The Survivor

Összefoglaló

I shall spare the chorus of "action-packed, nail biting, thrill ride from start to finish" as whilst it is ALL of those things it leaps into the deep-end of previously uncharted territory for the author with a cast of Ukrainian heavies and their appetite for a truly horrific form of torture/mutilation.
At 484 pages it's a good read and an excellent value price wise here in the UK. Having said that, I read it in a day and a half as I did not want to put it down. When I did, I went back to it just as soon as I could. I found the protagonist--Nate Overbay--brilliantly evolved as the story progressed. Events transpire right from the get to pull you right on in. Those events keep hitting right to the very conclusion. And it was an ending which rather knocks the wind from you.
Now as to the villains. I do so enjoy having more than one cheeky fellow to loath, and `The Survivor' does not disappoint here either. The Ukrainian mob is well and truly an underground shadow world and it was both exciting and disturbing to learn about something utterly unfamiliar to me. Amongst the worst of the Ukrainians is Misha and Pavlo. Characters who reminded me of the Soviet Bloc characters out of a 1970's spy yarn. And whilst Misha is wicked to his gristle, I found Pavlo--the Godfather for lack of better terms--to be so complex as to have traits that made him not only sympathetic, but at times not unlike Nate.
The final act is as thrilling as the first. And one which I personally couldn't wrap my head around until it went down.
I highly recommend this not only to fans of Mr. Hurwitz but thriller readers in general. The story and characters are just so well fleshed out to the point that when I finished reading `The Survivor' I reflected upon it as if I had just sat through a feature film. As quaint as it may sound, the pages did indeed come alive.