Iron House

A Novel

By: John Hart

Narrated by: Scott Sowers

Length: 15 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

An old man is dying. When the old man is dead, they will come for him. And they will come for her, to make him hurt.

John Hart has written three New York Times best sellers and won an unprecedented two back-to-back Edgar Awards. His books have been called “masterful” (Jeffery Deaver) and “gripping” (People) with “Grisham-style intrigue and Turow-style brooding” (The New York Times). Now he delivers his fourth novel—a gut-wrenching, heart-stopping thriller no listener will soon forget.

He would go to Hell....

At the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, there was nothing but time. Time to burn and time to kill, time for two young orphans to learn that life isn’t won without a fight. Julian survives only because his older brother, Michael, is fearless and fiercely protective. When tensions boil over and a boy is brutally killed, there is only one sacrifice left for Michael to make: He flees the orphanage and takes the blame with him.

To keep her safe....

For two decades, Michael has been an enforcer in New York’s world of organized crime, a prince of the streets so widely feared he rarely has to kill anymore. But the life he’s fought to build unravels when he meets Elena, a beautiful innocent who teaches him the meaning and power of love. He wants a fresh start with her, the chance to start a family like the one he and Julian never had. But someone else is holding the strings. And escape is not that easy.

Go to Hell and come back burning....

The mob boss who gave Michael his blessing to begin anew is dying, and his son is intent on making Michael pay for his betrayal. Determined to protect the ones he loves, Michael spirits Elena—who knows nothing of his past crimes, or the peril he’s laid at her door— back to North Carolina, to the place he was born and the brother he lost so long ago. There, he will encounter a whole new level of danger, a thicket of deceit and violence that leads inexorably to the one place he’s been running from his whole life: Iron House.

©2011 John Hart (P)2011 Macmillan Audio

How to get away with murder

This books starts with predictable and cliche gangster stuff, but then takes a most interesting turn. Glad I stuck through with it because it unfolded a great story.

A reasonable read till towards the end

It had potential and was a reasonable read till towards the end and the ever mounting dead bodies. I became quite desensitized and almost yawned when there was another killing or another bizarre event. I found it laughable that after all the death, killing in cold blood, dying and pain inflicting practices, the characters began to talk about deep love and caring?

Poor abused boys from a "Dickens" orphange

Hmmm well...In retrospect I don't think this was as good as I expected or as it had been touted....lots of cliche's.....the storyline a bit obvious.....I had looked up several reviews that said it was grrrreat..but not for me.

hello darkness my old friend

What to say about this author's books? I discuss this with the other readers in my life and we talk about what kind of books we like. Me, over the years I've liked all kinds of books but in the end I like to be entertained. And, boy howdy, John Hart entertains and this book is right there with the rest of his books that I've listened to.

This one seemed a bit different in that the characters and story seemed really dart. There were nasty people, nastiness in general, there was lots of killing and dark threads of life. But the author pulls it off. It was entertaining from the get go and didn't let up the whole book. I was completely entertained and, for me, it was a page turner. Sometimes I had to take a short break just to get away from the darker stuff. In the end it was all good.

Enjoy!!

Not this best

This book was extremely gruesome (Hannibal level of gruesome) and not believable. I only write reviews when something is fantastic or I want to warn people not to waste their money. This one is the latter category. John Hart has some good books but I would advise you to skip this one.

Disappointed

I like fiction that I suppose could actually happen given a certain set of cirmcumstances. This isn't it. This story is just too outrageous to believe under any circumstance. The protagonist suffers absolutely no consequences for his actions, (as neither do his cohorts) and lots of money solves every problem in the end. I am surprised it won so many rave reviews. The narrator read well as "Michael," but if he is going to do accents, he needs to practice more. I thought the character "Elena" was certainly from Russia or a Slavic country. Spain? Really? His southern accent was....passable. I wouldn't recommend using a credit on this book if you enjoy credible fiction.

insipid violence

A huge disappointment! I have loved past Hart books. I kept listening to this one only because I was driving from Massachusetts to Florida! I was glad when it ended... I was finally home!!!

Terribly overwritten!

I thought this book would never end. I think a good editor would strike out at least twenty five percent of it.

So slow

I could not get into this book. It was so excruciatingly slow until the last bit. I gave up several times and kept trying to make myself finish it. This is the first time in my audible history it’s taken me the full month until my next audible credit to finish a book. I usually finish in a week. I liked the characters. The story line is just way too drawn out for me.

Pick A Mass Murder For Your Hero

So our hero is a mass murder and even though he is nicer than the other mass murders its hard for is to care about him.