★ 05/29/2023
At the beginning of this superb thriller from Edgar winner Koryta (Those Who Wish Me Dead), recently paroled killer Israel Pike discovers seven murdered men on a yacht adrift near the small island of Salvation Point, Maine. Despite a lack of evidence, Sterling Pike, Israel’s uncle and the island’s sole police deputy, immediately blames his nephew, who was convicted of murdering his own father 15 years earlier. Sterling, who fancies himself the island’s de facto ruler, builds a case against Israel while receiving pushback from FBI agent Jenn Salazar, who’s been assigned to the investigation. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Lyman Rankin escapes the wrath of his abusive, alcoholic father and decamps to an abandoned house, where he’s confronted by a hatchet-wielding woman who’s also seeking shelter. Koryta seamlessly stitches the two stories together with white-knuckle action and strong character development: the novel’s potency comes from the parallels between Israel and Lyman, each the products of brutal homes who are determined not to repeat their fathers’ cruelty. Koryta’s atmospheric prose is a treat, too, tempering Maine’s natural beauty with hints of the island’s corruption: “The sea was calm but the air was uneasy, too warm, too still.” This is top-tier suspense. Agent: Richard S. Pine, InkWell Management. (July)
04/01/2023
Koryta's (Those Who Wish Me Dead) suspense and story move along at a brisk pace in his latest, whose titular honest man is Israel Pike. Within the first pages, Israel finds seven men shot to death on a yacht drifting in the ocean off a small island in Maine. He is immediately considered a suspect, especially by his uncle, the deputy sheriff of Salvation Island. Fifteen years ago, Israel killed his own father during an argument, and his uncle arrested him on the spot. Israel had been out of prison for only a few months when he found the bodies. It appears that Israel is withholding a secret as he works with state police major crime unit's Jenn Salazar. Meanwhile, a boy named Lyman Rankin, hiding out on a nearby island, finds a woman squatting in an abandoned house. She is holding a hatchet, has terrible wounds on her feet, and has a pile of blood-soaked money. As in his other novels, Kortya's characters evoke feelings of sympathy, anger, and joy. Readers will stay engaged until the end. VERDICT Fans of Lee and Lincoln Child and of Koryta's previous works will enjoy his new offering.—Jason L. Steagall
Narrator Robert Petkoff uses a variety of New England accents to enhance this thriller, which takes place on an island off Maine. Petkoff's controlled, dark narration adds some brine to the unraveling mystery of who killed seven people on a beached ghost ship. Like a set of Russian nesting dolls, the story reveals secrets that beget secrets as Israel Pike, the island outcast, attempts to put a corrupt cop out of business. The trouble is that the cop is also Israel's uncle, who's still angry that Israel committed patricide 15 years earlier. The plot also includes a woman who appears from the sea named Hatchet (so called because she always carries one) and a sad subplot dealing with Lyman, a kid whose drunken dad beats him. Put it all together with Petkoff's professional storytelling, and the result is hard-to-put-down suspense. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
2023-05-09
Two male victims of parental abuse and two female victims of sex trafficking converge on a small island off the coast of Maine following the killing of seven men on a yacht.
Israel Pike, having served 15 years in prison for killing his abusive father, becomes a prime suspect in the yacht murders after discovering the bodies, which include those of two candidates for U.S. Senate. Running off to hide from his own brutal father, 12-year-old Lyman Rankin discovers a frightened young woman lying low in a former neighbor’s abandoned house. She proves to have a crucial connection to the killings. The odds of anyone good coming out of this mess alive, or anyone bad getting punished for their deeds, are not high. The island, Salvation Point, is controlled by Israel’s uncle, Sterling, a corrupt deputy sheriff who owns half the town and, along with his late brother, was involved in running underage girls up and down the East Coast. One of their early victims was 14-year-old Jenn Salazar, now a state cop with a secret agenda. There’s a whole lot of abuse going on here—more than one novel can comfortably contain. The twin narratives can get pretty schematic. But having written two of his previous three novels under the pseudonym Scott Carson, Koryta seems recharged by the dark human themes, the stormy coastal setting (no crime writer makes more of the great outdoors), and the ugly politics. As in real life, the upcoming election here has great significance to the nation. Having created memorable outsize villains in such books as The Prophet (2012) and Those Who Wish Me Dead (2014), Koryta chills the air with smaller-than-life bad guys.
A strong effort by one of crime fiction’s go-to writers.
A Tampa Bay Times Best Book of 2023 “This is Koryta's best book. It grabbed me hard and wouldn't let go. A wonderful suspense novel with good writing and lots of texture. It feels like it came straight from the heart."—Stephen King
“Israel Pike is a deep, emotionally flawed character who shines enormously on the page, and Lyman Rankin runs with him stride for stride. Michael Koryta is an exceptionally gifted storyteller. Every scene sparkles, from the superlative action scenes to the intimate human threads woven throughout. Take my advice: turn these pages. They will not disappoint."—David Baldacci, bestselling author of Long Shadows
“Michael Koryta is one of those writers who has brought Faulknerian prose to the crime novel.”—James Lee Burke, bestselling author of Every Cloak Rolled in Blood and The Neon Rain
“Michael Koryta's An Honest Man is a hatchet waiting for you in a dark room. This thing is sharp, gloomy, nuanced, violent, strangely elegant, and it smells like salt and blood. From crackling dialogue to complex characters, Koryta delivers everything. As a reader, I love his work. As a writer, I hate how easy he makes it look. Koryta is too damn good."—Gabino Iglesias, author of the Edgar and Stoker Award-nominated The Devil Takes You Home
"A macabre ghost ship adrift off the coast of Maine, a nest of islanders bristling with dark history, an ex-con/prodigal son and a lone cop allied against a depraved criminal network, a boy on the run from violence who must shelter a young woman who seems to have emerged from the sea itself—all woven together so deftly, and with such intensity of feeling, that the reader must simply hang on as the waves keep coming—and man do they come. An Honest Man is one hell of a ride, and Michael Koryta is a master at the helm." —Tim Johnston, NYT Bestselling author of Descent and The Current
"Elegantly written, stark and gorgeous. Michael Koryta is a treasure, and his skillful wisdom with character and setting and emotion are unmatched. An Honest Man will captivate you from page one. It is wry and knowing, ridiculously immersive, and utterly heartbreaking. It's a story that feels not only truly told, but actually true...aching with the bitterness of reality, and the danger that comes not only from greed, but also from love. I will admit, Michael Koryta makes me cry every time. This is a terrific book by a supremely gifted storyteller."—Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling and award-winning author
"Superb . . . This is top-tier suspense."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"As in his other novels, Koryta's characters evoke feelings of sympathy, anger, and joy. Readers will stay engaged until the end." —Library Journal
"One of crime fiction's go-to writers."—Kirkus Reviews
"Koryta is a force to be reckoned with in modern suspense, and An Honest Man is one of his finest achievements to date." —Bruce Tierney, BookPage
"Michael Koryta is an outstanding crime writer. His writing is taut and to the point, his characters are credible, and the Maine setting is brought beautifully to life. And he answers, with complete believability, the question of why people remain on Salvation Point, when poverty and violence surround them."—Marilyn Brooks, Marilyn's Mystery Reads
