Customer Reviews

They're Watching

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I have stopped reading thrillers, with a few exceptions and author Gregg Hurwitz falls squarely in those "exceptions".

It seems as though each and every novel he has ever written has been not only suspensful, but so engaging that I could never figure out the "ending" before he chose to tell it to me.

In They're Watching, we, once again, find Hurtwitz is supreme shape - although I have to admit that I had my doubts in the very first chapters as I thought they were, to be honest, boring and drawn out.

However, having said that, I am incredibly happy that I persisted because the rest of the book is an absolute powerhouse of twists and turns that had me baffled and more than a little curious.

Patrick Davis, the main character is actually an interesting "main" because he is not all that likeable, which is also something that I like about Hurwitz - he is not afraid to write characters with flaws. When we first meet Davis, it is obvious that he quite miserable and that his marriage is in deep trouble. However, he hasn't seen nothing yet!!!

Hurwitz truly delivers in this one - like I said, everytime I turned the page, I had no idea what to expect next - and, in the end, the author somehow managed to make me say "how did he do that?" once again.

Loved, loved this book.

A lot of thrillers these days promise nail-biting suspense and unrelenting tension but this one by Gregg Hurwitz actually delivers on all counts.

When screenwriter Patrick Davis receives a DVD of him and his wife going about their daily business he thinks it's an elaborate prank however things quickly take a much darker turn. From there the tension is cranked up as Patrick quickly finds his life unravelling.

Where this book really separates itself from the pack is in how brilliantly drawn the characters are, especially those who, in a lesser book, would be chewing the scenery in the background. The single mom detective, Sally Richards, stands out, as a particularly impressive creation who would merit her own series.

Above all, They're Watching, is exceptionally well written. If you like Harlan Coben, Robert Crais or any of the other top American thriller writers then do yourself a favor and pick this up. Then go back and read all of Hurwitz's previous Hitchcockian stand-alone thrillers starting with The Crime Writer.

Patrick Davis had it all--a beautiful wife, a Hollywood home, and a screenplay that was picked up by a major studio and made into a movie with an up-and-coming star. But just when he's seemingly poised on the brink of serious success, he's suddenly on the verge of losing everything. With his marriage on the rocks, his career in jeopardy, and a six-figure lawsuit pending against him, his formerly storybook existence has turned into a horror movie. When he starts getting DVDs showing footage of him going about his daily life, he's at first confused, then alarmed, then angry. Patrick's entire life is being meticulously scrutinized. But why?

Then the phone calls begin. And the e-mails. And then the demands. Whoever is watching Patrick knows everything about him--what he does, where he goes, whom he talks to. He can't go to the police, and he has no choice but to do what is asked. But when the true intentions of his stalkers finally come to light, Patrick will have to decide whether to give up or fight back. In the process, he will learn what his true priorities are and how to value what really matters most.

They're Watching is a tightly constructed thriller. Author Gregg Hurwitz spins out the suspense in the first-person narrative little by little until the tension is so high there's nothing to be done but stay up all night and finish the book. The plot manages to avoid being formulaic while still giving readers the twists and turns they expect. The author is to be commended for telling a great story full of intrigue, betrayal, and high stakes without resorting to the graphic sensuality and violence adopted by many of his peers. Utterly entertaining, They're Watching is an ideal escape for mystery/thriller aficionados. With sympathetic characters, great pacing, and superb writing, this book should easily secure Hurwitz's place among today's premier writers in this genre.

I'm a huge fan of Gregg Hurwitz, and while I've thoroughly enjoyed all of his books, Hurwitz knocks it out of the park with They're Watching. If you're looking for read a fast-paced, edge of your seat reading experience in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock, you will love, absolutely love, They're Watching. Publisher's Weekly and Booklist gave it a starred review, and this week's People magazine just gave it a glowing review. Believe the hype. I read this book in two sittings. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up. You won't be disappointed.

