The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley

By: Hannah Tinti

Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley

Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

A father protects his daughter from the legacy of his past - and the truth about her mother's death - in this thrilling new novel from the prize-winning author of The Good Thief.

After years spent living on the run, Samuel Hawley moves with his teenage daughter, Loo, to Olympus, Massachusetts. There, in his late wife's hometown, Hawley finds work as a fisherman, while Loo struggles to fit in at school and grows curious about her mother's mysterious death. Haunting them both are twelve scars Hawley carries on his body, from twelve bullets in his criminal past - a past that eventually spills over into his daughter's present, until together they must face a reckoning yet to come. This father-daughter epic weaves back and forth through time and across America, from Alaska to the Adirondacks. Both a coming-of-age novel and a literary thriller, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley explores what it means to be a hero, and the cost we pay to protect the people we love most.

©2017 Hannah Tinti (P)2017 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved

Sometimes the bad guy has a family

This was an interesting book.

I like books that tell stories where I learn things...like what a clepsydra does. However, while lots of investigating probably went on for parts of the book, the plot was a little far fetched.

I grew to like some of the characters, but I never really understood why Hawley did what he did and how there was kind of this general normalization and acceptance of his criminal past--but I guess that is the point. Bad guys sometime have a family and love their daughter.

The ending also didn't make sense to me. I'd have preferred for the universe to right itself in some way.

The performance was good. I enjoyed the narrator's range to cover all the characters. Her performance kept me in the scenes the book painted.

I don't know if I would recommend the book, but I could definitely see it being a really good movie...in the vein of Come Hell of High Water, which I enjoyed.

Even bad guys have redeeming qualities.

Sam Hawley made lots of money doing bad things. Then he lost his wife. He struggles to redeem himself by keeping their daughter safe and raising her to be smart and strong. Their relationship is surprisingly touching. The organization of the book alternates between Sam's story, told one gunshot wound at a time, and his daughter, Lu's. Both voices are compelling.

hannah tinti is amazing

her stories are never boring, I will read everything she writes.good narrator. I will share it.

Well written and action packed

I enjoyed this book, and I think it would appeal to men and sportsmen. The writing is one of the best parts! At first, I could quite understand where the author was headed so I read a review/background research and found it is based on Hercules. I was fully on board after knowing then structure.

Odd choice for narrator

This book is about a young teenage girl and her father, but the narrator sounds like a mature woman. It was hard to get into the story because the narrator did not seem to fit in with the story at all. I know that sounds petty, but it was a really random distraction for me in this book.

Very good book

It's a partial love story with quite a bit of violence to go along with it. It captures the story of one man's life before and after his daughter was born and then they meet at the end and everything comes together. I really enjoyed it.

Love, love, love

I love this story, the father daughter adventure and the unconventional hero and love story. Love, love, love.

What?

That was a very long ‘read’ without a satisfying conclusion. A good story but I am disappointed

Simply one of the best books I've ever read.

I had both the book and the audible editions. If ever there was a book that deserved to be made into a movie this is the one. Brilliant writing and performance. I am a voracious reader and this book made me sad when I was finished. Not because of the story but because I didn't want the story to stop. If Hannah had written 300 more pages I would have read them. Perfect book. Perfect story. Every reader should grab this book immediately.

Great listen in ~1 hr segments

I had a 1-1.5 hr commute, and each chapter fit nicely into that time period. An engaging story, performed well, that made for easy listening.