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bibliobethreads's review against another edition
This book is definitely not for fans of her works like "The Bronze Horseman" and "Tatiana and Alexander," if you are expecting a love story that is!! Full of suspense and great for a quick read.
creative_nicky's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a fantastic find - the suspense just about killed me!
ithaka2022's review against another edition
3.0
Мало того, что я эту книгу купила по ошибке вместо одноименной и, судя по всему, гораздо более скучной - в которой тоже главные героини беременны! - еще и оказалось, что автор родилась и выросла (!) в Питере, что совершенно никак не отразилось в книжке - ну разве что в повышенной дозе духовности и достоевщины. Однако повышенная духовность почти не тормозит бодренький сюжет, так что читается хорошо.
mcintoshheidi's review against another edition
5.0
If I'd had a day or two spare, i would have devoured this book in no time. Unfortunately, life got in the way. Nevertheless, i still picked it up at every opportunity as this was a very gripping and thrilling and exiting book. Highly recommended.
bonnie03's review against another edition
4.0
Book Review: Eleven Hours by Paulia Simons
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“One pregnant woman. One deranged man. Eleven hours of hell.”
.
Abducted from a shopping mall in Dallas, Didi Wood, in her ninth month of pregnancy, is taken on the most dangerous, horrifying ride of her life, as a madman drives her across Texas. While her husband and the FBI try furiously to track them down, they can only hope to find Didi -- and her unborn child -- alive.
.
This is the first book I have ever read by this author and won’t be my last. The writing was so descriptive and vivid. I can still remember most of it from when I read it years ago. It is a great physiological thriller with mystery and suspense that kept you captivated and wanting to continue turning the pages. There was a lot of tension that kept me on the edge of my seat as I just wanted to find out what ends up happening.
.
The POV’s switch from Didi and her husband showing each of the sides and what they were dealing with. You could to feel all of their emotions with them and also experience the horrifying scenario yourself, as if it was happening to you which gave me the chills.
.
The storyline to be action-packed and brought a quick and fast punch along with it. By the end of the novel I had learnt lessons and found it to be very eye opening to the reality of what some people are capable off and to always be careful.
.
Highly recommend this quick read and will definitely be a re-read of mine.
.
Bonnie x
.
“One pregnant woman. One deranged man. Eleven hours of hell.”
.
Abducted from a shopping mall in Dallas, Didi Wood, in her ninth month of pregnancy, is taken on the most dangerous, horrifying ride of her life, as a madman drives her across Texas. While her husband and the FBI try furiously to track them down, they can only hope to find Didi -- and her unborn child -- alive.
.
This is the first book I have ever read by this author and won’t be my last. The writing was so descriptive and vivid. I can still remember most of it from when I read it years ago. It is a great physiological thriller with mystery and suspense that kept you captivated and wanting to continue turning the pages. There was a lot of tension that kept me on the edge of my seat as I just wanted to find out what ends up happening.
.
The POV’s switch from Didi and her husband showing each of the sides and what they were dealing with. You could to feel all of their emotions with them and also experience the horrifying scenario yourself, as if it was happening to you which gave me the chills.
.
The storyline to be action-packed and brought a quick and fast punch along with it. By the end of the novel I had learnt lessons and found it to be very eye opening to the reality of what some people are capable off and to always be careful.
.
Highly recommend this quick read and will definitely be a re-read of mine.
.
Bonnie x
stefhyena's review against another edition
1.0
Kind of excruciating. The guy is a stereotype of every creep and psycho ever written and the plot moves really slowly over exactly what he says and does.
Didi is not very likeable. She's an empty-headed "little woman" who married the boss and had kids and lives to shop (and even buys special expensive lingerie to give birth in). Not judging, just 11 hours with her is too long even if she does get tough (finally) and do something about the situation after trying everything else first (including religion).
