Matt Richtel, Hooked

Hooked

Matt Richtel

Twelve, Jun 2007,$24.95

ISBN: 0446580082

In a San Francisco Internet caf , a woman leaves a folded note on the table of writer Nat Idle, who picks it up along with the book he was reading and follows her outside. As she drives away, he opens her note that reads "Get out of the caf - Now!". A nanosecond later an explosion rocks the caf .

While everyone in the Marina District think terrorism, Nat thinks Annie as the handwriting is hers. Although she died four years ago when she was swept to sea from her sailboat, he recognizes his late girlfriend's handwriting on the note. HOOKED, as he never moved past Annie's death, Nat begins questioning those who lived. Meanwhile, the house of one of those who survived, aspiring author Simon Anderson, catches fire, which increases Nat's theory of a conspiracy but the motive eludes him. He decides to visit Annie's family, starting at their questionable business Strawberry Labs where they do a lucrative drug trade that he always wondered if it was legal. Like a bulldog he cannot let go even when attempts on his life occur.

Though the flashbacks to the relationship between Nat and Annie add depth of understanding to his personality, they intrude on a fascinating personal thriller of a man needing to know how his allegedly dead first love leaves him a note that saves his life. The storyline is action-packed but owned by Nat's run as he seeks the truth that no one seems to want to let him have. Fans will appreciate Matt Richtel's exciting amateur sleuth thriller starring a seemingly everyman HOOKED with an obsession that propels him to continue in spite of the odds overwhelmingly that at worst he will die while at best he will know nothing.

Harriet Klausner