The Survivor

By: Gregg Hurwitz

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Nate Overbay, a former soldier suffering from PTSD and ALS, goes to an 11th-floor bank and climbs out the bathroom window onto the ledge, ready to end it all. But as he’s steeling himself to jump, a crew of gunmen bursts into the bank and begins viciously shooting employees and customers. With nothing to lose, Nate climbs back inside, confronts the robbers, and with his military training, starts taking them out, one by one. The last man standing leaves Nate with a cryptic warning: “He will make you pay in ways you can’t imagine.” Soon enough, Nate learns what this means.

He is kidnapped by Pavlo, a savage Ukrainian mobster and mastermind of the failed heist. Now blocked from getting into the bank vault to retrieve the critical item inside, Pavlo gives Nate a horrifying ultimatum: Either break in and acquire the item or watch Pavlo slowly kill the people Nate loves most - his estranged wife, Janie, and his teenaged daughter, Cielle. Nate lost them both when he came back from Iraq broken and confused. Now he’s got one chance to protect the people he loves, even if it’s the last thing he is able to do.

©2012 Gregg Hurwitz (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

High tension drama

Compelling characters, one with PTSD trauma seeking redemption, and one incredibly cruel villain. Great plot with Page turning (listening) tension. Perfect narration!

Shakes you to your very core.

"The Survivor" is one of those rare books that truly affects the reader. This is more than your typical thriller - the characters draw you in; the story visceral and horrifying, and Scott Brick's narration is, as always, spot on.

I listen to thrillers for pure entertainment and escape, so I wasn't prepared for the emotions brought up by "The Survivor." Hurwitz managed to touch my nerves to such an extent that, at times, I had to stop listening in order to recover from the horrible images he planted in my imagination.

Be prepared to be terrified. This is no ordinary book.

Non stop action

Although I really like Gregg Hurwitz and his books are always turbo charged, there are times when his exchanges between the main characters get maudlin and overextended. This is not helped by Scott Brick's feeble attempts at voicing the sensitivity being expressed. (listening to two Scott Brick books in a row is like nails on a chalkboard) Although character development is not at the top of the list in books like this, Gregg Hurwitz has done a better job than most in this genre. However, the characters in this book often become cardboard when they have sudden behavioral changes that help the protagonist out. For example, his estranged father suddenly decides to help Nate after a fifteen year absence. Nate himself suddenly becomes dedicated to his daughter after ignoring her for five years. All this is explained away by his decision to not commit suicide but I didn't buy it. The extended love scenes between Nate and his wife became so annoying that I had to turn the book off or else be drowned in butterscotch. Also, the entire storyline of the book, that Nate had to obtain the contents of the bank security box was absurd. The villain could have easily gone into the bank several weeks later with a new crew and retrieved the contents himself. One of the best parts of the book was the manner in which Hurwitz nailed the personality of a 15 year old girl in LA. She was so totally obnoxious, so totally self-absorbed and so totally out of control that how Nate could even stand to be around her was a fantasy in itself. Why he would sacrifice his life for her was beyond me. I also thought the way that PTDS soldiers were treated was a disgrace. Dumping these poor guys because they are psychologically damaged is like divorcing the guy because he has no legs. Yeah, he's scaring the daughter. So what! That's the sacrifice we all make for those who put themselves in harms way. I also thought that the ability of the Ukranians to track every step of Nate's was somewhat contrived. It reminded me of the movie, "Enemy of the State". I could see it if the tracking agency was Governmental but a small group of foreign thugs? Nah! After reviewing this comment, I'm not sure it deserves the four stars I gave it but, on the whole, if one's cynicism is suspended, its a good hurricane read.

Action Packed!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Survivor to be better than the print version?

Scott Brick's narration intensifies the action in this novel.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

This novel is so action packed that you barely have time to catch your breath before the next intense scene unfolds.

What does Scott Brick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Love, love love Scott Brick as a narrator. He brings incredible energy and intensity to this story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Survivor's Revenge

entertaining

First time author for me, suggested by audible. An ill, depressed ex-soldier suffering from PTSD in Afghanistan gets in trouble with the Ukranian mafia in LA. If you can believe it, the Ukranian mafia is worse than the Russian mafia, which means they're very bad! This story is how he works through it all. Sometimes it seemed a bit implausible but, hey, it was entertaining. If you like this genre then you'd like this story.

Pure fun escape thriller

This mystery/thriller novel was fun from start to end. It grabbed me from the first exciting scene and never let go. That rarely happens with thrillers with me. I should say that this book is not close to realistic. Instead, it so obviously pushes every emotional button a book can, all in one book, and it succeeded with me. The "buttons" include threats to family, military PTSD, terminal illness, being framed for a crime, and parental estrangement. The plot twists and action are nonstop, and I really liked the good guys and hated the bad guys. If you are looking for a beach-read page turner, you might like this to listen to. Scott Brick is a great reader and so easy to listen to, but his voice was slightly more sophisticated than the main character in this novel, and so he was not a perfect fit. Still good, though.

I'd give it 6 STARS if I could

Since I heard Gregg Hurwitz first novel, I've been hooked and I've listened to all of them. When I saw Survivor had been released, I bought it immediately. This is the best ever. I couldn't put it down, which is to say I listened straight through with only a few hours of sleep in the middle. It's an original, not like anything else I've read. Hurwitz combines elements I would never have believed could be in the same novel and does it brilliantly. I want so much to write about some of the things I felt as I listened and how many times I changed my mind about the ending but I don't want to give even a minute of this away. You deserve to take this adventure on your own. I recommend it without reservation. Yes there are some blood and guts, so if that bothers you and you can't force yourself to fast forward through those when they occur, then I guess it's not for you, but there's so very much more to it than that. I hope Hurwitz is well into his next book. I'm already in line to buy it.

But I can't end this without mentioning Scott Brick. I listen to 3-4 books every week and he is one of my absolute favorites. I think he is the perfect match for this book and give him 6 stars as well.

Enjoy!

Great Ending

I gave the book a one because the ending is great. The rest of the book was blah

Should Be Called The Victim

One of the most depressing books I have ever read. If you're thinking you are going to cheer on a hero that comes out of nowhere to save the day (aka "Die Hard") forget it. Nate is just a perpetual victim who can never seem to get it done. He is a victim of his family (who hates him), of his disease (which has come to define him), the bad guys (who want to kill him) and the police (who want to arrest him). But unlike, say, Bruce Willis in "Red" who always manages to find a way to overcome those difficulties, Nate always seems to find a way to fail. Just when you think, ok, finally he is going to be a hero again something manages to cause him to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Even his final victory is almost as much defeat as it is victory.
Scott Brick is the perfect narrator for this story. His accents are spot on and Brick has a way of being able to make anything sound depressing. I would have given him 5 stars for performance except he did too good a job at depressing me.
In short, if you are a fan of the genre where every possible thing that can go wrong does go wrong and absolutely no-one is ever happy (kind of like a daytime soap opera) you might actually love this story. If you are looking for good old action packed escapism, forget it!

Definitely Not Dull!

This is a fairly typical offering from the author. It really grabbed me at the beginning, then maybe 20% in I couldn't listen for a day and when I got back to it for some reason was less captivating. That said, it moved forward with only a typical amount of belief suspension for the genre, plenty of sympathetic characters, plenty of action and a satisfying conclusion. It is a good example of a suspense thriller, it is NOT a mystery. If you've never encountered this author before, it's a very good introduction.