Customer Reviews

Hooked: A Thriller About Love and Other Addictions

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I picked up a copy of Hooked on a last minute book stop after realizing, suddenly, that I was leaving for my meticulously planned week in Tahoe with no email, cell phones or clients, but then, as of yet, nothing new to read.

I had thirty minutes to plan my assault on the local Border's so I texted a friend who dutifully responded back with some suggestions including Hooked, which he recommended because it was "a good page turner".

Turned out he was right, and it also proved an appropriate antidote for someone trying to take a breather from work-encouraged ADD and you know, get away from it all and things like that.

Hooked is a totally fun book about an overly sentimental Bay area journalist who stumbles upon a nefarious plan hatched by local venture capitalists who have created the next big technology innovation and they have figured out what we always suspected the Microsofts and Googles of the world were secretly up to...getting us feeble-minded consumers literally addicted to their products. There's love, mayhem, mystery and death...and truly, it becomes addictive as you try to figure out what's really going on. I read it in a day.

Trust no one, but read Hooked.

My only real complaint is that there wasn't a Part Deux for those of us who got hooked.

Makes an excellent stocking stuffer.
Or Hanukah/Kwanza gift.

HOOKED is a heavily hyped thriller from Hachette's new "Twelve" imprint. Unfortunately, this novel is a really weak effort that I can't recommend.

The beginning of the book is the best part. Nat Idle, a medical school graduate turned freelance journalist, is sitting in a coffee shop when a woman hands him a note. He then opens the note, and discovers that it's telling him to get out of the shop. The shop then explodes. Interestingly, the note is written in the handwriting of Idle's old girlfriend, lost at sea over two years ago and presumed dead.

Unfortunately, after this exciting beginning, HOOKED doesn't go much of anywhere. This book just isn't very tightly plotted at all. The story moves forward rather slowly, with an endless series of flashbacks detailing Idle's relationship with his lost love. To make matters worse, Idle is a remarkably bland leading man, and virtually all of the supporting characters are thinly drawn. A lot of their dialogue is stilted and lacks any semblance of style.

HOOK has some clever moments, but it really doesn't flow very well as a story. In the end, it just never grabbed me or even held my attention. My advice is to skip this book and read superior efforts by writers such as Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Greg Iles, and Tess Gerritsen.

(Thriller on 5 CD abridged--also in hardcover)

Nat Idle, a freelance journalist who decided after graduating from medical school that he was better suited for a career writing about, versus practicing medicine, left the required residency program and never looked back.

The novel opens as Nat sits reading a book in a San Francisco cafe, when a woman places a folded note on the edge of his table, then, without pause, quickly exits the cafe. He picks up the note and attempts to follow the mysterious woman outside, only to catch a brief glimpse of her speeding away in a red Saab. He then reads the note...."Get out of the café-Now"! It was much more than the words that grabbed Nat, it was the script. It was Annie's handwriting-Annie, his deceased girlfriend, for whom his heart still ached. How? His swirling thoughts are interrupted, as at that very moment the cafe explodes, knocking him off his feet.

This single terrifying moment changes Nat's life once again, and launches the story into overdrive. Richtel takes the reader on a fast-paced journey, full of relentless action and drama. With the added dimension of Jason Singer narrating, readers can easily visualize the sharply etched, strong characters Richtel created, especially the ruthless, clever and devilishly ingenious Kendell family. The exact circumstances surrounding the loss of Annie aren't explained until later, which adds to the nail-biting tension and myriad of questions that urge the reader on. Nat appears to be a hopeless romantic unable to bury the past and move forward. But this too will be revealed as yet another ingredient carefully woven into this meticulously designed high-tech web of deceit.

Hooked is absolutely the perfect title for this debut novel from Matt Richtel. Undoubtedly after this reading (or listening) experience, there will be legions of fans hooked on Richtel's complex plots, endearing characters and strong delivery. Hooked will leave even the most astute suspense thriller fan in awe of Richtel's ability to weave the unimaginable into the very fabric of reality. You will never again surf the web or check email without a quick thought and then shake off the idea as ludicrous. But is it? Or.... are we already, hooked?

Armchair Interviews says: Hooked it is-whether you read or listen, you will be hooked, too?

Nathanial Idle has finished medical school, finds himself $100,000 in debt and begins having second thoughts about his career path. He is, however, very interested in medical stories --- both the breakthrough discoveries and the abuses in his field of study. So, instead of completing the required residency program to become a doctor, he turns to investigative journalism.

It is during this time of great decisions that he meets the love of his life. Annie is everything he could hope for, more than he imagined could exist in a human being. Their romance is storybook perfect --- perhaps too perfect to last --- and as quickly as he finds her, an accident snatches her from him. Nat is beyond consolation and feels himself destined to go through the rest of his life with a gaping hole in his being.

Yet he continues moving mechanically from day to day, from assignment to assignment, taking comfort from the various people in his life who offer it to him. It is at this point that the story opens with Nat sitting in the Sunshine Café and someone sliding a piece of paper onto the table. He picks it up and reads: Get out of the café...NOW. And then the place explodes.

The explosion sets off a series of fires and deaths that seem too connected to be coincidental. Simon Anderson, a patron in the Internet café, does not recover from his wounds. Andy, a friend of Erin (one of the waitresses), becomes depressed and jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge. The police uncover Erin's history and suspect that she may have had something to do with the explosion. What is the connection, the common thread that pulls these events together?

