Customer Reviews

The Analyst (Charnwood Library)

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This was an incredible book that would make an excellent movie!
Katzenbach has a skill for creating compelling and convincing
characters, and a plot that will run you ragged by the end as you try and figure out what is going on! This book is suspenseful to the very end. And even then you will be awe struck!

I read it in two days while on vacation, and by the end of the week everyone I was with had read it and was mesmerized by the intensity and brilliance of the story.

Dr. Starks, a widower, is a creature of habit and routine. With no close family, and seemingly few friends, he is a psychoanalyst practicing from his home. On his 52nd birthday, he gets a riddle of a note from "Rumplestiltskin" who claims that he will kill Dr. Starks unless Starks kills himself or figures out who he is within 15 days. When Starks learns that this mystery person also made threats to his family, he
realizes the reality of the situation.

At some point, we learn "R" is seeking revenge for a patient Starks failed to help long ago. Stark's life is instantly turned upside down as the "stalkers" relentlessly play mind games with him and anticipate his every move. He works against the clock to figure out who is threatening him, his patients, his family, and everyone and everything he knows and who the patient was that he supposedly failed. Nothing in his life is sacred anymore -- not his bank accounts, not his homes, his practice, not anything. And the clock is ticking.

This is a hard book to review without giving too much away. The twists and turns are enough to keep you turning pages voraciously. It is one of the best books of the psychological thriller genre I have read. Starks is a brilliant character who emerges as a strong, and unpredictable man. Not to mention the other characters in the book who will have you spellbound with their actions and their ability to know everything about Starks.

Read this book. You will not be able to put it down and you will
want everyone you know to read it also so that you can talk about it.

Quite simply, this is the best thriller I've read so far this year, and actually, very possibly last year too. This is an honest to goodness thought provoking situation that has been presented in a riveting way and totally captured my imagination. It was the perfect case of posing the question, "What would you do if this happened to you?"

When Dr Frederick (Ricky) Starks receives a letter on his 53rd birthday, he has no idea of the implications the message contained inside will have on his life. The anonymous writer, who signed the letter Rumplestiltskin, proposes that Ricky must play a game. In this game Ricky must either commit suicide or work out who Rumplestiltskin is. He has 15 days to achieve either of these objectives and if he fails, a family member will be chosen at random and destroyed. It's a fascinating scenario to open what turns out to be a very nicely constructed book.

To make things even more interesting, Ricky is helped out with clues as to who it was that he wronged in the past that caused this act of revenge. He is also allowed to ask three questions over the 15 days. To make things difficult, however, he keeps getting object lessons in how serious Rumplestiltskin is with his game. What Ricky finds becoming increasingly clear is that nothing can be taken at face value and his life, as he always accepted it, would very likely be changed for good by this experience.

I found this to be one of those page-turners that you just fly through, yet on the other hand keep trying to slow yourself down to try to savour every word. Although it's the first book of John Katzenbach's that I have read, it definitely won't be the last.

See storyline above.

After reading Katzenbach's last novel `Harts War', I decided to put him on my must read list. After reading `The Analyst' I've decided to keep him on my list, but he will be moved closer to the bottom. The book is a deep psychological thriller. A highly detailed look at the psyche of one man. I will agree that the story had me hooked, but I had to read through many pages that described nothing but feelings. Is it fast-paced? No. Is it a story with a lot of depth? Yes. I still recommend this as a good thriller because it tells a good story, even though it is a little verbose.

John Katzenbach's 'The Analyst' offers a fun read that is tough to put down but requires a willing suspension of disbelief at several points in the story. The analyst is Dr. Frederick Starks, a psychoanalyst who is given 15 days to deal with a man who calls himself Rumpelstiltskin. The doctor's options - uncover Rumpelstiltskin or kill himself. Otherwise Rumpelstiltskin threatens to kill someone near and dear to him.