The religion that wound its way through the plot seemed excessive and not plausible. Ok so he sells religious books (and is damn rich from it) so she has this very strong faith and her conversations with her abductor and thoughts are full of that but then they also say things like "karma" and sort of mix their faiths a fair bit in anachronistic ways. I know people in real life DO have very personal blends of faiths but there is not enough story and characterisation here to make it believable.
The FBI guy is both a set of stereotypes and a foil for Rich (the aptly named husband) to illustrate his masculinity on/against/with). There are parts in their interactions which seem played for comedy, which falls flat when you consider how creepy and sleazy the other chapters (ie what is happening to Didi) are.
Basically the author had too many different intentions and not it seems the discipline to pare out the ones that don't add anything, also nothing much to say. I guess in a sense a suspense novel is always this predictable, the "bad guy" was written all over the place as if the author herself couln't completely decide what she thought of him or what made him tick. I was glad he wasn;t more human/relateable but I was not glad then to spend so many hours profitlessly in his company.
The book is only about 300 pages long but seemed twice that. I had to read in very short bursts because I don't like rapey scenarios and there was little here apart from that.
This is th second time I have not enjoyed this author. I have another of hers coming up on my TBR shelf but I may not bother
Didi is not very likeable. She's an empty-headed "little woman" who married the boss and had kids and lives to shop (and even buys special expensive lingerie to give birth in). Not judging, just 11 hours with her is too long even if she does get tough (finally) and do something about the situation after trying everything else first (including religion).
The religion that wound its way through the plot seemed excessive and not plausible. Ok so he sells religious books (and is damn rich from it) so she has this very strong faith and her conversations with her abductor and thoughts are full of that but then they also say things like "karma" and sort of mix their faiths a fair bit in anachronistic ways. I know people in real life DO have very personal blends of faiths but there is not enough story and characterisation here to make it believable.
The FBI guy is both a set of stereotypes and a foil for Rich (the aptly named husband) to illustrate his masculinity on/against/with). There are parts in their interactions which seem played for comedy, which falls flat when you consider how creepy and sleazy the other chapters (ie what is happening to Didi) are.
Basically the author had too many different intentions and not it seems the discipline to pare out the ones that don't add anything, also nothing much to say. I guess in a sense a suspense novel is always this predictable, the "bad guy" was written all over the place as if the author herself couln't completely decide what she thought of him or what made him tick. I was glad he wasn;t more human/relateable but I was not glad then to spend so many hours profitlessly in his company.
The book is only about 300 pages long but seemed twice that. I had to read in very short bursts because I don't like rapey scenarios and there was little here apart from that.
This is th second time I have not enjoyed this author. I have another of hers coming up on my TBR shelf but I may not bother
paulina_aspiringliterati's review
4.0
It is remarkable how much power Paullina's writing has over me.
There is quite a lot of 'God' involved in this as the main character named Didi, who gets kidnapped by a very unstable young man, is religious. Normally I would have minded this as I am one of those who believe that God, if he is out there, is rather a bystander and doesn't get involved in the matters of humans and our drama (most of which is self-inflicted). But - it read so well. Every element of the story worked exceptionally well and I ended up really connecting with pregnant Didi, her desperate husband Rich and the FBI agent who was helping find her. I also wanted to absolutely smother Lyle but as I couldn't figure out why exactly he was doing what he was doing, reading about him was as fascinating as watching documentaries about serial killers is (you hate them all but you can't get enough of the most sordid, horrifying stories; must admit that is best done from the comfort of your couch, with a blanket, cat and a glass of wine so you feel REALLY safe).
Paullina never disappoints!
I would recommend it to her fans who has never read it before (as I hadn't for the longest time!) and for those who enjoy thrillers and/or mysteries and don't get spooked if there's talk about God in books. The writing is captivating, as always.
