Don't Say a Word [Hardcover]

Andrew Klavan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1991

As Dr. Nathan Conrad, a Central Park West psychiatrist, explores the hallucinatory worlds of his patients, the demons inside them watch him, and soon he is involved in a horrifying nightmare. Reprint. K.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New York City psychiatrist Nathan Conrad possesses everything required for a good, normal life--a successful practice on Central Park West, an adoring wife and a lovely daughter. He also has a reputation for dealing with the hard cases that most of his uptown colleagues prefer to pass on: catatonics, schizophrenics, the criminally insane. In this taut, superbly plotted thriller, Klavan, an Edgar-winner also writing as Keith Peterson, interweaves Dr. Conrad's disparate worlds to riveting effect. Soon after he begins treating a young woman accused of a particularly brutal murder, Conrad receives a chilling phone call at home. Suddenly his safe private life becomes a nightmarish game board, with Sport and Maxwell, two vividly drawn psychopaths, key players in his terrifying ordeal. Maxwell smiles and hums when he hurts people; Sport finds this a handy behavior in an accomplice. And the reader, meanwhile, roots for Dr. Conrad all the way to this brisk novel's heart-stopping conclusion. Major ad/promo; movie rights optioned by Kopelson Productions/Warner.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-- This psychological thriller chronicles the kidnapping of the adored child of a successful psychiatrist in New York City. From the time two men knock at an elderly woman's door and ask permission to conduct a maintenance check until Jessie is reunited with her mother, the pace never slackens. The vulnerability of the honest person to the evil purpose of criminals is made bone-numbingly clear as readers are alternately privy to the inner thoughts and actions of family members (including Jessie), the terrorists, and the police. Escape literature to spellbind mature teens and perhaps nudge them closer to discarding their youthful sense of immortality. --Barbara Hawkins, West Potomac High, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 310 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books; 1ST edition (April 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671740083
• ISBN-13: 978-0671740085
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,110,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andrew Klavan has been nominated for the Mystery Writer of America's Edgar award five times and won twice. He is the author of several bestselling novels, including Don't Say A Word, filmed starring Michael Douglas, True Crime, filmed by Clint Eastwood, and Empire of Lies. He is currently writing a series of thrillers for young adults called The Homelanders. The first two novels in the series are The Last Thing I Remember and The Long Way Home. Klavan is a contributing editor to City Journal and his essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, among other places. His satiric video commentaries can be seen on PJTV.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling Suspense, August 29, 2001

By 

Sebastien Pharand (Orléans, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Don't Say a Word (Hardcover)

Don't Say a Word is an in-your-face novel that practically reads by itself. Although the dialogue is often laughable and the characters are paper-thin, the hundreds of twists and turns are enough to keep you entertained well past your bedtime.
A psychologist's daughter is kidnapped by men who pretend to be able to see everything the shrink and his wife do. They want to get a number from a psychotic patient of the good doctor, a number which, of course, will bring them to a loot worth millions. The doctor has only a few hours to get the number and find his daughter.
The race against time plot is always entertaining. The action is non-stop and the finale is beyoung belief. This is a book you just can't put down. The plot lets you forget that the author has no real style of his own and that the dialogue is often horrendous. This is one novel that satisfies its reader from beginning to end.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Seamy book about psychotic and sadistic criminals., February 16, 2002

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Don't Say a Word (Paperback)

"Don't Say a Word," by Andrew Klavan, is an unpleasant book about a trio of perverted criminals who kidnap a little girl for strange reasons of their own.

Dr. Nathan Conrad, a successful psychiatrist, lives in a luxurious Manhattan apartment building with his beautiful wife, Agatha, and his five-year-old daughter, Jessie. He has a new patient, an angelic-looking young woman named Elizabeth, who is accused of murder. Suddenly, Nathan's life is turned upside down. His child is taken from her bed in the middle of the night. What are the kidnappers after? Do they want money or do they want something else?

There is no mystery as to who the perpetrators are. Klavan spends a great deal of time familiarizing the reader with the revolting individuals who revel in torturing both adults and children. That is one of the main problems with this book. The scenes in which these characters are depicted masturbating, cursing, and torturing others are absolutely disgusting. I have read many thrillers featuring sadistic criminals, but few authors dwell at length on the perversions of these individuals.

"Don't Say a Word" fails as a suspense novel. The reader can see where the story is heading long before the end of the novel. The plot is incredibly melodramatic and completely unrealistic; the ending is way over the top.

"Don't Say a Word" doesn't work as a thriller and the repulsive scenes featuring the twisted minds of the criminals make it a book well worth avoiding.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I was hooked from the opening line, April 19, 2009

By 

J. Norburn (Quesnel, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Don't Say a Word (Paperback)

This is a highly entertaining page-turner that had me hooked from the opening line. The plot isn't overly original - a prominent psychologist's daughter is kidnapped by a trio of degenerate thugs who threaten to kill the girl if the psychologist doesn't do what they want. What they want is a piece of information, a number, from one of the doctor's patients, and they are convinced he's the only one who can get it from her.

This is a well-plotted novel that is hard to put down. The pacing is relentless. I also liked that the author created a protagonist who is a little flawed (for example, he has inappropriate sexual fantasies about his young patient) and killers who are not exactly criminal masterminds. (Stupid criminals are almost always more entertaining than smart ones). Overall the writing is solid, in some instances reminiscent of Steven King (notably the extensive use of 'italicized internal dialogue').

One unconventional aspect to this novel is that there are times when scenes happen `off the page'. One of the bad guys for example is taken into custody and the reader only learns of this `after the fact'. This narrative technique is used multiple times in the novel and in most cases works quite effectively. It reinforces the element of the `ticking time-clock' and isolation that drive the story. So many things are happening simultaneously in the novel and, in a world before cell phones, the characters are often functioning in isolation, unaware of what is occurring `off the page'.

As entertaining as I found this novel, I have to admit that some of the plot points are pretty implausible and there are elements of the novel that are painfully melodramatic. A strong warning is also necessary to advise `sensitive readers' that parts of this novel are disturbing. The killer/kidnappers in Don't Say a Word are especially perverse and sadistic and some of their behaviour is so repugnant that some readers may find they can't enjoy the novel.

This is the second novel I've read by Klavan and I've enjoyed them both. The other novel, True Crime, is a great read (even better than this one). Don't Say a Word was made into a movie with Michael Douglas (which I haven't seen). Interestingly, the famous tag line for the film ads ("I'll Never Tell") isn't in the book.