
The Harder They Come
A Novel
کتاب های مرتبط
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
- دیدگاه کاربران
نقد و بررسی

Graham Hamilton gives life to this dark story of murder and the complexities of parenting, set amid the small towns and great woods of the Northern California coast. Both understated and full of dark foreboding, Hamilton's performance echoes the lives--simultaneously humdrum and horrifying--revealed in the plot. His rapid, matter-of-fact delivery adds credibility to the sometimes surreal thinking of Boyle's more eccentric characters. And without detracting from his authority as narrator, his delivery of dialogue allows the listener to identify distinct personalities. Those fond of Boyle's recent work will find this a great listen. F.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

December 1, 2014
Boyle’s (San Miguel) hypnotic narrative probes the complexities of heroism, violence, power, and resistance. At its heart are ex-Marine and retired school principal “Sten” Stensen and his schizophrenic son, Adam, who arms himself against shadowy “hostiles” and identifies with heroic 19th-century wilderness guide John Colter. On vacation in Costa Rica, Sten kills a gunman attempting to rob his tour group. Back home in Mendocino, Calif., he becomes an instant celebrity for his act of vigilante justice, and he is drawn into a citizen brigade whose mission is to protect nearby forests from the South American drug cartels that despoil the land. Meanwhile, Adam forms a tenuous, lust-fueled bond with anti-government activist Sara Jennings. Driven further into delusion by her brushes with the law and his physical confrontation with his father, Adam flees for his secret camp in the woods; when one of the citizen patrollers challenges him, Adam shoots that man, and soon another. As the manhunt intensifies, Sten realizes his son’s involvement and his own inability to change his son’s fate. Written with both clarity and compassion, each of the novel’s characters inhabits a rich and convincing private world. As they traverse a landscape none of them control, their haunting stories illuminate the violent American battle with otherness.
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