The Unwilling: A Novel

About this book

"The tension in Harts story never lets up and youll find yourself unable to break away disc after disc (or page after page) long past your bedtime." -- NJ.com This program includes a letter read by the author 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 Harts singular style. Gibbys 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 wont speak of the war or of his time behind bars but he wants a relationship with the younger brother he hasnt 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 brothers 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 Tyras 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. A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martins Press Another scorcher from Hart ... he keeps us engaged ... subtly folding quiet character-driven moments into the story while still powering the narrative toward an all-stops-out endingand a chilling coda. -- Booklist starred review