2012-366 Day 243 – The Survivor

Well, I’ve restored about 85% of my humanity, so that will have to do for now. Not looking forward to the half-marathon this weekend, it’s going to be a slow one. As long as I’m over 90% for teaching tomorrow (thank goodness they moved the class back to 11 am from 8 am, I’m not sure I could have managed), that should be okay.

On the bright side, the extra downtime let me finish up Gregg Hurwitz’s new book, “The Survivor.” If you read the blog last week, you know that Jess and I attended the book launch and had our usual bit of fun. We picked up a copy of the book that night (a Tuesday), but I didn’t really get the chance to dig into it until closer to the weekend. As it worked out, I basically read the book in three chunks, a hundred pages the first night, another hundred the second night, and the remainder (about a hundred and sixty) when I was home sick Tuesday.

A little bit about Gregg’s writing style, as I’ve covered some generalities before but feel there are some things I can expand upon. I’ve mentioned that the genre generally written by Mr. Hurwitz is Suspense/Thriller, and that remains the case with this book. The chapters are usually pretty short and can quickly bounce from setting to setting, which generates a fantastic sense of a speedy pace which really can allow you to tear through the book quickly. That pretty well explains how sixty chapters fits into three hundred sixty some-odd pages, and it’s actually some fewer pages than that since a few of them only have a paragraph or two no them at the end of chapters. One warning that I have not given in the past, which I am just now realizing (apparently I have been unfortunately desensitized), is that his books, this one in particular, are generally fairly violent. I suppose you really can’t avoid it when you have an ex-soldier suffering PTSD, bank robbers, and Ukrainian gangsters. There were a couple points in the book that I had a physical reaction to, which points to excellent writing but is perhaps not how everyone wants to spend their leisure time.

I’m not going to go into any plot details here, especially since Jess hasn’t read it yet, but will deal with some generalities. I feel one of the strengths of Gregg’s writing is how well he attaches you to the characters. They are rendered in such detail that you form a genuine attachment (or a loathing respect, in the case of the bad guys) to them and become invested in their story. By the end of the book their victories are your victories, and their losses sting as your own. Even the dog in this book is a fully formed character, with idiosyncrasies and tendencies you’ll immediately recognize and apply to the various dogs in your life. A sense of fear and urgency quickly settles in for the characters, and I found myself often feeling the same sensations while reading.

In addition to the strength of the characters, the story structure is fantastic. Clues are uncovered and scraps collected, and one off-hand remark by a minor character set all the pieces into place, which the main character also picks up on and satisfyingly completes the same puzzle. While I’m certain you can get just as much enjoyment having the puzzle solved for you, the fact that you can “play along” with the mystery and actually solve it alongside the protagonists is very gratifying.

I’m sure by this point I sound like an utter fanboy, but there were a couple instances of concern for me. I could not for the life of me figure out why one character chose NOT to do something, and I’ll have to ask about it at some point in the future when I’m not worried about spoilers. The second really bothered me when another character chose TO do something that I didn’t understand, but that one I’m going to chalk up to my lack of knowledge of the motivations of teenage girls (yeah, I’d probably be a little worried if I did understand those). Both of these events happened fairly early in the the second batch of reading and I was a little worried that they would stick with me through the end of the book. I was pulled back in by the end of that second batch and everything smoothed itself out over the last section. I found the end of the story to be both satisfying and poignant.

So if you can handle your suspense and violence, I wholeheartedly recommend “The Survivor” to you. The characterization and story-telling are fantastic, and your emotions and brain will be fully engaged. It is easily the finest story I have ever read about a character with PTSD and ALS (did I not mention the Lou Gehrig’s disease? Yeah, they have to deal with that too) that I have ever read. Okay, also the only, but this remains an excellent and engaging book.

Weight: 228 Loss: 12 lbs – Running Yearly Mileage: 262.1 miles
Fitocracy Level: 25 ID: disciplev1