Genre: Crime Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: Feb. 2, 2020
Purchase Link: Amazon
My Rating: 5 Fractured Hearts
A special thank you to St. Martins Press for an early arc of this book via Netgalley. Book Synopsis and Author Bio follow my review.
Set in the South at the height of the Vietnam War, The Unwilling combines crime, suspense and searing glimpses into the human mind and soul in New York Times bestselling author John Hart's singular style.
Review:
A family shredded by the Vietnam war. A father and mother left grieving the loss of their eldest son, unable to forgive their second son, and vowing to protect their youngest son. Three brothers - the good one, the bad one, and the dead one. Robert, whose brothers idolized him, died serving in Vietnam, Jason, following in the steps of his brother, served three tours and returned home a broken, angry, drug addicted shell of a man, and Gibby, a high school senior on the cusp of manhood, struggling to live up to his parents high expectations while stretching his boundaries and discovering first love. Jason has served his time - both in the war and prison - and now wants to recover the bond with his younger brother Gibby against the wishes of his parents who fear Jason will lead Gibby down the wrong road. The French family is irrevocably broken - split apart by an unpopular war, devastating loss, and paralyzing fear and guilt. And when Gibby goes against their wishes and sneaks away for a day with Jason and two women, events are put into play that will raze their lives once again. Murder, accusations, a day of reckoning. But who will pay?
This is my first book by John Hart. It will not be the last. What I discovered is a clean, sharp, precise author who doesn't waste words and yet delivers emotionally charged characters and vivid scenes that stimulate all five senses while fully engaging mind, heart, and soul. Plot lines are intricately woven and challenging, unfolding at a brisk pace and ominous tone. I was quickly drawn into this dark tale of love and hate and anguish and hopelessness. The Unwilling is a raw, gritty crime thriller - a story of a family ravaged by war, reckless words, blame, guilt, and fear. It's a story of redemption, proving oneself, and coming of age. It's about hearts forever scarred. The Unwilling is a taut, tense masterpiece - one I won't soon forget. I highly recommend it to everyone.
Synopsis:
Gibby's older brothers have already been to war. One died there. The other came back misunderstood and hard, a decorated killer now freshly released from a three-year stint in prison.
Jason won't speak of the war or of his time behind bars, but he wants a relationship with the younger brother he hasn't known for years. Determined to make that connection, he coaxes Gibby into a day at the lake: long hours of sunshine and whisky and older women.
But the day turns ugly when the four encounter a prison transfer bus on a stretch of empty road. Beautiful but drunk, one of the women taunts the prisoners, leading to a riot on the bus. The woman finds it funny in the moment, but is savagely murdered soon after.
Given his violent history, suspicion turns first to Jason; but when the second woman is kidnapped, the police suspect Gibby, too. Determined to prove Jason innocent, Gibby must avoid the cops and dive deep into his brother's hidden life, a dark world of heroin, guns and outlaw motorcycle gangs.
What he discovers there is a truth more disturbing than he could have imagined: not just the identity of the killer and the reasons for Tyra's murder, but the forces that shaped his brother in Vietnam, the reason he was framed, and why the most dangerous man alive wants him back in prison.
He lives in Virginia with his wife, two daughters, and four dogs.
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