The Survivor by Gregg Hurwitz
Nate Overbay is about to jump from an 11th story building into bustling traffic when The Survivor begins. He’s miserable. He’s lost everything important to him and has no hope. He’s dying from ALS and doesn’t want to be a burden in his final month and decides suicide is the best way out. As he’s contemplating the jump, he spots a robbery taking place inside the bank whose ledge he’s balanced on. Innocents are dying and despite his distraught state, he can’t simply stand by and watch. In a terrifying, nail-biting scene of bravery he steps in . . .
Nate’s heroic actions set off a series of events that no sane person could ever envision. Now he must keep it together long enough to save his estranged wife and daughter. To give away anything else about the plot will destroy the read for you. So I won’t. Just trust me this is a good one. I am in no way a “thriller” girl. I prefer sexy books, or supernatural books or flat out horrific books. Thrillers usually put me to sleep.
Not this one.
After the intense beginning I expected I’d soon find myself bored. Who can keep up that kind of momentum? This guy can. It was action packed but even better I found myself 100% invested in the characters. The author inserts flashback scenes that make you want to weep for all of them. He flashes back to the early days of young love between Nate and his wife and I start to get teary. It’s hard not to because you know how it ends and why it ends and it just doesn’t seem fair He flashes back to Nate’s biggest regret as a soldier and I really needed some tissue. But when he reveals the reason Nate took on such a painful job (probably one of the worst jobs imaginable) it became difficult to drive with all of the tears blocking my vision and I had to save the rest of the audio for menial tasks around the house instead.
Survivor is emotional and gut-wrenching and much more than just another suspenseful thriller. If it is ever made into a movie I won’t bitch and moan like I usually do if my husband wants to drag me to it. I would love to see this on the big screen.
If you’re an audiobook fan grab the version read by Scott Brick. He did a fantastic job with this piece. He is serious, masculine and his voice fits the tone perfectly.
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