It is an ingenious plot with two ingredients that always make an interesting story - riddles and a race against time. The doctor's search is tense and exciting and Rumpelstiltskin makes a nice villain - an invisible puppetmaster with enormous resources and reach. The turnaround at the midpoint re-energizes the plot and pulls us in even further. Thankfully, the hero's age and predicament rule out any routine romantic entanglement that would have slowed down the pace. But the book also requires a willing suspension of disbelief and is littered with incredulous happenings, coincidences and leaps of intuition by several characters. The transformation - both physical and mental - of the protagonist is too radical to be believable and the first and second halves of the book seem to be inhabited two different persons. He also has unbelievable leaps of intuition at crucial points(for instance, with the clerk at the clinic's records room) and there are coincidences galore. Overall a good read as long as you don't 'analyze' it too much!

The Analyst is totally different than just about every other book I have read. Yes, I've read plenty of thrillers before - some good, some bad - but The Analyst is an absolute one-off.

Usually I don't mention the specifics of the plot in the review, normally the synopsis Amazon provides is good enough, but in this case it takes some explaining. Dr. Frederick Sparks is a psychoanalyst, a man who examines the problems of others and offers them treatment. One day before his August holiday he receives a strange letter signed by Rumplestiltskin, and boy, then his troubles really begin. The first half of the book is a twisting path of lies, deception and strange happenings as Dr. Sparks struggles to find out who is his tormentor while his life gradually falls apart in spectacular and terrifying fashion. This part of the book whizzes by and is amazingly tense and suspenseful. I loved this part as it made my stomach turn to knots and my muscles tighten up - a sure sign that the thriller is doing its job! I won't give anything away, but the second half of the book is more slowly paced as something happens to change Dr. Sparks fortunes, but it is still fantastic and intriguing. I was with Dr. Sparks the whole way, urging him on and willing him to succeed.

Overall The Analyst is an unusual and beautiful thriller which deals with an unlikely sounding plot and makes it seem chillingly real. Dr. Sparks is immensely likeable and well developed and we come to sympathise as well as respect him. Finally, I must mention the excellent writing style, which is very descriptive and original, adding menace to the plot. I read the book as quickly as I could, devouring the pages. I think you will too.

JoAnne

After reading three average books by John Grisham on holiday, I visited the hotel gift shop more in hope than expectation that I might find something a little more interesting.

The Analyst appeared to have a plot that was a bit cheesy and I was nearly put off by the summary on the back of the book. Still I bought it, and spent a fantastic day on the beach reading page after page of wonderful storytelling, gripping drama, the titillating uncovering of the mercurial Virgil and the gradual unravelling of a genuine mystery.

It was well into the small hours when I put the book down, finally finished. I am not an avid reader and generally only find time to read when all other distractions have been removed but this book was fantastic.

The good doctor was initially believably pathetic but with a hidden backbone that he clearly didn't know that he had. Virgil was mysterious, beautiful and was able to gain more sympathy from me as her troubled life was unmasked.

I couldn't really identify with Merlin. His appearances were all too brief and little of him was discussed.

The tale is beautifully timed, has enough twists and turns in it to keep you guessing but does not get confusing and although I found the climax to be a little predictable, it was nonetheless extremely entertaining.

The biggest compliment I can pay to this story is that I have never had cause to write a review before and am unlikely to do so in the future. This book stays with you for a long time through its rock solid storyline and interesting perspective on the meaning of life and evaluation of the worth of your own life.

