One of the best authors I’ve read, John Hart has again written a book to win me over. I feared this might be more like his Johnny Merriman books, which seemed to be experiments that didn’t work for me. But now, with THE UNWILLING, he is back.
The story takes place near the end of the Vietnam war. There were three brothers: one was drafted and died in Vietnam; another, Jason, enlisted, served three tours, came home addicted to heroin, and served time in jail; and the youngest, Gibby, is a senior in high school and determined to help Jason. And, then, there are their parents: the quite strange and unnatural mother, who considers both of her older sons to be dead, treats Gibby (a childish name) like a child, and is rarely part of the story; and the father, a police detective, who seems less unnatural but has also given up on Jason.
On the one hand, this book feels too young adult. That is, many parts of it are devoted to Gibby and his friends as they deal with their teenage anxieties. But it is his wish to help his brother that propels the story.
On the other hand, there is violence. Much of it is VIOLENCE in caps, so much violence that it gets boring, and I found myself skipping over these paragraphs.
The parts of the story that describe “X" and his dominion over the prison, including the warden, guards, and prisoners, are hard to believe. And I like to believe in characters even in fiction.
THE UNWILLING is good, but it does not measure up to most of Hart’s earlier novels. It tries to be great. But Hart goes a little too far with the violence this time.
The story takes place near the end of the Vietnam war. There were three brothers: one was drafted and died in Vietnam; another, Jason, enlisted, served three tours, came home addicted to heroin, and served time in jail; and the youngest, Gibby, is a senior in high school and determined to help Jason. And, then, there are their parents: the quite strange and unnatural mother, who considers both of her older sons to be dead, treats Gibby (a childish name) like a child, and is rarely part of the story; and the father, a police detective, who seems less unnatural but has also given up on Jason.
On the one hand, this book feels too young adult. That is, many parts of it are devoted to Gibby and his friends as they deal with their teenage anxieties. But it is his wish to help his brother that propels the story.
On the other hand, there is violence. Much of it is VIOLENCE in caps, so much violence that it gets boring, and I found myself skipping over these paragraphs.
The parts of the story that describe “X" and his dominion over the prison, including the warden, guards, and prisoners, are hard to believe. And I like to believe in characters even in fiction.
THE UNWILLING is good, but it does not measure up to most of Hart’s earlier novels. It tries to be great. But Hart goes a little too far with the violence this time.