Don't Say A Word (2001) - Synopsis

don’t say a word - synopsis heading imagePreeminent New York psychiatrist Dr. Nathan Conrad has a successful Upper West Side practice, a beautiful wife and a charming daughter.

Making his way home to begin a tranquil Thanksgiving holiday, Conrad is summoned by a colleague to examine a young woman.

Elisabeth Burrows presents a history of unexplained violence and a miasma of failed treatments and misdiagnoses. In short, Elisabeth is the kind of case Nathan used to live for before he went "uptown. " Now, he is Elisabeth's last chance before she is shipped off to a purgatory of state institutionalization.

Nathan's skills and intuition make headway into Elisabeth's case, and his curiosity is further aroused by her mysterious first words to him: "You want what they want, don't you? - I'll never tell- any of you. "

Little does Nathan suspect that Elisabeth and her cryptic message are tied to a danger that has closed in on him and his family.

Nathan's daughter has been kidnapped by ruthless thieves, and to save her, he somehow must unlock a six-digit number locked away in Elisabeth's troubled mind. There is no discussion, no negotiation. With his daughter's captors watching his every move, Nathan is trapped in a nightmare even he could never have envisioned. And as Nathan is reminded constantly by his tormentors: if he wants to see his daughter alive, he dare not say a single word

Novelist Andrew Klavan, who received the Mystery Writers of America's "Edgar" award for best mystery novel of the year, for Don't Say A Word, draws inspiration for his nerve-shattering adventure tales from a variety of sources - even a new-born baby. After his daughter's birth, he would awaken every few hours each night to check on her. "One night," Klavan remembers, "I wondered, 'What if I looked in - and she was gone?'"

From that disturbing thought - representing every parent's nightmare - "the basics of the story unrolled in front of me. " Much to the chagrin of his wife, Klavan set the story in his own New York apartment.