Enjoy

Dr. Frederick Starks, a New York City psychoanalyst, lives within a highly structured world. He sees his high-class neurotic patients by day and conforms to a rigid lifestyle at night as he tries to forget about his late wife. His sole respite is the annual month long vacation to Cape Cod in the summer. It is on the eve of such an excursion and on his 53rd birthday that he receives a threatening letter. The letter states, "Welcome to the first day of your death...you ruined my life. And now I fully intend to ruin yours." The demand is for Dr. Starks' suicide or an innocent yet distant family member will be killed. The only way for him to "win" this game is to discover who his tormentor is. This, of course totally changes Frederick Starks' life as his comfortable surroundings crumble away. It is a race against time in which someone must die.
John Katzenbach is a very versatile writer who seems to be as comfortable writing a drama about a WWII prisoner of war camp as in HART'S WAR as he is writing this thriller on personal redemption and the process an individual would go to redefine themselves. The actual plot is a quite impressive game of cat and mouse with a gradual changing of those roles. Characters are adeptly portrayed. As we progress further into the plight of the main protagonist, the book becomes increasingly difficult to put down. Mr. Katzenbach is a superb entertainer and one whose books deserve the accolades many have already received.

Though kind of frightening in content, widowed New York psychotherapist Dr. Frederick "Ricky" Starks does not think anything will happen when he receives the threatening anonymous letter of revenge for medical neglect. That is until Rumplestiltskin takes his first victim. Rumplestiltskin simply gives Ricky an ultimatum. Over the next two weeks till his fifty-third birthday Ricky can try and guess the identity of the avenging angel while one by one fifty-two people close to the doctor will be destroyed or Ricky can end the game with a suicide.

Because he feels in control and to add to his amusement, Rumplestiltskin provides clues to his identity and answers yes or no questions about himself. Ricky tries to solve the case, but his dilemma turns worse because Rumpelstiltskin has taken control of his finances and insured a sexual abuse charge is filed. Then there is his adversary's employees, Merlin the lawyer and Virgil the female guide to Hell to attack Ricky's mental stability. Faced with the impossible, Ricky flees to gather himself together for a final effort to turn the tables on his deadly foe or die trying.

Though needing a stretch of acceptance with how the characters play out their roles, readers will be hooked from the bottom of page six when Ricky opens the letter. Fans will enjoy observing the triad destroy Ricky's ordinary life and how he fights back to regain some balance of a normal life. THE ANALYST is simply a fun thriller that though predictable demonstrates John Katzenbach's ability to entertain his audience.

Harriet Klausner

This is, without a doubt, the most compelling, suspenseful book I've read in months. Just imagine -- you're a self-important psychotherapist, very self-centered, your life is going along in a rut that you've worked hard to build, and actually like. Then, someone very smart, very creative, and very full of raw hate gives you fifteen days to kill yourself, or see everyone near you "destroyed." Why? Who is it? What to do?

The Analyst has repeated peaks of tension, but not much letup in pace. As a result, you find yourself hyperventilating, staying up all night to finish it, being satisfied when you're done, but sad that it's over, and you run out to get more of John Katzenbach's books to see if they even come close. Stay tuned...

This is the second work by Mr. Katzenbach that I have read. The first was, "Hart's War", which was a very good book that was turned in to a very bad movie. "The Analyst", appears to have provoked strong feelings both pro and con, which surprises me a bit.

All books have their champions and their detractors but I don't know what turned some people off so badly that they did not even finish the book. The book is not entirely original but for those who complete the read it amounts to almost two books, and both are done quite well. The Dr. is targeted by an incredibly well planned and meticulously researched game of likely retribution. The game is designed to punish him or any one of 52 relatives if he cannot identify his tormentor in 15 days. There are no limitations on the severity of punishment nor the maximum or minimum ages of the targets.

There are times when the book gets a bit ponderous with the head games the doctor utilizes to help his patients versus the games that are being played upon him. Much of it is quite clever, but there is always a point when there can be too much of a good thing. The book does not really have one ending, as I have said it is almost two books or installments. This format allows for multiple outcomes and a mind numbing number of paranoid meetings and coincidental events. The author adds an extra layer of intrigue by utilizing a number of names from classical literature and mythology, although he explains immediately what they represent, which lessens the mystery they could have added.

My only other hope is that they do not destroy this book with a film version as well.