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.

I could not put it down!

I could not put this book down. It was well written with a great plot. Scott Brick did an awesome job bringing the characters to life. This was my first Gregg Hurwitz novel and most definitely not the last.

First Book

What did you love best about The Survivor?

The story

What did you like best about this story?

How it was flopping back and forth, reader did not use any pronunciations to accent the story.

Any additional comments?

Ending was lame.

Thrilling, Powerful, and Emotional

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Already have!

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

Scott Brick is one of my favorite performers of audiobooks. He becomes the character rather than just reading the story.

Any additional comments?

This was a great story from the start, I was pulled in immediately. I like stories of this genre, and I have to admit that when Nate started to come to realize who was going to be the adversary in this tale, I thought it would be a bit predictable. It was not, for the most part, predictable. I was unprepared for how much emotional response I would be giving to the characters--it is unusual that an author can manage to paint so many very real scenes when bringing a story to life. Anyone who has survived teenage girls or struggled with guilt will understand and appreciate this story. Two thumbs up!

Survival Dilemma

A down and out war veteran has come to the end of his rope when he gets thrown into the middle of completing a bank heist, attempted by a Ukrainian mob, that he foolishly thwarted. His family is at risk if he does not comply and he is given a deadline, however, what they are asking for could bring on many innocent deaths.

This book got a little slow through the middle but kept my interest and the ending was a little cliche but still held a slight mystery. Scott Brick did a good job bringing the characters to life without over exaggerating the accents.

Solid story

As a former soldier I noticed the minor mistakes made by the author concerning some of the weapons.

Other than that I can find no fault with this story. The main bad guy was quite menacing. The particular method of torture/execution was vivid and definitely had my imagination in overdrive.

The ALS was portrayed quite accurately.

The various shoot outs were pretty accurate. Chaotic and deadly with plenty of bad marksmanship.

Hardcore listener

I really enjoyed this book. That being said I so disliked the daughters character that I almost stopped reading it about half way through. For her being as old as she was, she was very annoying and immature. I personally would of handed her over to the bad guys just see her learn how well her life was, and to learn a valuable life lesson, that she doesn't know everything, learn some respect, and the world doesn't revolve around her. I hope his next book doesn't come with an smart mouth brat.

survivor

i liked this book a lot. it kept me listening. Greg Hurwitz is a good writer.

Lots of Action, Suspense and Character Development

Lots of Action, Suspense and Character Development for Key players. Narrator did great. Now on to another Gregg Hurwitz novel.

Loving Gregg Hurwitz

Just found this author and both books I’ve read have been “can’t put it downers,”if I was reading the physical book. This one was really a great read!

Wow. Just...wow

Outstanding story, character development, action, and narration. At this point I have probably listened to 50+ audio books. This one rises above them all.