What Comes Next

 

What Comes Next

by John Katzenbach

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

"Remember what's important. Forget the rest".

My favorite types of books are psychological thrillers, indisputably. Though they can be graphic and impressive, I like them to the core. I love me some good ol' mystery and suspense in every way, but in books, thrillers are definitely on a whole another level. But the thing is after you read a lot of them, you kind of steal some intuition from them and can guess the who's, what's, and when's.

Not with John Katzenbach.

John Katzenbach is the best thriller writer I have ever gotten to known to this day, with the company of Gillian Flynn. Katzenbach is my idol. The man is a complete genius. Every single word written by him makes you understand why literature is art. He makes you a character, entraps you in the story, and makes you read it itself. He can be explicit and his characters are well-formed: interesting pasts, inconsistent presents, and uncertain futures; but they are extremely smart. 

Adrian Thomas suffers from Lewy's Bodies Dementia, but it is a little advanced. He has hallucinations of his dead wife, dead brother, and dead son. He gets confused. He gets kind of lost. He forgets and has a hard time remembering. This really touched me since my grandparent has Lewy's Bodies Dementia. It is a bittersweet feeling, getting to know how this devastating illness is from a first person's point of view. This book is the best representation of how our own brain can trick us...

He decides to commit suicide until he sees something he cannot get out of his head: he is certain he saw a kidnapping. He was right. He is uncontrollably determined on finding Jennifer, the kidnapped teenager. With the help of his hallucinations and a registered sex offender, Adrian embarks on the world of online porn with the hopes of finding her. 

Quite interesting, right? Trust me: this is nothing compared to all the substance in the book. 

If you are a fan of psychological thrillers, give this a chance. But most importantly, give Katzenbach a chance. You will not regret it.

"What is it that love makes us do? Beautiful things, or horrible things?"

THE DEEP REVIEW - CONTAINS SPOILERS

I loved everything about this book. I cried, I laughed, I got happy, I got sad, I feared and I was shocked. 

I really enjoyed his hallucinations, though some went back to horrendous times in Adrian's life, especially with the death of his son. I also liked how though his concrete illness is so harsh, we got to see how intelligent he was. 

Bryan was another remarkable character, I extremely appreciated his intuition and help. Though he was not real at the time, he used to be, and I really think it's a shame all of the professor's loved ones ended up like he did. It's very sad how he endured an ambiance full of death and loneliness. 

What Comes Next was scary to say the absolute least. What makes me even angrier is how this is just an example of the many terrible channels or websites there must be on the internet and how many people around the globe like to watch it (as described in the book). The way Michael and Linda and so many people around the world could do something as inhumane as they did, not only with Jennifer but the first three girls as well, only for money. I guess money is what truly motivates people to do things, and it's such a shame and disgrace that it can go to that extent.

I am extremely happy Jennifer got to leave after so much pain, confusion and harm. But I also feel for the other girls and women all around the world. I am so sorry and hope they too can go back home. 

The idea of getting a sex offender to help is cynical, but I guess also undeniably helpful. It scares me not only how people do things for money, but people who use money to do awful things (like contributing to human trafficking, rape, kidnapping, and sexual assault). He did do the job, which was helping in the task of finding Jennifer, but what a perverted prick.

Adrian Thomas is one of the most driven characters I know, which I admire. He did not give up, even if he got disoriented or hurt, and I really appreciate that. On the contrary of the police officer's death, which got me very sad since she was young and a mother, his death made me happy WHICH I KNOW SOUNDS WRONG WITHOUT CONTEXT but he reunited with his brother, Cassie, and his son, something he wished more than anything else. I love how even though he wanted to go, he did one extraordinary thing before leaving the face of the earth. I cried when it happened, but it was his desire.

Now for the end, I can only be happy for Jennifer, who reconstructed her life and followed Adrian's footsteps on the psychology field, visiting him, assuring he got his wish, and of course, living up to his name and legacy.

What a twisted book, I loved it!