The two stars of this book are Patrick and Ariana Davis. Patrick is in a marriage that is failing.After selling his first screenplay he is fired from the movie and
has to go back to teaching screenwriting in a community college. Suddenly DVDs are being delivered to him. He is suddenly aware that he and his wife are being watched.
The DVDs are shot from the front of the house and from the roof of his neighbir's
house. Patrick brings professional help and discovers that there are monitors and microphones all through his house. The more he investigates the scarier it becomes.
He becomes implicated in the murder of a Hollywood star. He discovers that a corporate powerhouse named Festman Gruber is involved in the plot. This company has retained the services of a security company named Ridgeline. Davis calls upon the
services of North Vector to offset the opposition. Davis has to resort to some underhanded tactics to prevail. This is an outstanding movie. Be sure to see it.

Gregg Hurwitz is one of those people who does a number of things amazingly and enviably well. Quick, let's trip him. Seriously, Hurwitz has penned an impressive list of thriller novels, scripted screenplays for a who's who list of producers and studios, and written story arcs for some of the most iconic figures in comic books, including Wolverine and The Punisher. THEY'RE WATCHING, his latest effort, combines action, strong characterization, and a genuine, mesmerizing mystery to produce what is arguably his best and strongest novel to date.

Patrick Davis is an interesting character, a Hollywood-style Everyman who achieves his life's dream for a New York minute before everything turns to sewage. He feels that he is on the road to stardom when he sells his first screenplay, They're Watching, to a major studio. A next-big-thing actor is slotted for the starring role, and Patrick seems to be on his own personal fast track. But within a heartbeat or two, his life collapses. The actor sues him, the studio fires him from the set, and his relationship with his wife, Ariana, undergoes a major upheaval. Patrick lands a job teaching scriptwriting at a Los Angeles college, but he is not where he wants to be in any phase of his life.

Things really get bad, however, when someone begins sending him DVDs. The recordings on the discs show him and his wife going about everyday activities, such as leaving the house or --- and this is where it gets scary --- sleeping in their beds. Whoever is doing this seems to have intimate knowledge of every facet, every nook and cranny of their lives. Patrick and Ariana discover all too soon how this is being done, but still don't know the "who" or the "why."

Then things get even worse. The entity that has invaded their lives begins giving Patrick errands to run that are the stuff of reality television good deeds. The motivation behind these, though, takes a malevolent turn when he suddenly finds himself on the wrong end of a violent setup. And then the situation deteriorates further. Patrick is a pariah, investigated by the police, hounded by the press, and beset on (almost) all sides. Things get so bad, in fact, that one wonders if Patrick will ever get out of the hole that someone seems to be digging just for him. He needs to find out who is doing what they're doing, and why. Learning the answers may not be enough.

While reading THEY'RE WATCHING, I kept thinking of Cary Grant's Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest, given that Roger and Patrick are both innocent men who are caught up in situations in which they each look extremely guilty. And indeed, there is a cinematic feel to the book, which demonstrates Hurwitz's skills as a screenwriter. At the same time, he infuses Patrick's first-person narrative with a southern California world-weary tone that in places puts one in the mind of John D.MacDonald's Travis McGee series, a feeling that things may never get better. Hurwitz also keeps his complex plot tightly reined in and easy to follow all the way to the end, where the reason that very bad things have been happening to innocent people is tantalizingly revealed.

THEY'RE WATCHING is a powerful work from a major talent who has yet to be fully and adequately appreciated.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

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Gregg Hurwitz writes suspense novels and comic books, most notably Marvel Comics' Foolkiller, Punisher, and Moon Knight series. His Tim Rackley series about a US Marshal that specialized in tracking down dangerous criminals garnered a large number of fans. But over the last few years he's stepped off into Alfred Hitchcock's suspense territory. He has repeatedly kept me in my chair way up after my bedtime as I struggled to turn one more page and stop for the evening. I can't. Until I finish the book or I collapse from physical exhaustion, I keep turning those pages. I'm betting most readers do.

