Wonderful Narration
Interesting Story
Description
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 best-selling author John Hart’s singular style.
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.
This is crime fiction at its most raw, an exploration of family and the past, of prison and war and the indelible marks they leave.
Details
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆
- Title: The Unwilling
- Author: John Hart
- Narrator: Kevin Stillwell
- Genre: War Crime, War Fiction, Families,
- Audience: Adult
- Length: 13 hours and 58 minutes
- Publisher: Macmillan Audio
- Release Date: February 2, 2021
- Excerpt
My Thoughts
This was quite an interesting audio book. The narration was done very well and the story, though at times felt lengthy, kept me wanting to know more. I found myself wishing it would move along, but I didn’t lose interest.
Though I couldn’t always understand the various reactions from the characters, I kept listening. I felt the need to delve deeper and discover the whys. This family drama revolved around the Vietnam War and that time in history.
It was about a family fractured by one son who went to war and suffered the damage that can psychologically accompany it. And a younger son who they are working hard to protect from all that will harm him, which includes his brother.
When a woman is found tortured and found dead, the police of course look for a killer who is sick enough to torture . The easy path is to turn toward Jason, the young man who recently returned from Vietnam. It makes it easier to point the finger at him since he returning home with a dishonorable discharge. But his younger brother, who has always looked up to Jason, is determined to prove Jason’s innocence.
The story has twists and turns that take the investigation into some dangerous areas. But in the end some eye-opening things are discovered.
Concerns
Though this story definitely left me with lots to think about, at times it was slow. I’m not sure if a good ending was enough to carry the story. However, I did enjoy it.
Conclusion
The narration was very well done. And I liked that there were underlying things that caused me to look a little deeper into some of my own preconceived notions.
The story was memorable, for sure.
My thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book and the ability to post my opinion.
Rating
☆☆☆1/2
It’s better than okay, just not the best.
About the Author
JOHN HART is the author of six New York Times bestsellers, THE KING OF LIES, DOWN RIVER, THE LAST CHILD,IRON HOUSE, REDEMPTION ROAD and THE HUSH. His seventh novel, THE UNWILLING, be will be released on February 2, 2021. The only author in history to win the best novel Edgar Award for consecutive novels, Hart has also won the Barry Award, the Southern Book Prize, the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and the North Carolina Award for Literature. His novels have been translated into thirty language and can be found in over seventy countries. He works from home on a Virginia farm, where he lives with his wife, daughters and four dogs.