There is quite a lot of 'God' involved in this as the main character named Didi, who gets kidnapped by a very unstable young man, is religious. Normally I would have minded this as I am one of those who believe that God, if he is out there, is rather a bystander and doesn't get involved in the matters of humans and our drama (most of which is self-inflicted). But - it read so well. Every element of the story worked exceptionally well and I ended up really connecting with pregnant Didi, her desperate husband Rich and the FBI agent who was helping find her. I also wanted to absolutely smother Lyle but as I couldn't figure out why exactly he was doing what he was doing, reading about him was as fascinating as watching documentaries about serial killers is (you hate them all but you can't get enough of the most sordid, horrifying stories; must admit that is best done from the comfort of your couch, with a blanket, cat and a glass of wine so you feel REALLY safe).
Paullina never disappoints!
I would recommend it to her fans who has never read it before (as I hadn't for the longest time!) and for those who enjoy thrillers and/or mysteries and don't get spooked if there's talk about God in books. The writing is captivating, as always.
betweenthelinesbookclub's review
4.0
A very gripping thriller that could easily be read in a couple of sittings. It is the first I have read by Paullina Simons & I will certainly look out for her other books.
girlvsbookshelf's review
1.0
Eleven Hours follows the traumatic events that are imposed upon Didi, a happily married mother who is 9 months pregnant and lives a usually happy and uneventful suburban life. One day, a run-of-the-mill trip to the shops to buy a few last-minute bits and bobs for the birth takes a sickening turn when she is kidnapped by a stranger. The chapters alternate between Didi's perspective and that of her husband Rich, who, together with the FBI, tries to track her down before it's too late.
This is certainly a fast-paced and dramatic novel but sadly something about it just didn't work for me. The story just jumps right in almost immediately with Didi's kidnapping, and I felt that not enough time was spent developing her character and building up a bit of a back story. It was almost as if the mere fact that Didi is so very pregnant is supposed to be enough to make the reader really care about what happens to her, and (for this reader at least) it wasn't. Apart from her frequent references to God, I learned very little of her personality throughout the whole book. The second plot strand involving Rich and the FBI was more enjoyable and I could relate to him as a character a little bit more. Nevertheless, the extent of his involvement with the FBI and the investigation is unbelievable! The whole book builds towards a frightening climax which, I have to say, I found a bit too graphic and explicit for my tastes.
I must say that I read this as part of a book club and most of the other members seemed to really enjoy this. Wouldn't a book club be boring if we all agreed! I also note that several of the reviewers here say that this is completely different from Paullina Simons' other work and a number of readers who didn't like Eleven Hours have really loved her other books. So I may just have another go if I stumble across something else by this author.
This is certainly a fast-paced and dramatic novel but sadly something about it just didn't work for me. The story just jumps right in almost immediately with Didi's kidnapping, and I felt that not enough time was spent developing her character and building up a bit of a back story. It was almost as if the mere fact that Didi is so very pregnant is supposed to be enough to make the reader really care about what happens to her, and (for this reader at least) it wasn't. Apart from her frequent references to God, I learned very little of her personality throughout the whole book. The second plot strand involving Rich and the FBI was more enjoyable and I could relate to him as a character a little bit more. Nevertheless, the extent of his involvement with the FBI and the investigation is unbelievable! The whole book builds towards a frightening climax which, I have to say, I found a bit too graphic and explicit for my tastes.
I must say that I read this as part of a book club and most of the other members seemed to really enjoy this. Wouldn't a book club be boring if we all agreed! I also note that several of the reviewers here say that this is completely different from Paullina Simons' other work and a number of readers who didn't like Eleven Hours have really loved her other books. So I may just have another go if I stumble across something else by this author.
ashykhaira's review
3.0
Didi is 9 months pregnant and due to give birth anytime soon.some last minute shopping before lunch with her husband,proves to be her last moments being terror free.a man kidnaps her and threatens her for 11 hours.killing anyone who may recognise her,from a cop to a guy at a gas station.will didi manage to save herself in time or will he murder her?will she save her pregnancy or lose her baby in those hours?