The Return - Softcover

Gruber, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1848875916 ISBN 13: 9781848875913

Publisher: Corvus

Synopsis

[Library Edition Audiobook CD in sturdy Vinyl case.]

[Read by Jonathan Davis]

Lauded as his number-one favorite book of the year, Stephen King advised President Obama, in the pages of Entertainment Weekly, to pick up Michael Gruber's previous book, The Good Son. With an unforgettable hero, The Return is as exciting and provocative as Gruber's best work.

The real Richard Marder would shock his acquaintances, if they ever met him. Even his wife, long dead, didn't know the real man behind the calm, cultured mask he presents to the world. Only an old army buddy from Vietnam, Patrick Skelly, knows what Marder is capable of. Then, a shattering piece of news awakens Marder's buried desire for vengeance; with nothing left to lose, he sets off to punish the people whose actions changed his life years earlier. Skelly shows up uninvited, and the two of them together raise the stakes far beyond anything Marder could have envisioned. As Marder and Skelly head toward an apocalypse of their own making, Marder learns that good motives and a sense of justice can't always protect the people a man loves. With a range of fearsomely real characters, from a brutally violent crime lord to a daringly courageous young woman, a roller-coaster of twists and turns, and a shattering exploration of what constitutes morality in the face of evil, Michael Gruber has once more proven that he is ''a gifted and natural storyteller'' (Chicago Tribune) and shows why he has been called ''the Stephen King of crime writing'' (Denver Post).

About this title

About the Author

MICHAEL GRUBER, a former marine biologist, restaurant cook, federal government official, and political speechwriter, traveled a fascinating path toward his latest occupation as the bestselling author of critically acclaimed thrillers such as The Book of Air and Shadows and The Good Son.

From Booklist

When New York editor Richard Marder receives a ticking-time-bomb diagnosis from his doctor, he settles his affairs (he’s secretly rich), packs his guns (he’s a crack shot), and drives to Mexico to bury his wife’s ashes in her native land. Before she died, Chole went insane after a drug lord murdered her parents—Marder, we suspect, intends revenge. He’s joined by Skelly, a comrade-in-arms in Vietnam and now a mysterious “security consultant.” But events take a surprising turn. Marder buys a huge estate and, finding it occupied by squatters, helps them create a livable village with help from his recently arrived daughter, Carmel. And when narcotraficantes claim the land, Marder and Skelly arm the campesinos for a dramatic defense. All rich and fascinating stuff, but the emotional center feels off; Marder faces death with aplomb, but his jaunty tone is jarring. And, in both his Vietnam flashbacks and the action in Mexico, salt-of-the-earth locals are mere vehicles for a rich, white guy’s personal journey. Gruber can be great (as in The Good Son, 2010), but this one can be frustrating. --Keir Graff

About this edition

• Publisher: Corvus
• ISBN 10: 1848875916
• ISBN 13: 9781848875913
• Binding: Paperback