The Prophet

Starred review from June 11, 2012
After three supernatural thrillers, Thriller Award–finalist Koryta (The Ridge) triumphantly returns to crime fiction with this multilayered exploration of guilt and redemption. A momentary lapse has haunted bail bondsman Adam Austin all his life. Some two decades earlier, in his hometown of Chambers, Ohio, the then 18-year-old Adam chose to hang out with his latest love-interest one day rather than walk his 16-year-old sister, Marie Lynn, the five blocks home from school. A predator abducted Marie Lynn and killed her. Since then a gulf has existed between Austin and his then 15-year-old brother, Kent. Old wounds reopen after Adam unintentionally sends another teenage girl, Rachel Bond, to her death. The parallel events compel him to vow to not only catch but kill the person responsible. That Rachel’s boyfriend happens to be the star receiver for the Chambers high school football team coached by Kent forces the brothers to reconnect. Like Laura Lippman, Koryta has a gift for melding a suspenseful, twisty plot with a probing, unflinching look at his protagonists’ weaknesses. Agent: David Hale Smith, Inkwell Management.

Starred review from July 15, 2012
Friday Night Lights meets In Cold Blood in this powerful tale of distant brothers whose torment over the murder of their sister when they were teens is compounded by the murder of another targeted teenage girl--a killing one of the brothers is determined to avenge even if that means committing murder himself. Adam Austin, a physically imposing bail bondsman and sometime private investigator in the small town of Chambers, Ohio, has never gotten past the guilt of letting his little sister Marie walk home from a football game alone. He drove off with his new girlfriend, Chelsea, and never saw his sister again. He still talks to Marie in her spotlessly maintained old room, but is barely on speaking terms with his religiously rehabilitated younger brother Kent, the venerated coach of the football team they once played on together, who forgave the man who killed Marie. After Adam unknowingly sends a 17-year-old client to her death by telling her where she can find a letter-writing ex-con she thinks is her father, the past eerily collides with the present. Dark, spiraling events unmoor the already unstable Adam and his chances of happiness with Chelsea, who is back in his life with her no-good husband serving a long prison sentence. Kent, who seemed headed to his first state championship before the murder of the teen, his star receiver's girlfriend, turns to his brother when his family is threatened. The question is whether Adam is beyond turning to anyone for help. Koryta, who drew acclaim with his 2011 supernatural thrillers, The Ridge and The Cypress House, returns to crime fiction with a gripping work. This book succeeds on any number of levels. It's a brilliantly paced thriller that keeps its villains at a tantalizing distance, a compelling family portrait, a study in morality that goes beyond the usual black-and-white judgments, and an entertaining spin on classic football fiction. A flawless performance. A compulsively readable novel about brothers on opposite sides of life.

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Starred review from July 1, 2012
The citizens of Chambers, Ohio, are passionate about high-school football, so it's little wonder that successful head coach Kent Austin is one of the most popular guys in town. Not so his brother, Adam, a bail bondsman who's barely making ends meet. The brothers' relationship has been fractured since the abduction and murder of their teenaged sister, Marie, more than two decades ago. Now, the slaying of another young woman, the steady girlfriend of one of Kent's players, brings the two together again. Adam, who's never fully recovered from his sister's tragedy, is consumed by vengeful thoughts. Kent keeps a cooler head, simultaneously working with the police and prepping his team for the playoffs. Edgar-nominated mystery wunderkind Koryta (he turns 30 this year) has earned kudos from veteran thriller writers Stephen King and Dean Koontz. He proves plenty worthy of praise in this vivid portrayal of a small midwestern town and the evils that befall it. Koryta's recent novels (e.g., The Ridge, 2011) have combined suspense with horror and the supernatural, but this time he returns to his mainstream thriller roots. With its crisp writing and steady suspense, this is a must-read for his fans both old and new.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)