"The Hostage" begins with a bang.

A gun is pointed at a husband's head and his wife is taken captive.

The husband is told that unless he steals $50 million from his company, his wife will die.

Although the book was fast-paced with an ultra-compelling premise, the storyline quickly became waaay too far-fetched with implausible dialogue.

I listened to the audiobook read by Josh Wichard, who did a fine job with the narration.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#TheHostage by #JohnRyder starts with very ordinary characters in an extraordinary situation – waking to a gun being pointed in your face. This #thriller is face paced and flips between the point of view of Jerome and his kidnapped wife Alicia. What would you do to save the life of your soulmate? This tale sees Jerome being pushed to the limits.

Thank you #Netgalley and #bookouture for gifting me the #ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This thriller starts the way I like! Straight into action. I was instantly hooked. Ryder was able to keep the suspense up throughout the book and it would be very easy to finish this book in one go. I personally loved the Narrator, who captivated me easily. Jerome character develops nicely and I love that he doesn't want to go down without a fight. He will do whatever he can to save Alicia and I love that things don't always go as he had planned or hoped. Which made it feel so much more realistic. A very quick paced thriller with continued suspense throughout.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Short Chapters
Continued suspense
Quick-paced

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘑𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺. 𝘓𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥: 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

4.5 stars. This was a brilliant book. I really loved the fast pace and the suspense in this novel. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator was brilliant. Creating a fantastic sense of atmosphere and tension. The twists, turns and the cleverness in which it was written had me at the edge of my seat. I listened to it all in one day as I couldn't put it down. I really loved the characters in this book and the clever ways they had to try and deal with the hostage situation. There was a missed opportunity to make this book extra special which made me reluctant to give it the extra half star but thats probably me just being picky lol. I can't tell you were as this would create a spoiler which I will never do. I really do love these technological thriller as there are always lots of intricate details and this book is definitely one of these. The ending of the book really made this book stand out for me which I loved and I'm sure you will too.
Many thanks to the author and publishing team for producing this excitingly, gripping, page turning, edge of your seat all action thriller for all of us to enjoy. Happy reading. Already left above review on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK and my blog
https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/the-hostage-by-john-ryder-bookouture-audio-4-5-stars under ladyreading365

Normally I love novels like this but for some reason I couldn’t get into it. I picked it up and put it down so many times that it left me frustrated.

The synopsis was well written and had me excited for get cracking but it was a slog to the plot twist and then once that happened I was left a little deflated. Was that really it? Just that.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. I really enjoyed this book, just found a couple things very unbelievable. I would be curious to know how long they are married as married couples do not talk about each other like that after being married for a period of time. The constant escapes seem a little far fetched, but i still really enjoyed the story. The suspense was good, the narrator was good. It had a nice twist at the end.

An edge of your seat thriller. A well crafted audiobook the narrator has done an excellent job, well worth a listen.

I received this audiobook from Hachette UK - Bookouture via Netgalley for a review.

What an exciting book, I did not want to stop listening to it, edge of the seat stuff, couple of twists, but they added to the excitement.. Reminded me of the way good stories should be. The computer stuff was a bit over my head, but it did not put me of. Thank you for letting me listen to such a great story.

I listened to the audio production of this book and I am so glad I did. The tension and sense of danger for the characters were portrayed so well by the narrator. I found the book difficult to put down with plenty of twists and a lot of drama.
I liked that the main characters were ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. They weren't larger than life heroes but they did what they had to in order to survive. I liked Alicia. She wasn't portrayed as a dumb damsel in distress waiting to be rescued. She was able to fight her corner when the occasion allowed for it.
This was an action-packed and exciting thriller. It made for great listening.

This is a fast paced thriller about a man that is being blackmailed into embezzling money from his employer to save his kidnapped wife. Jerome is just an ordinary man thrust into an extraordinary situation. He’s not ex-special forces or military.

This reminded me of an action movie that grips you from the moment it starts and keeps you there until the credits roll. In fact I could easily see this being made into a movie.

Josh Wichard does a great job narrating the audiobook. He brings Jerome and Alicia’s fear to life and really keeps pace with the story.

Solid 4 star audiobook - fantastic start to the story, really got me into it, I was gripped after that. What a bloody awful way to be woken!! Christ, I'd have wet the bed!!

My only minor critique would be that the author really did go a little too far with the minutia of the actions of the characters. Quite literally, what this leg did, how that arm moved etc - a little bit of overkill to be honest. It took me out of the story during those moments because I kept thinking about it being too much detail, rather than being swept away in the story.

That said, I really enjoyed it, the author pulled me back in with this terrific story and I would definitely listen to more audiobooks by John Ryder.

I'd like to thank Bookouture Audio, via Netgalley, for gifting me an audiobook copy for review - can't wait for more!

Blurb sounded right up my street. It was a slow start and could be very descriptive at times with information that I felt wasn’t needed for the listener. I think the plot had great potential but it really didn’t grab me. Without giving to much away I found the storyline homed in on one aspect of the story but then failed to give enough information on other aspects. I did like Jerome’s character and his very logical approach to situations but I found there wasn’t enough development on the other characters and I really wanted to know more. I really liked the narration. I found the voice engaging. Unfortunately it was only ok and it wasn’t as gripping as I would have hoped…

3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this ARC that due to be published on the 25th of Nov.

