October 30, 2017
The future looks bright for Gary Foster, the hero of Hunt’s engrossing, if flawed, first novel. He owns a small retail business in his hometown of River Falls, Mich., with his brother, and his wife, Beth, is pregnant with their first child. Then Gary gets a call from the local hospital, where an ambulance has taken Beth after she collapsed and went into convulsions at a shopping mall. Tests soon show that Beth has a rare form of inoperable brain cancer. The couple’s only hope for her survival is an experimental treatment that costs $200,000, which their insurance won’t cover. Gary’s life becomes a nightmare as he and Beth futilely try to raise the money. Meanwhile, a stranger approaches him with a Faustian bargain: if he murders a man, the money to save his wife is his. Hunt does a fine job of maintaining tension and dread throughout, though some thriller fans will be disappointed that the straightforward plot builds to a predictable, anticlimactic conclusion. Agent: Laney Katz Becker, Massie & McQuilkin.
November 15, 2017
A husband faces the prospect of losing his wife to cancer or committing a brutal crime in this debut thriller.Despite a plot that revolves around the choices we make in dire circumstances, Hunt's tepid thriller telegraphs nearly every character's intent, so the decisions they make are hardly a surprise. Gary Foster and his wife, Beth, are expecting their first child when she experiences a seizure that leads doctors to diagnose an aggressive form of brain cancer. Gary and Beth, scrambling for any shred of hope, find an experimental treatment in Germany that could save her life but comes with a $200,000 price tag--and, of course, insurance won't cover it. They start a Kickstarter-type page, and while donations trickle in, they're not nearly enough and Beth's time is running out. In a poorly integrated side plot, a local drug dealer, Otto Brennan, is stuck between a rock (a cartel leader) and a hard place (a crooked cop), both of whom want money from him, though he only has the funds to pay off one. Otto sees an article on the local newspaper's website about Gary and Beth's plight, and he reaches out to Gary with an offer: all Gary has to do is get rid of the cop, Devon Peterson, permanently, and Otto will give him the money for Beth's treatment. In predictable fashion, nothing goes right, and Gary and Otto become embroiled in a Keystone Cop-like investigation into the murder while Gary spins lie after lie to Beth, lies that no one would realistically believe. The resolution--to the case, Beth's cancer, the Fosters' marriage--is as implausible as they come.Stock characters populate a plot that takes the suspension of disbelief to ridiculous levels.
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Starred review from December 1, 2017
This outstanding domestic suspense debut by an award-winning advertising copywriter is at once complex and direct. With a baby finally on the way and a new retail business venture with his brother established, Gary Foster has no idea that his low-key life is about to be turned upside down. When his wife is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, Gary concludes that the only good option is an alternative treatment that comes with the staggering price tag of $200,000. They undertake charitable and crowd-funding appeals but have exhausted themselves and their options with barely $20,000 to show for their efforts. The clock is ticking, and Gary's desperation to save Beth and their unborn son leads him down a criminal path. Then a man offers him the money he needs if he will kill someone, who turns out to be a crooked cop. In the harrowing tale that follows, the readers are craftily put in the position of considering what extremes they would go to in the same hopeless situation. The writer is totally nonjudgmental of Gary, but he has created some characters so loathsome that they beg the question of whether ridding society of them would be such a bad thing. Recommended for fans of fast-paced thrillers that pose moral dilemmas (Lee Child, Harlan Coben, Joseph Finder). A real nail-biter.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)
December 1, 2017
Under what circumstances would you kill for someone you love? This is the question that Gary Foster must ask himself in this first novel. Gary's pregnant wife, Beth, has been diagnosed with a rare and inoperable cancer. An experimental treatment will cost more than they could afford. Out of the blue, a shadowy figure offers Gary a deal: kill this stranger, get paid the exact amount he needs. Gary is given just two days to consider the offer and the moral dilemma it represents. Accepting the deal, he agrees to commit the murder of a "bad man" for the money to save his wife, a "good woman." Gary is only human, though, and not being a criminal at heart, he makes many mistakes. What if the mysterious person doesn't pay? VERDICT Although the protagonist falls just short of being sympathetic, the story moves along rapidly. Fans of Harlan Coben or Mary Kubica will want to add this promising author to their lineup of favorites. [See Prepub Alert, 7/24/17.]--Elizabeth Masterson, Mecklenburg Cty. Jail Lib., Charlotte, NC
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 1, 2017
Say your pregnant wife has an inoperable brain tumor, and the experimental treatment that's her only chance costs $200,000. If someone offered you the money to kill someone, would you take it? In-house folks are jumping.
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.