In They're Watching, he's written another humdinger of a thriller. I don't use that term loosely. They're Watching physically exhausted me as I clung, white-knuckled and insanely curious, to the book and made my way through the winding trail of clues and murders page by page with anxiety that increased like a house on fire.

The opening set piece where screenwriter Patrick Davis shows up at a house with a butcher knife under his thigh and someone throws a grenade into his lap was intense. But I think the novel could just as well have opened with the mysterious DVD that arrived in the newspaper. That DVD shows footage of Patrick in his house - and it's no more than a couple days old.

Hurwitz hooked me with style, reached out and grabbed my attention, and made me think I could easily figure out everything that was going on. Man, I was wrong. Again and again, I was wrong, wrong, and wrong. Every time I thought I had a handle on who was doing what to whom, the ground beneath me shifted and I had a whole new view of the horizon.

They're Watching may be the most intricately plotted Hurwitz novel ever, and Patrick Davis one of his most compelling characters. In some ways, character has to be sacrificed for the stream-lined rush of a suspense novel. Patrick isn't a deep guy on the page. The reader never finds out everything about him or his wife, but enough is presented that he feels like someone the reader knows. Patrick is a guy that everyone can care about. He's not superhuman, doesn't have an ex-spy bag of tricks or a friend that's in Special Forces to guard his back while he figures things out.

The people in Patrick's life for the most part are just as ordinary as he is. His fellow teachers at college are well done, on stage just enough and to such a degree that they were people I know. I loved how commonplace they were, yet knew just enough to help here and there. And I loved the humor and compassion they showed him.

I felt the relationship Patrick and his wife Ariana was a little too manufactured, especially the infidelity that broke them apart, but that angle served the plot well enough. The relationship (especially with the broken dashboard in the car) should provide a good visual in a movie - which is where this story should ultimately end up.

Another key element of the story is the setting. This novel simply couldn't have taken place in any other location. It had to be LA. Hollywood had to be around the corner. Actors/actresses had to be readily available. There had to be room to run and ecological concerns and the threat of corporate business.

I had a great time with this book. The noose around Patrick's neck grew tighter and tighter, and the ways he (Hurwitz too!) figured out to get out from under the murder frame and stay out of jail were ingenious. This book is simply so well plotted that I don't think anyone will figure out everything, but the pieces fit together as well and as prettily as a Turkish ring puzzle.

To get a Hitchcockian movie experience trapped between book covers, Gregg Hurwitz is a craftsman and master stylist. Block out plenty of time for this one, folks, he's gonna nail you to your chair and fill your brain with questions and what-ifs.

Another fabulous thriller from mystery writer Gregg Hurwitz. The best thing about Hurwitz's newest set of books is that they take ordinary people and put them into extraordinary circumstances. The main character, Patrick, is working through numerous issues (both professional and personal ) when mysterious DVDs start appearing on his doorstep. A fast paced thriller then unfolds, layering complex events with some good psychological drama. The characters are well written and interesting and the plot moves along well. Clearly Hurwitz's work could be easily adapted for the big screen, as his writing is quite visual. A great page turner...perfect summer read.

See book summaries above. Gregg Hurwitz is on my 'must read' list for a reason. His thrillers and mysteries have entertained me
for many years. In They're Watching he creates a mystery thriller that kept me guessing all the way through. Along with the guess work,
he ratchets up the suspense. Likable characters and a fast moving plot should please all his fans.

I'll leave it to others to discuss the plot. I just have to say that this book was riveting and very hard to put down. When I couldn't spend time reading it, I was thinking about the next time I could lose myself in it. This was my first Hurwitz book and immediately after finishing it, I logged onto Amazon to buy two more of his books. There are many unexpected twists and turns and when I thought it couldn't keep up this level of entertainment, it managed to keep me enthralled. I definitely recommend this book.