The Return: A Novel

Michael Gruber’s The Return is the literary equivalent of a Sergio Leone western. A larger than life protagonist, well-defined and interesting characters and a landscape that really comes to life.

Gruber manages to flesh out a large number of characters while still leaving them with enough mystery that you don’t entirely figure them out until the end of the book, if then. Richard Marder is a fascinating character and protagonist. A gun-owning New York book editor who is former Air Force who served in Viet Nam along with a tough as nails Marine(Skelly).

Once Marder is diagnosed with a terminal condition (no spoiler here, it’s revealed on the first page), he decides to head to the birthplace of his now-deceased wife and take care of show more some unfinished business. Along the way his former Marine buddy decides to join him and, unexpectedly, his daugher. The motives of all of these characters, as well as the criminals, drug lords, government and army personnel and natives at their destination in Mexico are murky and difficult to fathom. This is part of the genius of this book. There is plenty of action, and a lot of maneuvering and preparing for the larger conflict, but you are constantly wary of everyone’s motives and trying to figure out who is the manipulator and who is the manipulated.

Richard Marder's magnetic personality and knowing that he is going to die is liberating and makes him plausibly fearless. Episodes from Marder and Skelly’s time in Viet Nam are interspersed and add depth to the story as well as shine a light on their personalities and friendship. The conclusion of the book is both realistic and satisfying.

Michael Gruber is a talented writer and The Return is a cut above your ordinary thriller. Highly recommended. show less

There are preconceptions associated with what makes a thriller. If you took two minutes time to scribble out some of those ideas and conventions, what would populate your list? Short punchy chapters—certainly, it is a physical representation and motivation for you to keep turning pages. A protagonist who has his burdened backstory spooned out in quippy expositional asides by supporting characters—or by an interior monologue. There are supporting characters that serve plot and not much else. There is typically an awkward, transitional sex scenes that indicate the story is heading towards its literary climax—written in a fumbling manner as the author tries to straddle erotica/romance/servicing the plot territory. Women characters show more flit around the story either as stoic superwomen or flighty bimbettes that only provide surface titillation. Perhaps most obvious of all, thrillers exist as empty caloric reading. They provide a lot of excitement, but simply just do not say anything. The Return—shatters all of those ideas, while making you wonder why more thrillers do not attempt this more often.
Michael Gruber pulls off a seemingly impossible task of crafting a literary thriller that sidesteps esotericism and rather, is accessible, daring, unnerving, and insightful—provided you know where to look. Anytime a thriller takes time to contemplate on issues of identity, memory, nostalgia, redemption, the emotional weight of guilt, and shining a light on the thorny bramble of socio-political-economic status of Mexico, while never forgetting to be entertaining and compelling is a book that demands attention. Gruber takes his time with the story, even while the plot furiously trucks along. The exposition in the novel is deftly handled and no better example exists than in the pages involving a bedroom. The chapters breathe and give the reader time to move around in the space that Gruber describes in tantalizing detail. Further regarding detail—do not read sections of this book in between meals, Gruber’s description of Mexican folk cuisine puts certain food writers to shame. The Return is almost equal parts nail biting and mouthwatering.
Characterization is king in The Return. In a time where serial thrillers doll out information about their protagonists in only a scant few paragraphs stretched over several novels—Gruber gives a reader realized, colored in characters. Even in the details that a reader does not get regarding a character, it is not distracting or aggravating—it comes off as human makes a reader want to dig deeper into the world Gruber shapes. The protagonist is flawed as most protagonist of the genre are, but here it feels like an earned disgruntlement that elevates beyond simple plot mechanics. The supporting characters actually enrich the narrative and enhance both the main character and story in unexpected refreshing ways. The Return could be confused for a standard, rote page turner beach read, but with characters as honed as the ones a reader meets in the novel—you are reminded that it is something more than just a mindless thrill ride.
The Return is a novel that has a wide appeal. It is commercial and it is literary. Its imagery is penetrating and its details haunting. It is a story that English majors can dissect craft and Sociology majors can delve into ramifications of the story could have on the world at large. The book has the hallmarks of a Michael Bay movie and a Terrance Malik film. It is one of those rare blockbuster stories that prove to the other genre writers that you can introduce style and substance of great caliber and the audience will follow. The Return is a must-read for anyone seeking a provocative, quality reading experience. show less

Gruber does it again, with another complex and intelligent thriller mixing suspense with elements of mysticism.

