate story.”--Portland Oregonian
“The pace is pulsing and the terror of a woman fighting for her life is so real that it is impossible to put this book down...This well-written novel is highly recommended.”--Library Journal
“I found myself unable to put the book down...Several times, I even skimmed paragraphs, anxious over what was going to happen next...Like a modern-day Wait Until Dark, it takes its time getting to its white-knuckled setpiece, but once it gets there, it takes no prisoners.” --Bentley Little, Bram Stoker award-winning author.
“Nykanen’s first novel, HUSH, is a blood-drenched, compelling variation on Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs.”--New Times L.A.
“HUSH is a unique, tremendous characterization study that dives into the guts of a psychopath and the fearful relationships he causes with the people he directly and indirectly affects.”--Harriet Klausner for BookBrowser
“[Chet Boyce] makes Hannibal Lector seems like a nice guy with an eating disorder.”--St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“HUSH is profound and ingenious and still a thriller that would keep Stephen King up nights.”--King Features
“Meet Boyce, the most despicable (and most realistic) villain to appear in a thriller in many years....[HUSH] is a full-bore thriller that packs a punch....It is bold, gusty, chillingly realistic and downright unsettling...Nykanen has more than talent--he has the style and the ability to grab the reader by the throat.”--The Salem Statesman Journal
“Unnerving enough to make readers keep checking over their shoulders--with all the lights in the house on.”--Tucson Citizen
“HUSH is an impressively grisly, haunting thriller.”--New Times Phoenix
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