Fast paced action thriller which starts with Jerome and his wife Alicia being woken in the night to the sight of masked gunmen who go on to kidnap Alicia. Unexpected action hero, accountant Jerome is forced to carry out the gang's demands in order to save his wife.

The story is told mainly from Jerome's perspective as he works out the details of how he will execute the plan and rescue Alicia.

A little heavy on all the sports and jobs Jerome has apparently gained vital relevant experience from, whilst Alicia's main contributions are to be scared of spiders and not know her left from her right.

Overall, well narrated and an exciting story, if a little clichéd.

Thank you to Bookouture for letting me take part in this tour. I am a big fan of John Ryder, especially the Grant Fletcher series. I listened to about 70% of this book on audio and then read the last 30% on ebook.
The book begins rather shockingly. I can’t imagine how Jerome and Alicia were feeling when they woke up to guns in their faces. Just the thought of it gives me the shivers. Jerome and Alicia are such a sweet couple. They are very dedicated to each other and really have faith in their relationship. This is how they got through this entire ordeal.
This book was intense. I really enjoyed the strategizing and the discussions about how the money could be obtained and how to hide any trace of it. It was very interesting to hear the different theories and pitfalls.
Jerome was a really good main character. He is logical, realistic and smart. He was determined to get Alicia back, but he didn’t fall apart. He kept his cool and thought about the best approach.
John took me on quite the ride with this one. This book will keep you on tenterhooks as to what will happen next. If you love an action packed thriller this one will keep you hooked right til the end!

What would you do if someone kidnapped your spouse? Would you be reckless? Determined? Desperate?
A suspense novel that centered on the husband’s completing a dangerous task and ultimately rescuing his devoted wife.
The story was entertaining but at times a little unbelievable and I only saw the surface of the the main characters. It was fast paced with a satisfying ending. I would give this author another read and recommend for something light and entertaining. I chose to listen to this book on audio and Josh Wichard narrator and was great. This was 8 hours and 7 minutes.
3.5⭐️
Thanks Bookouture Audio via Netgalley.

The Hostage – John Ryder – Audio Review – 5 star

How far would you go for your spouse?

Wow, amazing, I absolutely loved this gripping thriller, it kept me very engaged, from the beginning throughout the end.

How scary and horrifying if there were 2 masked intruders in the middle of your room at night
This is what happens to the main character Jerome Prentice. These intruders kidnap Jerome’s wife as they want Jerome to carry out a job for them to steal $52 million dollars from Beckett holding
The book had a lot of twists and turns and, whilst the book was action packed, there was sometimes a comedy side to the villians too.

This is the first book I have audio listened to by John Ryder, this book is due to be released on Thursday 25th November, I will definitely be reading the book, as have listened to the audio, and this is the first book I have read and heard from John Ryder, I look forward to reading more. Thank you for Netgalley and publisher allowing me the audio copy of the hostage, I will definitely be recommending to my psychological thriller book fans too on my bookstagram at manniword of books.

Really enjoyed this Audio book
Jerome Prentice and his wife Alicia are deeply in love and very happy with their lives but all this is going to change when masked men enter his home and kidnap Alicia

When the demand comes in Jerome has to go against all his morals and betray his company but he will do anything to save Alicia and does

A great thriller I listened to in 2 days

I really loved this audiobook, which was really fast paced, exciting, action packed and thrilling. The story is about Jerome and Alicia, who are on a race against time after Alicia gets kidnapped by bad guys. Jerome has to get money for the kidnappers, but will he manage to do that and save Alicia on time? This is a great book. The beginning was a little bit boring for me when Jerome was in the office, but after that, I loved it a lot and really enjoyed it!

The narrator was fantastic, and he kept the story going at a fast pace, which kept me engrossed and excited. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Narrator 5 stars
Great voice, did an amazing job individualising each character.

Story 3 stars

This was a good soild story with very interesting elements and characters.
First time I've heard/tried this author. Would definitely buy this author from the Kindle store

The hostage,the new book by John Ryder, is a gripping read that leaves you unable to put it down!

Imagine the movie Taken except Liam neeson is actually an accountant! Jerome is an ordinary guy with a good job married to a women who also has a good job in the same company. They both live a very ordinary life. Until one night where they are held at gunpoint in their bed and Alicia is taken hostage.

John and Alicia love each other unconditionally and would each do anything to save the other...even if it means doing something that could get them arrested or killed.

This is the first John Ryder book I've read and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it! I love a good suspense read and this didn't disappoint! I was hooked from the first few pages. Although John and Alicias love is a bit sickening to read at times it completely makes this story what it is.

I listened to the audiobook on 1.25 the quality of the recording was very good and the narrator did an excellent job at altering voice to fit each character.

If you love a good suspense/ thriller then you should check out this book which is released 25th November 2021!

Thanks to netgalley and John Ryder for the audiobook version of this in return of an honest review.