“THE UNWILLING”

By John Hart

St. Martin’s Press ($27.99)

If your idea of a good beach read, even if the beach is a wading pool in your backyard, includes graphic descriptions of violence, serial murder and non-stop action, then make sure to plunk down in your lounge chair with John Hart’s “The Unwilling.” Set in the 1972 version of Charlotte, N.C., when USAir was not even a twinkle in the town’s eye, “The Unwilling” begins with native son Jason French’s return from prison following his dishonorable discharge from the Marines during his third tour in Vietnam.

Jason has a heroin addiction, a reputation for violence and a chip on his shoulder so mammoth that it can be seen from the top of the quarry, where local teenage boys go to prove their machismo by taking a 16-story dive down to the icy waters below. Jason’s parents are unwilling to welcome him back into the family fold, but his younger brother Gibby, 18 and on the verge of high school graduation and possibly his own entry into the Vietnam War, is eager to reconnect. The parents worry that no good can come of this reunion, and they are right.

Mayhem and murders ensue. Jason and Gibby are each implicated and must use all their skills and cunning to save themselves and each other. They are up against an evil genius of a villain, known simply as X, who is always several steps ahead of the brothers even as he languishes in solitary confinement, awaiting his execution. X is unrelenting, and it remains to be seen whether the brothers can thwart his violence-laden schemes.

“The Unwilling” does not break new ground. It is written in the tried-and-true style of crime novels: lean and mean prose, often clipped sentences, heavy on plot and action. Prison “guards liked beatings; prisoners liked a riot.” The good protagonists are conflicted; the bad ones are misunderstood and have secret veins of gold running through their hearts. Because it takes place in the early 1970s, “The Unwilling” references the slang and national conflicts of the era. It also leans on at least one of the tropes of ‘70s crime novels: Men are men, with adventurous tales to tell and important thoughts to think; girls, excuse me, women, are more or less window dressing.

The story is told from multiple points of view, all male or third person. The point-of-view jumps, often within the same chapter, can be jarring, but these guys all have a lot going on. Jason’s dad is a police officer and torn between his duties as a cop and his conflicted loyalty to his sons: the good one, the bad one and the one killed in the war. Jason is trying to survive, and no one understands him. Gibby is at the threshold of manhood and has important decisions to make about what it means to be a man, brother and son. Gibby’s best friend, impoverished, loyal Chance, struggles with similar manhood issues but with his own unique anguish.

For a novel that is action heavy, the characters are surprisingly well-defined. Dad’s parental distress at the return of prodigal son Jason is understandable. Gibby’s admiration for his older brother feels real: “Indian summer. Killing frost. Jason had both of those things inside, and they could trade places plenty fast.”

Jason’s emotional shutdown, following war atrocities and drug addiction, is a believable cliché. Secondary characters also fare well, from Mom’s unrealistic world view to Chance’s struggle with how to be a man in a violent world.

First and foremost, though, “The Unwilling” is an action novel. Tension starts to build on page two when a known stranger saunters into town. By page five, tension has morphed into danger. After that, the pace only accelerates. Because readers know from the outset that Jason, and then Gibby are wrongly accused of murder, abductions and the like, and because they are sympathetic characters, the reader is invested in their vindication, if it ever arrives, from the first chapter through the final epilogue. “The Unwilling” is not a novel to over-analyze; just grab a cold one, head out to the water and enjoy the chase.

Susan Pearlstein is a Pittsburgh attorney who volunteers at the Carnegie Free Library of Swissvale

First Published: July 28, 2020, 3:06 p.m.