Torture Man

​Torture Man is a novel by Warren Adler. It starts slow with a lot of back and forth propaganda from both sides of the aisle. The story does become an edge of you seat page turner and you forgive the slow start as it was needed for background. I was given a copy to review.

Adler's best known work is War of The Roses which was made into a movie as was Random Hearts.
When I received this novel via NetGalley I didn't what to expect. Most of the first half of the book is involved with describing the contrasting world viewpoints of Sarah Raab, human rights activist, and Carl Hellman, Black Ops interrogation specialist. They meet while waiting for a taxi and take the train together to New York. Sarah forms a negative view of the man sitting beside her just from his appearance and a few remarks. Similarly he perceives her as a privileged left-winger who has no sense of the real world. At this point I begin to think that Adler is using the novel as a platform for the anti-terrorist views we associate with the Bush and Cheney and in particular the necessity for torture as a tool to identify the enemies to America and to foil their plans.

Then Sarah's daughter is abducted and a ransom of $10 million demanded. Sarah turns to Carl whom she barely knows to help rescue her daughter. Her husband Gary who has unwittingly set the scene for the kidnapping by having an affair with Sarah's tutor is a weak bystander. Carl quickly figures out the culprit but then has to employ his arsenal of skills to pry loose the truth.

Adler is a good writer but this novel seems more a pro-torture polemic rather than a normal work of fiction.

Excitement galore, twisted plots, one for the thinker

This was a no holds barred story of terrorism in one of its worst forms. Great characterisation and authenticity. Very compelling story but not for the faint hearted and makes one really hope that a resolution can be found for the wish of a world wide Caliphate by the fanatics.

Dealing with emotional aspects of what is acceptable during a crisis situation. A different kind of book for me.

Great read. You'll be up all night!

This is a beautifully-written book, but it clearly has a political agenda. The extreme presentation of the torture man's point of view against the civilian he encounters opposite view makes for a nice setup of the biases in each belief. Thing are starkly black and white right up to the ending. It is not hard to figure out Adler's point of view, which made the story very predictable. It is a quick read with very descriptive language, but I recommend waiting for the movie where hopefully the characters won't be so one-dimensional.

“Torture Man” is a thriller that takes us on a suspense-filled weekend on the Upper East Side of New York City. The drama follows a former CIA operative and a prominent anti-war activist whose 11-year-old daughter is kidnapped by Islamist terrorists for a $10 million ransom.

Mr. Adler is an acclaimed author and playwright and knows how to address complicated themes and how to tackle contemporary social issues. “Torture Man” premise hits close to home by questioning interrogation methods and terrorism, it also touches the themes of family, love relationships and the power of money.

Although I did not find the story to be original it was nevertheless very captivating and extremely visual. Without any doubts this hostage-suspense hot button thriller is an excellent choice to make it to the big screen. Many chapters are dedicated to learning about the main players (Sarah and anti-war activist and Carl a CIA operative), their opinions and viewpoints are at the forefront. Of course they don’t like each other and throughout the drama the sentiment is repeated numerous times. After the kidnapping the action moves to Sarah’s house where Carl’s years of training in interrogation technics become more than questionable. The scenes are descriptive but not gruesome and the action moves at a steady pace. The narrative is clear and simple. Nothing special about the characterization, the players are the run of the mill sort we have in all this type of story. Having said this, I like the story it held my attention from page one and I zipped through the pages in not time. I have been reading Mr. Adler for some time now I enjoy his style and especially the variety of topic each book brings.

I received this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This is the Way I see it.

The story drags along in places,hard to get into the story

Found myself boggled at times with this Book. But I stuck with it even though it didn't hood my interest much.