Stranglehold
by
Jack Ketchum

Horror, Extreme, Crime, Thriller, Disturbing

Richard Alex Jenkins
I've been a big fan of Jack Ketchum’s work ever since I read The Girl Next Door and Off Season, but not much has come close since.
Maybe I’ve seen the best?
Stranglehold is a great book and deserves five stars for the first 80%. It’s shocking, well written, uses the right amount of strong language and taboo subjects to appeal and pack a real punch.
The characters are relatable, realistic and some, even likeable, as you delve into the increasingly sordid and depraved alternative hidden nature of human beings, who lose perspective and push the boundaries too far.
There are some nasty people in this unfair and sometimes corrupt world.
The middle part of the book focuses on a court case with various hearings and is surprisingly believable and seemingly accurate. There’s an intelligence and depth to Jack Ketchum that I hadn’t noticed before.
But, when everything seems perfect, some poor storytelling decisions turn an excellent read into just a very good one. Without giving away any spoilers.
This book reminds me of Gone to See the River Man and how Kristopher Triana turned a decent and shocking book into an amazing one by the end, which is kind of the opposite in Stranglehold.
Don’t treat me like an idiot, Jack, I said to myself as doubts started to creep in for events that wouldn’t/couldn’t feasibly happen.
Stranglehold was printed before widespread internet, CCTV and mobile technology, and sometimes shows it. Criminal actions seemed to exist in a vacuum with no realistic accountability, and law enforcement was all over the place with inconsistent behavior and blundering fools.
I wanted to give this book five stars so badly but there were too many loose ends by the end.
I’m going to keep on reading Jack Ketchum books because of his fearless writing style, in the hope of finding that next horror classic. This one was almost fantastic.
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