Bump in the Night (novel)
![]() First edition cover | |
Author | Isabelle Holland |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre | Novel |
Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | October, 1988 |
Media type | Print (Hardback) |
Pages | 185 pp |
ISBN | 0-385-23891-6 |
OCLC | 17549157 |
813/.54 19 | |
LC Class | PS3558.O3485 B84 1988 |
Bump in the Night is a 1988 suspense novel by Isabelle Holland. It describes the abduction of a little boy by a child molester who is acting in concert with a producer of child pornography movies.
Plot summary
Divorcee Martha Tierney awakes to a phone call from her son Jonathan's headmistress telling her Jonathan is not at school. Martha, an alcoholic, cannot even remember what day it is.
Jonathan had a call the night before from his father, Patrick, Martha's ex-husband, and the two have arranged a secret meeting at a doughnut shop at 8 A.M. Jonathan leaves the house early and stops by a neighbor who tells him that the chosen doughnut shop is closed and he will have to meet his father in the street.
Jonathan has been stalked for several days by Lawrence Miller, a former professor who has lost his job after being accused of child molestation. When Patrick fails to show at the doughnut shop, Lawrence pretends to be a friend of Jonathan's father and lures him off to the zoo, then on to an apartment that doubles as a film studio for child pornography movies.
Patrick, Martha, the neighbors, and investigating detective Sergeant Mooney all work together to hunt for the little boy. Jonathan uses all his courage and resourcefulness to escape the sexual abuse that he knows is coming.
Reception
Kirkus Reviews wrote that Bump in the Night was "swift-paced, convincing, and absorbing--a small gem of suspense."[1]
Adaptations
In 1991 Bump in the Night was adapted into a made-for-TV movie starring Christopher Reeve, Meredith Baxter-Birney, and Corey Carrier. Reception for the movie was mixed to positive, with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette stating that the second half of the movie "takes away" from the kidnapping in the first part of the film, but "as made-for-TV movies go, Bump in the Night stumbles infrequently".[2] The Los Angeles Times praised the movie's secondary casting and pacing.[3]
References
- ↑ Bump in the Night Kirkus Reviews
- ↑ Weiskind, Ron. "Bump" Stars Go Against Type. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan 4, 1991. P. 24
- ↑ Suspense Tale of Two Evils in 'Bump in the Night' Los Angeles Times