Hunting Down Amanda [Hardcover]

Andrew Klavan (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• ASIN: B0018XYGDK
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)

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

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Quite A Ride, December 12, 2001

By 

sweetmolly (RICHMOND, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hunting Down Amanda (Mass Market Paperback)

Andrew Klavan wins my 2001 annual award for "Most Heart-Stopping Opener." Lordy! A bucolic summer scene in quaint Hunnicutt, MA and then,

"A white-hot light spilled wide across the face of heaven ---as if the sky had been obliterated by a blinding stain."

A commercial aircraft has exploded in mid-air over the town center, and it is raining metal, fire and body parts. A little girl runs amid the falling debris to find her mother. Thus we are introduced to Amanda who is the epicenter of a desperate search by the government and a pharmaceutical company (all bad guys). Why? It seems Amanda is able to "sparkle" people, to use her words. She can heal by touch. This gift is neither occult nor spiritual, but the result of drug experimentation. The catch? Amanda is depleted by her "sparkling," and if overused, will die. Her street-smart mother has been on the run for a year. The rest of the novel is the chase by the bad guys and the obsession for the mother, Carol by haunted musician, Lonnie.

The characterizations are expertly done and highly believable. Each player is etched on your mind. This is the strongest part of the book. However, the plot becomes so fantastic, it is almost ludicrous. I can suspend belief for maybe three impossible escapes, but not ten or twenty. The pace is pounding, and the ending is poignant; but I had left any believability behind. Grade B-

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Klavan's most readable novel, one of the summer's best!, August 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hunting Down Amanda (Hardcover)

I found this book delightful. Whether you are a Klavan fan (as I am) or simply a genre-shopper out for a great, fast read from an author you haven't read before, you should find something enjoyable in "Amanda." It sizzles along like the best thriller bestsellers, but it has the depth of character and plot that few summer potboilers ever achieve. Granted, like many thrillers it is necessary to suspend your disbelief occassionally, but one of Klavan's strengths is his ability to make you willingly suspend it. And maybe Klavan has written more seamlessly plotted novels in the past, but none as accessible. I strongly recommend it to anyone who loves Klavan's work, but also to fans of Thomas Harris, Jeffrey Deaver, early Dean Koontz or later Robert McCammon.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Healing touch, December 14, 2005

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hunting Down Amanda (Mass Market Paperback)

Five year old Amanda, has, by reason of a dose of chemicals, injected into her father before her birth, by a pharmaceutical company, the power to heal with a touch. This has made her the target of unscrupulous men who wish to sell her to the highest bidder, and have forced her mother Carol, an uneducated cocktail waitress, turned prostitute, to keep constantly on the run in an effort to outwit the baddies. Recently widowed saxophonist, Lonnie who is spiralling downwards in a haze of alcohol, literally bumps into Carol and saves her, at least temporarily, from the clutches of the crooks. They spend the night together, with Carol captivating Lonnie so much that he stalks her, putting himself in great danger from that moment on. After many adventures in which other innocent people are involved and ultimately killed, Carol, Lonnie and Amanda are helped to make a final run for freedom by a reformed crook, who sacrifices himself to save the child. I agree with other reviewers that it has the makings of a "made for cable" movie, but I found it to be an exciting read nevertheless!