The Unwilling: A Novel

John Hart

Feb 2021 · Sold by St. Martin's Press

About this eBook

THE INSTANT BESTSELLER

“We the unwilling, led by the unqualified to kill the unfortunate, die for the ungrateful.” —Unknown Soldier

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.

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.

Ratings and reviews

Not a book about the Vietnam war and the battles fought in it but about the boys who became men when they returned and the ones who feared the draft that would send them into the War. Gibby doesn’t fear the draft like his best friend does. He had a brother die in the war and another who volunteered to serve. But when his brother finally returned home after a dishonorable discharge his parents don’t want him around his brother. He had been doing drugs and got himself put into prison. They don’t trust Jason and believe he will only cause harm to the only good son they have left. This electrifying novel tells a story of what happens when Gibby does see his brother and what happens if his parents were right. I absolutely loved this book. I finished it within two days and was hooked onto every word. I like that this story had the background of the Vietnam war. It provided a backstory that drove a lot of the tension within the story, but it’s mainly about the person Jason has become after and the people he has got himself entangled with because of the path he had chosen. There is so much in this book that gives it the thrill genre. A lot of it is pretty dark but that’s what kept this book so entertaining. It’s truly like no other book I have read before. Through the book you are gaining more and more insight into Jason’s life and the people who are after him. If this book was simply about Jason it would not have been as good of a book, but it was also about some pretty bad people and the innerworkings of a dangerous criminal and how he uses the corrupt cops inside the prisons his in to do his dirty work. This criminal does all he can to ruin the life of Jason and to get exactly what he wants, get Jason back into prison. He frames Jason with murder and frames Gibby as well. There are many different agenda’s that different gangs have. Gibby gets himself tied into a lot of messes as he tried to discover the truth about his brother’s past. All I can say is I was never bored. I listened to the audio version of this book and I liked and disliked the reading. The readers voice was smooth and got me engaged into the story. The book was narrated by one man, but he did good changing his voice to the characters who was talking. One thing that got me confused a few times is the amount of times the perspective changes. The book is written in first person by Gibby’s point of view but most of the other character have third person limited sections in the book. I liked this from a story point of view because it always was changing the story up. This helped me not to get bored of just one person problems or perspective. It was always going from person to person at the best times so you can read about all the thrilling moments. I did really like all the perspectives, but with the audio version it was hard to tell when this shift was made. So, all the sudden it would be on one person and then switch to another. There was no indication this shift was made so the only way to realize it was when you were suddenly hearing different names or a different situation then you were just reading about. I’m sure there was some type of marker in the physical book to mark this change, but it was hard to indicate in the audio. This wasn’t a big challenge for me because I was able to pick it up soon after because there was some indication in the words but if I wasn’t paying attention, I might get lost. I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It’s not one specific thing but just the overall enjoyment of the book. It’s nothing overly special I just think it was really well written and developed. All the characters had their own personality and you got attached to all of the different plot points. And I really like how it ended. All I can say is that it came full circle. I would recommend if you can handle some gruesome details, but it was a unique read.

The Unwilling by John Hart Multilayered magnificent look at a fractured family dealing with multiple issues. This book took me back to memories of high school when we sent cookies and letters to soldiers in Vietnam, letters I received thanking me, news clips, and the remembered dread of “what if someone I know is drafted?” It is not just the memories evoked that drew me…no…but those were as real to me as the characters described in this book. What I liked: * Jason: a complex man, war veteran, brother, son, and over time I grew to admire, root for, and wish him future success – would love to have a crystal ball to see how he was a decade later. * Gibby: graduating from high school, interested in Beck, conflicted about his future, beginning to assert himself – on the brink of becoming a man to be reckoned with. * Robert: the twin that was lost to war and a big part of the story though never seen in the flesh. * Chance: a good friend of Gibby’s through good times and bad. I wouldn’t mind seeing him in a story of his own a few years down the road. * Becky: smart, attractive, empathetic, strong and a perfect first love for Gibby * The darker side of the story and the impact of X on so many * Watching the growth of various characters as the story progressed. It wasn’t just the younger generation that grew and changed. * The conflict within Detective William French and how he grappled with it. * Ken Burklow: French’s homicide detective partner, Korean war veteran, good friend to both French and his sons. * The way some of the bad guys were outsmarted. * The revelations that Gibby and his father made related to Jason. * The closeness I felt between the brothers. * The high dive aspect of the book that ties in well with the cover – loved how the decisions were made to or not to dive. * The real feel of the story…or at least most of it. * The excellent writing, plotting and overall story. * All of it really except… What I didn’t like: * Knowing that there are sadists, sadistic mercenaries, and psychopaths that exist in this world just like the ones in this book * Gabrielle: wife of detective French and mother to Robert, Jason, and Gibby. I had moments I wanted to smack her, sit her down and give her a talking to, or…something worse. * A few of the homicide detectives… Did I enjoy this book? Yes Would I read more by this author? Definitely Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC – This is my honest review. 5 Stars

This book deals with so many serious topics and does a wonderful job with them! There is the French family who lost one son to the Vietnam war and another son to the after effects of that war with drugs and prison time. It starts out with Jason being released from prison and going back to his hometown and reconnecting with the one brother that remained at home (Gibby) smothered by his mother trying to protect the one "good" son that she has left. Unfortunately, secret plans abound and an awful murder is committed to further those plans. That bit was fairly graphic (the description of the murder) and there are several other parts as well. It made for much confusion among the cops trying to solve the case, including Jason and Gibby's father and sent them down the wrong path. This is definitely a thrilling book and I liked it and how it ended where you find out the truth of several things, like Jason's role in the war and how it shaped him. Well written!

About the author

JOHN HART is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The King of Lies, Down River, The Last Child, Iron House, Redemption Road, and The Hush. The only author in history to win the Edgar Award for Best Novel consecutively, John has also won the Barry Award, the Southern Independent Bookseller's Award for Fiction, the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, and the North Carolina Award for Literature. His novels have been translated into thirty languages and can be found in more than seventy countries.