Richard Mardor is a Vietnam vet, respected book editor, widower, and, unrecognized even to himself, something of a Catholic mystic. When he is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor he wraps up his business, touches base with loved ones to let them know he's going on an extended trip, and heads to Mexico to exact revenge on the people who drove his wife to suicide. His rather mysterious black ops friend Skelly joins him, and they head to the coastal area in which Mardor's wife grew up, where Mardor has bought an island and house right in the middle of drug war territory. Soon Mardor's engineer daughter tracks him down, and show more the three of them proceed to anger just about every violent element in the area as they play them off against each other. Mardor has asked the squatters on the island to stay, and Skelly arms and trains them to protect their new home.

Interspersed in this narrative is the tale of Mardor's time in Vietnam and Laos, working for Skelly and experiencing a miraculous occurrence which he reveals to people in his life only now. His brain tumor increasingly grips him in flashbacks of incredible reality, and his friendship with the local priest and re-immersion into Mexican language and culture lead him to accept more and more the concept of "no importa madre": basically, “accept the things you cannot change”. As battle approaches, loyalties are tested and revelations made which bring the novel to a very satisfying conclusion.

Highly recommended! show less

The great thing about Michael Gruber is that his prose is vibrant and exciting. He is a talented writer who can really focus you on a subject and hold your attention. In his previous books I have read ("Forgery of Venus" and "Book of Air and Shadows") the plot matched his prose in exciting ways. Unfortunately in his latest book "The Return" that was not the case. While his prose is still great and exciting, the plot itself was not. It seemed to meander and lack focus. The majority of the book I felt that there was no really purpose for the plot, no end game for the characters. And it wasn't until the last few pages that he seemed to suddenly come up with one and it felt tacked on. Still a fun read, but not up to par for a talented show more writer like Gruber. show less

Rick Marder is a man with one foot in the grave when he decides to take his millions and his wife's ashes back to her home in Mexico. He buys a large estate and proceeds to choose sides and buy influence with the warring drug lords. Marder also sets up a society in his colonia where the people have responsibilities and opportunities. It is at this point that the book got really good for me. I loved the contrast between Marder and Skelly and was drawn to the intelligent but reserved Carmel.

Drug wars, flashbacks to Vietnam, Mexican culture and vengeance all combine in this thrill ride. The pages started to turn more rapidly as I raced toward the finish to discover the outcome.

I am not sure I'll be able to 'return' to this book. I'm 1/2 way through and don't really want to read the rest. It's a hollow book with little mystery to the plot or the characters. Usually with Gruber you get something a little beyond the bounds of reality, a smattering of the unreal and inexplicable. I like that. With this it's all Rambo all the time and frankly, I'm bored.

In The Return, Rick Marder has just recently found that he's got a Thing in his brain that could burst and kill him at any moment. So he decides to take off for Mexico where long ago he met his now deceased wife - to make some things right in his life before going on. Of course, Rick isn't just the mild-mannered book editor everyone knows. He's also a former in-country special ops type while in Vietnam, as well as lucky enough to have invested in Apple early on. So when the local drug gangs involve him in their war, he and his Army buddy Skelly have more than enough resources to take care of themselves.

Normally, this sort of thing would be right up my alley, and after the first couple of chapters I had high hopes. But frankly, it moves show more at a crawl. And while I expect thrillers of this sort to be wildly improbable, The Return is just too, too much so. I think Skelly could disappear for a bit, then show up with an Apollo moon capsule if needed.

Meh. show less