THE UNWILLING by John Hart

 

“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.

MY THOUGHTS:

What a book!! This author knocked this one out of the park. Out of this world. He made a big impression on me for sure. This was my first John Hart book and I will be reading more... 

This book is set in the mid to late sixties. During the Vietnam war. Reading this gave me a whole new respect for what soldiers go through who actually have to go into combat. Some are not the same when they come home. Some are beyond our way of thinking. Some have seen things that no young man or woman should see. During the Vietnam way this was more true than ever I do believe. This book only touches on that war slightly. In a very profound way though. It's about a boy who lost one brother there and is losing another after he came back to the states. A family torn apart by a war. 

This book is so well written. It will make you take a few deep breathes and head shakes. It's just a story that will certainly make you stop and take a look at things. Life for instance. How much do we take that for granted. This story is about a boy. An eighteen year old boy but still a young boy. His name is Gibby French. He's almost eighteen and will have to sign up for the draft once his birthday arrives. He's still in high school. His best friend is Chance and his girl is Becky. He has his whole life ahead of him. But before that there is a lifetime of things going on.

Gibby's brother Jason has been to Vietnam, spent time in prison and is now out. He want's to know his little brother but his mother forbids it. Let me say that I honestly did not like the mother, Gabrielle. I think it's ok to want to protect a son from another son when it's the right situation but... To say it should have been him, when you lose one son is just unacceptable. No mother should have that much favoritism toward one over the other. Jason is troubled. He is trouble in many ways. He's set up, framed, for a brutal murder the likes of which no officer in this Charlotte, NC town has ever seen. But did he do it? Nothing is kept from you in this book. You will know who is guilty and who is not. It's not a book where you try to figure out the who did what to whom. It's a story of what happens between people. Both in and out of prison. Both in and out of Vietnam. Between family members. Between a mother and son. A father and his wife. Between two brothers. 

This book hits deeply. Right in the heart. It's a heartbreaker and an edge of your seat story. It will keep you turning pages and wanting more. It's like reading the most horrific thing but you just can't stop. There is a lot of detail in this book and you will cringe many times. You will want to slap a few people along the way. You will wonder what makes a person do such horrible things to another. Why would anyone be so cruel. What could have possibly happened in a person life to make them seem to not have a soul. All your questions and thoughts are answered. 

This story pretty much left me feeling better yet with a heavy heart also. I didn't feel sorry for Reece or X. They were very messed up people. Deserve anything that may come their way. I did root for Jason though. I really loved him. He is quite a big brother and deserves more than people will possibly ever know. People in the town that is. Maybe someday!!

My favorite paragraph from this book is: He felt a hundred different fears: the fear of war and mutilation, of falling now, just now, or of diving wrong, and breaking. He feared his friend might not forgive him, that the wound would fester and that the cracks ran all the way through. Most of all, he feared whatever life waited at the bottom of the trail, the future if he walked instead of dove, the man he might become. That was the devil inside, a demon with a face as familiar-soft as Chance's own. Maybe it was fate that brought him to this place, or fate that people called it the Devil's Ledge.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #JohnHart, #StMartin'sPress for this ARC. This is my own thoughts about this book.

5/5 stars and I highly recommend this one. It's intense and a bit scary in places. So worth reading.