The Survivor

Nate Overbay, ready to end his cannot-be-won battle with ALS, prepares to jump from the eleventh-story ledge of the First Union Bank of Southern California. But gunshots from inside the bank derail his plan; Nate steps through a window into the carnage and ends up the hero of the day.

But the mastermind of the heist, thwarted in his efforts to retrieve a vital item, presents Nate with an execrable ultimatum. Nate will get the item Ukrainian mobster Pavlo Shevchenko wants or his estranged wife, Janie, and teenaged daughter, Cielle, will suffer slow, harrowing deaths. Can Nate deal with his PTSD, the relentless advancement of his ALS symptoms, and his need to secure this item at all costs, before his time runs out?

Nate’s struggles with show more himself, with the disease, and with the steps he must take to protect those he loves more than life itself combine to create a compulsive, gritty, violent, propulsive tale. The unfolding narrative exposes layer after layer of unexpected twists in a tale of moral dilemma, agonizing adversity, and hard-won triumph. Well-drawn characters and non-stop action make this book one readers are sure to find unputdownable. Don’t miss it.

Highly recommended. show less

Nate Overbay had the perfect life. He was married to the woman of his dreams, had a good job, a beautiful daughter, a nice home, and good friends. All of that changed after his return from his military service after 9/11. His best friend died, he's suffering from extreme PTSD, he's lost his job, and he doesn't know how to fix things with his wife, Janie, and daughter, Cielle. Fast forward ten years and Nate is estranged from his wife and daughter. The divorce is almost final and only requires his signature of the final papers. He has a new job as a Professional Crisis Responder with the LAPD, and he's been diagnosed with ALS. Nate decides that rather than have his wife, and he continues to think of Janie as his wife, and daughter Cielle show more watch his slow decline, he'd rather kill himself. So off he goes to the 11th floor of the First Union Bank and climbs out on a ledge, but just when he's ready to jump, six robbers enter the bank, killing several people. Nate goes out on a metaphorical ledge when he decides to stop the robbers as they antagonize a mother and threaten to kill a small child. His heroic efforts save the lives of the remaining bank customers and workers, but now Nate's life literally hangs by a thread as he has thwarted the wants of a notorious Eastern European mobster.

Nate is in a race to beat the clock, as he's been allowed five days to retrieve the information he stopped the robbers from obtaining or he may be forced to see his family, Janie and Cielle, killed. Nate must be as unnoticed as possible while attempting this task because he has become a person-of-interest to the FBI. Agent Abara knows that there is more going on than Nate is telling him, and he isn't sure if the lies of omission and commission are directly or indirectly related to the bank robbery. Nate also has to deal with the watchful eye of Yuri, sent by Pavlo, to keep Nate in check. As Nate struggles with the task assigned by Pavlo, he decides to confront Janie and tell her everything that is going on. As time winds down on Nate's deadline, Pavlo decides to show Nate that he isn't joking about his threats to Janie and Cielle. After an attack on his family, Nate must decide how to proceed. Is it possible for him to outsmart not only the FBI but also Pavlo and his gang? Can he do all of this even though his ALS symptoms are getting worse?

Mr. Hurwitz has provided a smart, suspense-thriller with The Survivor. It isn't possible to dislike Nate, even though he has pushed himself away from his family. There are times when I felt sorry for Nate and all of the things he has had to deal with: the death of his mother at a young age, an alcoholic and emotionally distant father, the Gulf War, the death of his best friend Charlie, his PTSD leading to the estrangement from his wife and child, and his diagnosis of ALS. Nate never sees himself as a hero and feels guilty for all of the harm he's brought to the people that he loves. Most of his guilt is centered on the fact that he did "nothing" when a bomb was left on the helicopter overseas. His buddy Charlie throws himself onto the bag containing the bomb and saves the lives of Nate and others. Even though Nate was able to free Charlie from the debris of the wreckage, Charlie dies from his injuries with Nate by his side. These moments provide the reader with glimpses of who Nate really is as a man. Even Janie and Cielle are able to forgive him from running away from them when the PTSD was really bad, and they are willing to work with Nate to thwart the bad guys.

There's a lot of action, past and present, in The Survivor, and all are realistic. All of the characters, even the bad guys, are wholly believable. Nate may not consider himself to be a hero, but he's definitely one in the eyes of his family and to this reader. I felt sorrow, anger, and even fear while reading this story and never once did anything feel unrealistic or implausible. If you're looking for a well-crafted suspense thriller to read, then look no further. The Survivor is a great read and one that should be added to your to-be-read list as soon as possible. Just in case you couldn’t tell, I really enjoyed this story. show less

'The Survivor' was my second Gregg Hurwitz novel. The first was 'Orphan X', the thriller that made Gregg Hurwitz's reputation and launched a hugely popular series. It was a well-written example of a male wish fulfilment fantasy, where the reader plays the tough, competent hero in a world where problems can be solved with violence and sacrifice, women need to be rescued and bad people need to be killed. 'The Survivor', a standalone thriller published four years earlier, has some similar traits but the hero, while competent, is deeply damaged emotionally and it's not nearly as well-written.

I loved how 'The Survivor' started. Our hero, Nate, is standing on the ledge of a tall building, summoning the courage to step off and fall to his show more death, when he hears gunshots and with, nothing left to lose, decides to intervene. The tension was high. The descriptions worked. I was hooked.