As Nat hangs on to the hope that Annie was the one who warned him about the explosion, he seeks to prove that she is somehow still alive. But the more he investigates, the more he discovers that he didn't really know her. He finds out that his adorable, quirky little angel may have been the mastermind behind the problems now facing her billionaire father's investment company. He learns that her job as a venture capitalist went far beyond securing investments for the company. In fact, her schemes may have led to cover-ups involving both death and destruction.

HOOKED is a thought-provoking, authoritative first novel by Matt Richtel that illustrates some of the inherent dangers in allowing technology to become the "drug" or the "god" of our lives. It forces us to face our own addictions to our digital instruments and to realize how excitedly we look forward to the "next big thing." Is there some kind of a plot to turn our Blackberries into Crackberries? Could there be? Using the skills learned as a journalist, Richtel does not lose any of the themes or storylines in this complex tale, causing readers to eagerly reach the well-drawn conclusion.

[...]

As a published novelist, I know how hard it is to keep the pace intense. Matt Richtell has this down cold. From the first page you quite literally will be "hooked". The book is border-line science fiction, but the fiction could be just around the corner; don't let this aspect put you off. It's a fast paced mystery adventure with a nice hero, trying to recover from a lost love when events, literally, explode around him. The tension is palpable---the writing is clean and the plot very credible. Hooked is a great read.

"Hooked" is a perfect blend of thriller, mystery, and love story, with a dash of noir as well. The story begins with Nat Idle, a medical school graduate turned freelance journalist, sitting in a San Francisco Café, drinking a mocha, reading a book, and minding his own business. A woman than walks by him and places a folded note on his table, then briskly leaves the café. Thinking he is getting picked up, Nat tries to follow her but she quickly leaves in a red Saab. Nat then opens the note to discover it says "Get out of the café--Now!". Seconds later the café explodes. To make this scene of events even more obscure, the note is written in the exact same script as Nat's deceased girlfriend, Annie, who he has been mourning for years. Thus begins an incredible and fast paced journey that never slows down. Nat believes there is some type of conspiracy going on and will stop at nothing to find the truth that no one seems to want him to have. Numerous attempts on his life do not even slow Nat down. There are many interesting twists and turns along the way that will really get you thinking on the current style of living today, and the reliance that human beings have on technology. Short, exciting chapters, numerous flashbacks to describe Nat and Annies relationship, and in depth looks at characters personalities will make it hard for you to put this book down. You may very easily get "Hooked" yourself. A MUST READ for anyone. You will not be disappointed.

The opening scene of Matt Richtel's Hooked is downright gripping: journalist Nathaniel Idle, reading Mystic River in an internet cafe, is handed a note by a mysterious blonde. He follows her outside, loses her, and only then unfolds the paper. It's a warning to leave the cafe. Behind him, the building explodes. The explosion of course triggers a police investigation, and Nat's departure from the building immediately before it blew up makes him an obvious suspect. But that's just the beginning of Nat's problems. He's driven to investigate the explosion himself to find out why he was spared, and to find the person who spared him: he recognized the writing on the note, but the writer can't be who he thinks it is. Nat's investigation leads him to re-examine an old relationship--a year-long affair that ended with his girlfriend's death. In the process, he finds that his connection to the cafe explosion is far deeper and more complex than he could have supposed.

Richtel's debut novel is cutting edge in that he's exploring the darker side of the digital revolution--modern concerns about internet addiction and invasive advertising and the melding of virtual and "meat space" realities are here blown up into a paranoid fantasy. (It's topical, yes, but some of the same issues were explored at least as early as the 1970's, in a memorable Columbo episode. The topic has just been updated to the digital age.)

The book's mystery is compelling, but when Nat begins unravelling the truth things get confusing and hard to follow. Indeed, the more I think about the book's plot, the more questions about its credibility come to mind, starting with the logistics of that initial explosion and the warning passed to Nat. (Nat's presence at the cafe cannot have been predicted. And the trigger mechanism of the bomb was far from reliable. So when exactly was that note prepared?) I'm left unable to explain as completely as I'd like what led up to the cafe explosion, and why it had to happen. But the fault may be mine. Give the book a read and see for yourself.

-- Debra Hamel

I found that in spite of Matt Richtel's Hooked being, at its core, largely focused on the sudden disappearance and purported re-appearance of the main character's deceased girlfriend, the novel makes several interesting notes on technology and our rapidly developing relationship with all things digital.

As a fiction novel, I found that Richtel's first book rang hollow on occasion. I did not feel invested in Nat's numerous precarious predicaments, real or perceived, and had difficulty identifying with characters in the novel. Portions of the plot were predictable, with the exception of some very notable twists, and Nat's vision of Annie is, at times, tiring and repetitive. If, instead, the novel had been devoted to Richtel's vision of the future of business and technology, I would have found myself much more engaged.

In spite of its flaws, Richtel paints a dark portrait of the future--a future that should be considered seriously by everyone. Without revealing the grand finale of the novel, I find it necessary to point out a particularly favorite incarnation of addiction presented in Hooked:

For a full review see Interface Volume 8 Issue 6.

I don't have a lot to say about the book, other than I can't bring myself to finish it. Nothing has really happened so far, it's just a lot of rambling, and not particularly engaging rambling.

This was a pretty fun techno-thriller.. fast, paced and exciting, with enough twists and turns to be quite unpredictable. And the "evil" technology was pretty interesting, although I think this book would be better suited to someone more interested in computers. I did like the ex-girlfriend's, Annie's, character quite a bit, as well as that whole interesting relationship...