The Destroyers

April 17, 2017
In the third novel from the author of Orient, Ian Bledsoe flies to the Greek island of Patmos, “the quiet island of the Apocalypse,” after the death of his father to try to get financial help from his childhood best friend, Charlie Konstantinou. Both young men come from affluent New York families but find themselves in precarious positions with their family inheritances. On the island, Ian meets Charlie’s cluster of extravagant friends, including his college girlfriend, vacationing on her summer off from law school. When Charlie offers Ian a job at his yacht company, things begin to start looking up, despite the appearance of more and more dubious individuals, including a group of religious hippies, around the touristy island. Suddenly, Charlie goes missing and it becomes Ian’s job to find his friend. Bollen manages to create a novel that is equal parts literary and thrilling. His beautiful sentences linger, and each of his characters have rich, complicated pasts that unfold over time. Though the ending is a bit rushed and leaves some loose threads, the novel ultimately offers a cinematic and insightful reflection on wealth and the horrendous things it can drive people to do, even to the ones they love. Agent: Bill Clegg, the Clegg Agency.