The initial action was followed by flashbacks to key moments in Nate's life. They'd work well as a movie montage and had some original touches but the text felt a little thin - too much of précis of a life rather than a shared experience of it.

For me, the central problem with the novel was that the well-written, clever, action-packed, thrilling plot kept being sandbagged by poorly-written, annoyingly maudlin passages explaining what a mess Nate's life was and how bad he felt about it all. I could see that Nate's experiences should be what powered the story. They are what brought him to that ledge, ready to jump and what motivates him to risk his life when his family is threatened. Unfortunately, while there were flashes of things that felt real about Nate's relationships, they were almost lost pace-killing passages when Nate wallowed in self-pity, grief and guilt. He had good reason to be self-pitying but I found the sentimental way in which the grief and guilt were treated annoying.

I kept reading because the plot was clever, the situation was unusual, the baddies were both scary and believable, the time pressure was tight and, nearly halfway through the book, I had no idea how Nate would save the day and whether he'd survive.

The problem was that I was reading to see how the plot would work out rather than because I cared about Nate. I ought to have been having fun. Instead, I was running the audiobook at x1.5 speed to get through the sentimentality and the clumsy descriptions of emotions.

I realised, five hours into the book, that I didn't want to spend another eight hours wading through the prose to see how the plot worked, so I set the book aside.

When it comes to Gregg Hurwitz novels, I'll stick to the Orphan X books from now on. show less

This book is incredibly good! I have quickly become a huge fan of Gregg Hurwitz and want to read everything he has written. The Survivor immediately surprised me with the emotional weight the story holds. I often felt physically heavy while reading about Nate Overbay’s tragic life events. It might seem strange to have immensely enjoyed that feeling, but it just illustrated the talented writing of Hurwitz.

The Survivor opens with Nick Overbay climbing out a bathroom window in a bank on the 11th floor, preparing to end his life. At the same time, a group of menacing gunmen enters the bank and starts shooting employees and customers. Nick applies his military training to confront the gunmen and end their terrorizing robbery. One man is show more able to escape, and as he departs, he warns Nick that he will pay for his interference. Nick does pay. Seriously. He is kidnapped by the Ukrainian mobster Pavlo, who orchestrated the bank robbery, and is given an ultimatum to finish the bank job or watch Pavlo kill those closest to him.

Those closest to Nick are his estranged wife, Janie, and teenage daughter, Cielle. Nick joined the ROTC to pay for his college education. Unfortunately, he was called to serve in the Iraq War when Cielle was very young. Nick returned home suffering from a serious case of PTSD that contributed to the demise of his relationships with Janie and Cielle. A diagnosis of ALS has pushed Nick beyond his limits, which led him to the 11th floor ledge of the bank. Now, with Pavlo’s ultimatum, Nick has one last opportunity to protect his family.

Hurwitz structures the story so the reader learns everything about Nick Overbay’s life. While there’s so much sadness about Nick’s upbringing, there’s a beautiful story about how Nick and Janie met and the picture-perfect life they built. More tragedy occurs when Nick is deployed to serve in the war. Then the diagnosis of ALS. The suspension and tension builds as Nick navigates the Ukrainian mobsters. It’s an action-packed story, as well as emotional, from beginning to end. I loved every minute of it!

I purchased the audiobook of The Survivor with my Audible membership. Narration by Scott Brick is pure perfection! He’s one of my favorite audiobook narrators.

I have photos, videos, and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog show less

This was a very pleasant surprise - it's an action packed action novel with a very human main character who has very human problems. He is not a superman out there to save the world (his world); he isn't even sure he can save himself... but he does it anyway. He is scarred and troubled, and haunted by his past. PTSD is in full flight here. And it's a destructive flight.

The main character is well developed and his relationships and motivations all make sense. The villain is a bit extreme, of course, but this is fundamentally a fast paced action novel and deserving of a super-bad guy for our hero to overcome.

No parapeito de uma janela de banheiro no 11º andar do First Union Bank, Nate só tem mais um objetivo na vida - reunir a coragem necessária para saltar e acabar com os seus problemas.De repente, ele ouve tiros dentro do banco e, ao espiar o que está acontecendo, vê uma cena terrível - criminosos mascarados disparando cruelmente em qualquer um que se coloque em seu caminho. Enquanto sustenta o olhar de uma mulher agonizante, Nate toma uma decisão. Lançando mão de seu treinamento militar, ele consegue render e matar todo o grupo, exceto o seu líder. Antes de escapar, o homem deixa claro que ele se arrependerá de seu ato heroico. Ele está certo. Em poucos dias, Nate é sequestrado pela mafia ucraniana e recebe uma ameaça - show more precisa voltar ao banco e concluir a tarefa que os bandidos não puderam cumprir. Do contrário, sua ex-mulher - pela qual ainda é apaixonado - e a filha adolescente, que não o reconhece mais como pai, serão brutalmente assassinadas. Enquanto o tempo corre de maneira implacável e o prazo de Nate se aproxima do fim, ele luta não só para salvar as duas da morte, mas também para recuperar sua confiança e seu amor. show less

Action packed action novel with a very human main character who has very human problems...somewhat overdone at times. There were several subplots and twists as the novel went on; it could have quit at many points. The characters are pretty believable, except for a few errors. I liked the book and it listened well.