The Tower

By: Gregg Hurwitz

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the bestselling tradition of The Silence of the Lambs comes The Tower, a novel of nail-biting suspense and heart-stopping terror played out in a psychological battle of wit, cunning, and pure evil between a diabolically clever killer and his determined hunter.

Allander Atlasia is an infamous psychopath whose heinous crimes have earned him a lifetime stay at the Tower (nicknamed Alcatraz II), the world's most extreme maximum-security prison. But after a brilliant and brutal escape, the criminal mastermind begins a killing spree that is intensely personal - one by one, victims fall prey to a twisted and chilling re-enactment of his own depraved past.

Jade Marlow is an ex-FBI profiler and tracker whose fearlessness is only surpassed by the severity of his own inner demons. With a record of irrational behavior and a genius for putting himself into the mind of a criminal predator, he may be the one man diabolical enough to catch Atlasia. In an escalating contest of wills and wits, two equally defiant men race toward a showdown where daring is deadly and failure is fatal.

©1999 Gregg Andrew Hurwitz (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Long time fan, but this one was overly violent

While the book is well written and the story fully formed and interesting, the extreme gore and disturbing violence, are a major turn off. If this was my first GH novel I would not come back, very happy it was not because all his other stuff is fantastic.

Not his best. (Spoilers)

I am a huge Greg Hurwitz fan, however, this story came off a little hokey to me. It was somewhat predictable and the protagonist personality was all over the place preventing me from seeing the situation from his point of view. It is almost as if the character was being created as the story progressed. My biggest issue was the insertion of the sex scene. Why? It is like it was thrown in as a prerequisite. It was so out of left field I actually chuckled. Not every story requires a hook up and I would hope no woman would want to get with a man with these many issues. I would like to say Scott Brick’s narration was awesome as always. He can give any story life which is what pulled me through on this story.

Sorry GH, not as compelling

First of all, I am Hurwitz’s biggest fan. I have listened to most of his book now and just finished the latest Orphan X, one of the best books / series ever! This did not compel me. The story was just OK. Brick’s performance is stellar once again and he made it worthwhile. I didn’t mind the violence but I just did not care about the characters. They lacked a depth that really brings your interest home. I figured out many of the key elements before they happen and that is highly unusual for a GH book. I give it 4 stars, if you are a fan of Hurwitz and enjoy a great Scott Brick read, it is worth your time. If this is your first Hurwitz book, pick another one, maybe...... ORPHAN X?!!

A sad read

What a sad read this was. Gregg Hurwitz, a favorite of mine and someone who has rarely let me down, appeared to have sleepwalked through this novel. Even Scott Brick, also a favorite, was unusually subdued in his narration as if he couldn't quite get into this story either.

I won't go into the particulars of this story...you can read the summary for yourself. But you should know that while the body count is usually high in his novels, this story seemed to revel in the grisly details, including violence and the psychological torture against children. While I'm not squeamish, and I understand that Hurwitz wanted to illustrate just how villainous this particular villain is, it really was completely over-the-top...at least, it was for me. And there's always been a brilliance to his writing, which I found lacking here. He is obviously someone who does his homework, researching topics like martial arts, firearms, etc., so that when he incorporates those details they sound plausible. This story seemed chaotic and amateurish, only aimed at shocking the reader. So many of the escapades in this novel were just plain unbelievable.

I really hope he doesn't plan to turn this into a sequel. I would much rather he'd have shelved Jade Marlowe and written a fourth Orphan X novel instead. That series, along with "Don't Look Back", are, in my opinion, some examples of his finest work. I'd never have dreamed I would write a negative review of a book by this author, but here it is. Even Stephen King disappoints sometimes.

Stay Away

I really like most of Hurwitz's stuff, but this first novel of his deserves to be lost to memory. An unbelievable main character (Jade Marlow) who garners no sympathy, a cartoonish villain, geography that jumps all over the place, characters doing things just to set them up for the next plot point, and a configuration for "the tower" that would never be built by anyone for any reason, other than to be a bad plot point in a poor book. If you want to read Hurwitz, try Orphan X, The Mystery Writer, or others.

Great Narration Awful Book

The narrator does a very good job with an awful story. Every cliché you have every heard of is here. The hero is a total AH. Of course we are given the reason later but it doesn't change anything. You can see the ending coming half way through the book. If you have read anything in this genre you want find anything new that isn't awful. I was able to type this up during the climax because nothing was coming that needed concentration.

A hero that is drooled at by all women, the intelligence of the smartest person, and of course the ability to beat any number of opponents. Why? I mean does anybody know anyone like this all tied up in one package?

waste of time/money

weak effort from start to finish. I had to force my self to finish, just to make sure there wasn't something redeeming in the final chapters. There wasn't.

Not very good!

The Tower, first released in 1999, was Gregg Hurwitz first novel. I do not understand why he decided to release it in audio in 2018. While narration is superb the novel itself is a poorly written story that probably should not have been released in 1999 and certainly not in 2018..

Don't do it

There are no likeable chatacters which make it, in my case, impossible to finish. I highly recommend choosing another book.

outstanding performance by Scott Brick

This was an intense book, subject matter wise. Having said that it was probably the best book I've heard in a very long time. The story line was very artfully written and couple that with a perfect performance by Scott Brick and toy have an excellent piece of entertainment!!! 5 stars doesn't do it justice!