Customer Reviews

The Animal Hour

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book had me guessing, and wrong, about what was going on until almost the very end -- and i loved it! I've recommended this to friends who have enjoyed it as much. Sometimes the world doesn't make much sense, but Nancy Kincaid's "very bad day" wins the prize. (i've retyped this review 6 times trying not to give away plot details... just read the book, really. :-)

Reality and delusion are difficult to separate in Klavan's "The Animal Hour," a spiraling nightmare set in New York at Halloween. Nancy Kincaid begins her day by going to work - where no one recognizes her. Oliver Perkins wakes in a hangover haze to his grandmother's desperate appeal to find his younger brother.

As the day proceeds, Nancy's personality disintegrates, hammered relentlessly by a compelling voice and Oliver's pursuit leads him to a gruesome murder scene. Klavan ("Don't Say A Word") cuts between characters at moments of peak suspense, a time-honored device which ratchets up the tension admirably. Unfortunately it also calls attention to the characterization - strictly cut-out. But you can't have everything and Klaven's handling of action and psychological horror is heart-stopping.

Portsmouth Herald

Unlike the other reviewer from San Francisco, I have to admit that I really enjoyed this book for the suspense novel it is. I've successfully handsold several copies to customers where I moonlight based on the synopsis of the protagonist showing up at work only to find that none of her coworkers claim to know her. What I enjoyed about it most was that half way through the book I was sure there could be no resolution to my satisfaction without involving the occult or some supernatural goofiness, but Klavan actually accounts for everything quite nicely and summed it all up to my satisfaction. It wasn't great literature but a fun summer read. Sometimes that's all you need.

I was just roaming the library waiting for something to pop out at me. I don't know why this book did just that. I didn't find the title terribly appealing, but it was curious enough to make me pick up the book and read the synopsis. I checked it out and brought it home with no expectations. Later that night I started reading and I could not put the damn thing down till I finished it! What a ride this was! This page-turner will keep you guessing to the end, at which point you'll wish there was more!

...marred only slightly by a confusing ending. A brilliantly twisted Twilight Zone murder mystery, nonetheless.

I had to stop reading at page 11... I couldn't get past the words coming out of Nancy Kincaid's mouth. "Yikes"... "Jeepers"..... JEEPERS??!!?? .....wow.... the book was published in 1993, the main character (Nancy) is a young woman living in the city, modern times (1993)..... has anyone said "Jeepers" since, oh... 1953?

JEEPERS???!!!?!???!?!?!
and

She bumps her chin or stubs a toe or something....

"Ow, that SMARTS!"

....

As a current fan of Klavan, I decided to take a look at some of his earlier works. Big mistake. This book is notable only for demonstrating how much the author has improved since writing this novel. I notice there are several good reviews here, so I recommend reading the first few chapters of the book before committing. I put this book down several times with no intention of finishing. I managed to finish the book by reading only the first sentence of every paragraph and felt I missed nothing. Lots of filler, it would have made a good half hour Twilight Zone episode.

The idea of showing up at work and nobody recognizing you really hooked me. I had to keep reading to find the answer, and I'm glad that I did. The ending was a surprise too. I don't want to be a spoiler, so just read this novel!

I would fault Andrew Klavan, however, for killing off one of the secondary characters late in the story. That was unnecessary, and in a way broke trust with the reader. We don't care how many good guys are killed to further the plot, but that character could have been badly wounded. Also, the ending should have been very clear. As a reader, I hate it when things are not totally and absolutely wrapped up (it was, but I wish he had written another half page).

Nevertheless, I highly recommend this forgotten thriller.

If you like this strange plot of someone going to work and nobody recognizing them, then also read "The Trader," by Charles DeLint. A old man wakes up in the body of a young man and vise-versa. The problem is that the young punk now has all his money. I won't say anymore. Trader (Newford)

You would probably also like Richard Laymon's "Body Rides." Body Rides

And "Desolate Angel," by Chaz McGee, where a detective is murdered and wakes up as a ghost.Desolate Angel (A Dead Detective Mystery)

Wow - my first book by this author and it won't be my last. It grips you from the very beginning and I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed Mr. Klavan's descriptions which made me feel as though I was experiencing Nancy's terror and confusion right along with her. All the characters in the book seemed real and were very memorable. I'm somewhat confused by some of the other reviews here and I'm glad I didn't read them first. Being from New Jersey and having recently visited NYC might have added to my enjoyment of the scenic descriptions but that is not at all a necessary proviso to thoroughly enjoy this unique and riveting plot. Can't wait to sink my teeth into the next Klavan novel.

It's Halloween morning and Nancy Kincaid is about to discover that she has disappeared. When she arrives at her office in one of New York's top law firms, she is tired and feeling a little ill. But her world turns upside down when she realizes that none of her co-workers recognize her. "Excuse me, this is Nancy Kincaid's office, and you are not Nancy Kincaid." Bewildered and frightened, Nancy is forced to flee when her boss threatens to call the police. As she stumbles through the hostile streets of New York, Nancy begins to hear voices whispering in her ear, telling her that someone is going to be murdered tonight at 8 pm at the "Animal Hour". Now she must figure out who the victim is and where the murder will take place while the entire world treats her as crazy. Across town, a Greenwich Village poet named Oliver Perkins is just waking up from his latest bender. When his anxious grandmother calls to tell Oliver that his irresponsible younger brother has disappeared, Oliver reluctantly sets out to find Zach, sure he will have to rescue Zach from his latest disaster. Instead, Oliver finds the decapitated corpse of a young woman in his grandmother's abandoned house. Desperate to find Zach before the police, Oliver is propelled on a quest across New York that is somehow linked to Nancy Kincaid's search for her life. "Animal Hour" is a superb, complex thriller with bone-chilling suspense and frantic action. The reader will be unable to put down the book until the last page. Klavan is masterful in developing the dread and tension that makes the best suspense novel successful.