FICTION: HIGH-ANXIETY THRILLER
The Worst Thing By Aaron Elkins
“The Worst Thing” is the third thriller by award winning author Aaron Elkins. Elkins has written 26 previous novels, which include three separate series including the Edgar Award winning books featuring Gideon Oliver, forensic anthropologist.
The author takes the question, “What is the worst thing you can imagine?” a daunting problem for most people with normal fears, and builds a suspenseful tale filled with personal demons. Elkins brings his own intimate knowledge of crippling panic attacks and creates a vivid account of the mental and physical symptoms a person in the throes of an attack experiences to this novel.
Elkins introduces Bryan Bennett, 37, who is happily married to Lori and celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary with his boss, Wally. Life is good, and Bryan has been a valued research fellow for nine years with Odysseus Institute for Crisis Management and Executive Security. He designs programs for corporate-level kidnapping and extortion seminars. Wally has just offered him a nice working holiday to Iceland in March (hold the swimsuits and sunscreen). There is only one small problem — Bryan won’t fly in a plane.
Bryan has a secret. At the tender age of 5, he was kidnapped from a playground in Istanbul. During his captivity, his left little toe was cut off and sent to his parents as proof he was alive. He was held captive in the dark, chained and beaten, and survived for 59 days until he was released. As a result, he doesn’t like confined spaces. He also suffers from those panic attacks and nightmares. With a little help from Xanax, he copes, mostly.
Ironically the trauma Bryan suffered at a young age made him fascinated with kidnapping, extortion and captivity, and he is considered an expert in the field. He helped resolve a high-profile case, and three kidnappers went to prison, and the ransom was recovered. Then less then a month later, disaster struck in an incident that killed four people, including twin girls. After that, Bryan sought work behind a desk.
In an attempt to please his very patient and understanding wife, Bryan agrees to go to Iceland to conduct the seminar for GlobalSeas, an international fisheries company. After this momentous decision, Bryan has three successive nights of panic attacks and terror-filled nightmares. At Lori’s insistence he meets with Zeta Parkington, professor emeritus from the University of Washington. She’s a 70-something, no-nonsense practitioner whose specialty is anxiety disorders. Zeta’s suggestion to combat the panic attacks and nightmares is a practice called flooding, or exposure therapy. “In order to be rid of these damn things (panic attacks) for good,” she says, “you have to face whatever it is you’re most afraid of — the very worst thing. That’s the rule, no exceptions.’
Bryan reluctantly agrees to consider the therapy . . . after he returns from Iceland.
While the majority of the book is seen through Bryan’s eyes, Elkins introduces the villain, known as Paris, who has a big motivation for revenge. While Paris admits to having a psychopathic personality, he considers himself a professional businessman who kidnaps only one male at a time for ransom. He has created a system that is profitable and foolproof. He never works in the United States, his home, and he always uses professional criminals for his teams. This time, Paris has a little problem because Iceland has little crime and no professionals.
Unfortunately his target is in Iceland, so he is forced to take a more hands-on role. Elkins does a good job letting readers into the skewed logical mind of an amoral psychopath. It’s professional hostage negotiator meets professional kidnapper, a sure recipe for tension, suspense and disaster.
Elkins writes cleanly, with confidence and focus, creating a great sense of place with his attention to detail. This brings to life the harsh features of Iceland, which includes bad food, great coffee and deadly lava caves. Elkins’ portrayal of panic attacks and his knowledge and research into anxiety disorders, which affect more than 4 million Americans, makes Bryan’s adventure a riveting and fascinating story. Elkins also educates readers about some unlikely but useful means to survive, should one be kidnapped and left to their own devices.
