Down River

A Novel

By: John Hart

Narrated by: Scott Sowers

Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning novel with from an author whose "prose is like Raymond Chandler's, angular and hard" (Entertainment Weekly).

Adam Chase has spent the last five years in New York City trying to erase his worst memories and the scorn and abandonment of his family. Then a phone call from his best friend awakens in him a torrent of emotion and pain. Having left North Carolina and its red soil for good, he never thought returning would be easy—but being remembered as a murderer doesn't help much. Adam is beaten, accosted, and hostilely confronted by his family, including Grace, the young woman whose abandonment torments him still.

Then people start turning up dead.

Within this small Southern town, John Hart explores the lengths to which people will go for money, family, and pure greed—and whether or not forgiveness is ever attainable.

©2007 John Hart (P)2007 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC

Critic reviews

“Southern writer John Hart's work has a lyrical quality that Scott Sowers narrates with a growling weariness...The combination of Hart and Sowers provides the perfect marriage of prose and voice. Together they enable the book to transcend genre fiction and become something exceptional.” —AudioFile, Earphones Award Winner

“Scott Sowers delivers a solid performance reading Hart's powerful second novel…Hart writes with an intimate sense of melancholy and loss that Sowers resonates perfectly. Using a low-key, Southern accent to good advantage, Sowers draws the listener into the story from the very beginning with his simple, earnest delivery, and holds them tight.” —Publishers Weekly

“There hasn't been a thriller as showily literate since Scott Turow came along.” —The New York Times

Absolutely

The Man has a great future in his writing of fantastic books, hope he stays with it!!!!!!!!

Down River a real "page turner".

Great book. Caused me some lack of sleep. The narration was wonderful. I really enjoyed the unexpected twists and turns in the story line.

Great Author.

I love John Hart’s books and this one didn’t disappoint. Looking forward to the next one.

Depressing story went from bad to worse.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No! The story had too many negative events and outcomes.

Do you think Down River needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No. This family was toooo disfunctional to continue the story.

Any additional comments?

Purchased this book because of a good rating but don't agree with that opinion.

Somewhat lacking

My difficulty was that I simply did not connect with the primary character, Adam Chase, enough to care about his situation. I appreciated how he was grappling with some of his family issues, but I never really found him overall that interesting. Nor did care too much about his predicament. Could be me. Other characters were drawn with fairly bold lines, not much nuance to any of them. I'm sure that was intentional, almost requisite for this plot to work. But again I failed to connect with any of them. So I did not feel much anticipation regarding the overall resolution of many of their conflicts. The plot was somewhat interesting but not gripping or demanding. The strength of the story was Adam's efforts at dealing with issues involving his mother and father and family. The author handles this very well and demonstrates a clear understanding of human nature and family motivations.

Loved it.

What did you love best about Down River?

Every time I thought I had it figured out there was another twist

What was one of the most memorable moments of Down River?

I was moved in the very last chapter. It was nice to see the change in Adam

Which character – as performed by Scott Sowers – was your favorite?

Adam

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Adam decided to take the call from his dad

Any additional comments?

I wish Janis would have been arrested. I would have liked to seen Jacob do the right thing.

Love it

What made the experience of listening to Down River the most enjoyable?

It was a book that both my husband and I were able to enjoy. Not girly-girly and not manly- manly, just right.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

We were traveling 10 hours from home one way, and we were able to listen to the 1st half on the way there and the second half on the way home. The only problem was that the MP3 lost its charge 3 chapters from the end of the book - my husband was horrified.

Just plain bad

Any additional comments?

I forced myself to finish this book although I really, really dislike it.
The narration was particularly poor and the writing was not to my liking either.
I had planned to purchase 'Redemption Road' but after this one I have changed my mind.

A Place Where There Are No Contractions

What made the experience of listening to Down River the most enjoyable?

Down River takes place in a part of North Carolina where no one has ever heard of contractions. No, they have not.

At first the story and the tone is a bit ponderous. That never entirely goes away and is somewhat reinforced by all the bickering between characters. But the story does pick up steam, which helps to carry all that weight toward a satisfying end.

Well Written Mystery Brilliantly Delivered

This is one of the few mysteries that kept me guessing till the end. It is a tragic tale of a wealthy, unforgiving family. I found myself lost in it, but not pleasantly, there is nothing pleasant about this family. That is my only reason for giving it 4stars rather than 5. I admit i like to fall in love with the characters and this story feels too much like real family.

One surprise is that i did fall in love with the setting. It is set in the small town of Salisbury, NC which most travelers on I 85 know because it has the only Starbucks between Greensboro and Charlotte. Yet Salisbury is the home of one the largest grocery chains, Food Lion, and Cheerwine, a hugely popular soft drink in the Carolinas. I believe the author is the stepson of one of the wealthier families there. I say all this because I am guilty of knowing little or nothing about this historical gem not 45 miles from my door. Having read this novel, I plan to learn more and experience more of Salisbury.

The author obviously has a great deal of knowledge of the local police and sheriff departments procedures as well as the politics and geography of the city. This gives the story a reality I've rarely experienced.

A final note regarding the author's talent of building characters. He does a masterful job of having each character actually act his or her age. For example, the hero is a tough, smart 28 year old, but totally as self absorbed and immature as most are today. His mentor is in his early 60's, not as smart, but wise and forgiving. It's a great contrast revealed in multiple characters throughout the story.

So it's a yes! Well worth your time.