Two babies left to die in an icy creak. Two boys who must fight to survive. Two men, two very different lives. One unbreakable bond.
When a twelve-year-old boy murders his tormentor in their brutal orphanage, his older brother takes the blame and runs to New York – into the heart of organized crime. Two decades later, Michael returns to North Carolina with a sentence on his head, the mob in hot pursuit and his long-lost brother in trouble of a different kind. With vast sums in play, political fortunes at risk and bodies piling up, the brothers must reunite to solve the mystery of their shared past.
Author: John Hart
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; First Edition edition (July 12, 2011)
Media type: Hardcover, Audio Book
Pages: 432 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0312380342
Publication date: 12 July 2011
Reader Review
Full meal deal
One of the things I love about John Hart is the depth of his writing. Reading a John Hart book is like having the most incredible dinner with ALL the trimmings. His characters are deep, often flawed but you become totally involved with them. In this particular story, he does get harsh and sometimes, well maybe often, bloody. But it does not stop you from wanting to know where all the little jigsaw pieces are going to fit. Every time you think you know where he is headed, he slips onto a new path. Its a love story of many facets. It is also a brutal story of horrible beginnings with people who, at the end, will still be damaged goods. They will learn to be the best they can with all that has happened to them. There is mystery. Yep, lots of it. It will keep you on your toes worrying about how this can turn out ok. But it basically does.
Each John Hart story is unique in its subject but very much the same in the good prose and depth. This is the fourth I have read and I think the most raw one. I suggest you pick up any one of his books. May I say, start with "Down River" or "The Last Child" and then graduate to "Iron House". You should be impressed . No, take that back, you WILL be impressed.
- by Susannah St Clair Foxy Loxy
A Southern Gothic Tale Of Family Woe With A Dash Of Gangster Melodrama
"Iron House," the new thriller from the estimable John Hart, is a novel loaded with brutality, violence and bloodshed. A relentlessly paced page turner, the novel whisks you from the halls of an isolated mountain orphanage to the mean streets of a lawless city to the fabulous estate of a wealthy politician. There are enough sadistic orphans, cold blooded hit men, unsavory back room machinations and unpleasant family secrets to fuel several comparable potboilers. With all this orchestrated mayhem, let's just say that "Iron House" won't win any awards for dramatic realism. It is pure escapism--albeit with a decidedly hard edge. And Hart's tale is a fantastic descent into darkness. But surprisingly, amidst all the murder and manipulations, we are served a cast of colorful characters that actually connect. At the heart of the foreboding story lies the power of familial love and the strong bonds of commitment. And despite the cards we're dealt, we all have the choice to try to make a better life.
Yes, this brutal story is also a telling exploration of regret and redemption. Despite all of the novel's violence, it is ultimately the characters yearning to break free from their various chains that delivers a powerful and emotional resonance that I wasn't really expecting. The central figure in Hart's story is a mob assassin named Michael. Having found unexpected love and joy, Michael seeks to part with his dangerous past--but it's not as easy as all that. In a blood soaked escape from the city, Michael reconnects with a disturbed brother and his influential new adoptive family in an effort to keep them safe. Still reeling from their troubled years in a state institution, the brother is facing some demons of his own as people from their collective past are turning up dead. A combination of mob retribution, southern gothic horror, and murder mystery combine to make this relentlessly entertaining.
There is no denying that Hart has a talent for his action set pieces. A torture scene as well as several exquisite gunfights really come alive with palpable tension. In truth, there's almost too much going on here. The dark family secrets are both suitably unpleasant but relatively expected. But it is in the quieter moments that "Iron House" feels the freshest and most surprising. Sequences featuring genuine tenderness really add a needed dimension to what might have been a bleak and twisted drama. But out of the heart of darkness comes light--and the novel's hopefulness strikes a real emotional chord. I wished for even a few more of these in-depth moments. Not for the squeamish or faint of heart, this is an easy recommendation for fans of action thrillers. When the momentum is at a frenzied pitch, it is near impossible to put the book down. KGHarris, 6/11.
- by K. Harris "Film aficionado"
Damaged children, broken adults
When I read the product description for "Iron House" on Amazon I thought it seemed a little clichéd, the mob enforcer who finds love and seeks to break out of his old life, but can't because the mob won't let him go. He finds himself on the run with the woman he loves, who, of course, has no idea who he really is because he has been lying to her ever since he met her. I decided to give it a shot for two reasons; the first is the excellent reputation of John Hart. The second is the creepy, Southern Gothic atmosphere it looked like the book would deliver.
Well, the book does deliver. "Iron House" is consistently interesting, smoothly written, and has a variety of, for the most part, well-drawn characters . I did think the book would center more on the relationship between the two brothers, Julian and Michael, so I was a bit disappointed that Julian himself is missing for much of the book.
There were elements of this book I really enjoyed, and it always held my interest. However, and I know my opinion is in the minority here, I c an only give it three stars. One of the main reasons is for the scenes where the torture inflicted on characters is graphically detailed. Yes, I expected darkness in this book, but how the author chooses to depict it makes a big difference to the reader. For me, it went too far. In the end, it all seemed excessive; too many deaths and too much craziness. I also got tired of reading about the obscene amount of money some of the characters had at their disposal. I would like to have had some hint that Michael was at least going to try to do some good with the money, especially since it was basically ill-gotten gains. I also thought the last two chapters should have been left out of the book. For me, Michael and Julian's last visit to Iron House was a satisfying and proper ending. I imagine a lot of readers will disagree with me on this, but I would have preferred the Michael and Elena storyline to have ended on an ambiguous note. I won't be more specific, because I don't want to spoil anything, but the last chapter did not sit right with me and, in fact, seemed kind of silly.
Judging by the reviews already written for "Iron House," most readers seem to really like it. I just had too many problems with it to rate it any higher.
- by Carla Lilie "carlachris"
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