by Sam Garonzik
Release Date: May 7, 2024
2024 Grand Central Publishing
Hardcover ARC; 384 Pages
ISBN: 978-1538743362
ASIN: B0CH81ZN6F
Audiobook: B0CJCVS5VY
Genre: Fiction / Mystery
Source: Review copy from publisher
2 / 5 Stars
Summary
Peter Greene spends his days taking care of his
toddler, Luke; staying on the right side of The Moms in his local beach
town; and hanging out with his surf buddy, Frank. Isolated from his
former life in finance, and frustrated by his current “out of work”
existence, he worries that if he sits around the house for much longer,
his workaholic wife might start to lose patience with him. He has few
escapes aside from surfing and the love he has for his son.
But when the body of wealthy Wall Street investor Robert Townsend washes up on shore one morning, nothing about the incident makes sense to Pete, and he’s completely bewildered when the death is ruled an accidental drowning. But when he takes his concerns to the police, they ignore him—so he decides to investigate on his own. Sustained only by the unquestioning devotion of his three-year-old sidekick, Pete starts looking into Townsend’s eccentric relatives and employer, the ruthless and secretive private equity firm GDR. But has Pete deluded himself with this misguided quest for redemption? Or has he uncovered something sinister enough to risk his life, and even his family?
But when the body of wealthy Wall Street investor Robert Townsend washes up on shore one morning, nothing about the incident makes sense to Pete, and he’s completely bewildered when the death is ruled an accidental drowning. But when he takes his concerns to the police, they ignore him—so he decides to investigate on his own. Sustained only by the unquestioning devotion of his three-year-old sidekick, Pete starts looking into Townsend’s eccentric relatives and employer, the ruthless and secretive private equity firm GDR. But has Pete deluded himself with this misguided quest for redemption? Or has he uncovered something sinister enough to risk his life, and even his family?
My Thoughts
A Rough Way to Go was exactly that, rough. While the title had to do more with the death of the victim, it could aptly refer to the story line itself as it was sometimes rough reading and the dialogue made me wince quite a few times. Peter and his character development however, was one of the the stronger elements of this book, in particular his inner monologue.
So, Peter is a stay at home dad looking after his toddler son, Luke. His character was quite interesting and I was intrigued enough by him to want to know how they ended up in this small town, what happened to his career, and why he and his wife were having some difficulties. He is naturally inquisitive and when one of his buddies is discovered by the beach, he is not satisfied with the answers he gets from people as the time lines and what he knows don’t line up. And now we have the problems with the other characters in this book. For whatever reason, most of them were antagonistic towards Peter and his investigation, even when he had some good information to relay. This led to some unfortunate dialogue between characters that almost put me to sleep or made me roll my eyes. Peter’s inner monologue was quite interesting, and sometimes comical, but as soon as they opened their mouths, things went awry and I found myself rushing through those parts. Why? I don’t know. It just didn’t work, make sense, or fit the character, or something felt off.
The plot moves along at a snail’s pace, which doesn’t always bother me if the content is full of tension and makes sense, neither of which happened here. At a basic level, I could see where it was going, the author trying to make it seem so much bigger than it was, something that often happens in real life if all the conspiracy theories on social media are to be believed, so I liked what was happening, how it was made to seem more political and bigger as the story progressed, but then got turned on its head. I just didn’t necessarily like the way it was done. I also think more could have been done with some of the characters, including Pete’s wife Lauren. I’m all about reading between the lines, but sometimes I want something concrete as well. And don’t get me wrong, I love stories where the story is a lot simpler than it looks as so many books are political. I love it when an author sends you in that direction, but then it ends up being something completely different. But when it is tedious getting there, you can also lose a reader which almost happened to me.
Verdict
A Rough Way to Go actually had a lot going for it, with an interesting concept, and there were definitely flashes of good writing. Pete was a great written character and I wish the other characters had been written the same way rather than being used as tools to prevent Peter from investigating. If conflict was needed in this book, I’m sure what was happening with his wife would have been enough as she was particularly annoying and I was looking for something to happen between them. While this one was a little rough for me, I will definitely take a look at another book by this author as there was a lot of potential in his writing.
So, Peter is a stay at home dad looking after his toddler son, Luke. His character was quite interesting and I was intrigued enough by him to want to know how they ended up in this small town, what happened to his career, and why he and his wife were having some difficulties. He is naturally inquisitive and when one of his buddies is discovered by the beach, he is not satisfied with the answers he gets from people as the time lines and what he knows don’t line up. And now we have the problems with the other characters in this book. For whatever reason, most of them were antagonistic towards Peter and his investigation, even when he had some good information to relay. This led to some unfortunate dialogue between characters that almost put me to sleep or made me roll my eyes. Peter’s inner monologue was quite interesting, and sometimes comical, but as soon as they opened their mouths, things went awry and I found myself rushing through those parts. Why? I don’t know. It just didn’t work, make sense, or fit the character, or something felt off.
The plot moves along at a snail’s pace, which doesn’t always bother me if the content is full of tension and makes sense, neither of which happened here. At a basic level, I could see where it was going, the author trying to make it seem so much bigger than it was, something that often happens in real life if all the conspiracy theories on social media are to be believed, so I liked what was happening, how it was made to seem more political and bigger as the story progressed, but then got turned on its head. I just didn’t necessarily like the way it was done. I also think more could have been done with some of the characters, including Pete’s wife Lauren. I’m all about reading between the lines, but sometimes I want something concrete as well. And don’t get me wrong, I love stories where the story is a lot simpler than it looks as so many books are political. I love it when an author sends you in that direction, but then it ends up being something completely different. But when it is tedious getting there, you can also lose a reader which almost happened to me.
Verdict
A Rough Way to Go actually had a lot going for it, with an interesting concept, and there were definitely flashes of good writing. Pete was a great written character and I wish the other characters had been written the same way rather than being used as tools to prevent Peter from investigating. If conflict was needed in this book, I’m sure what was happening with his wife would have been enough as she was particularly annoying and I was looking for something to happen between them. While this one was a little rough for me, I will definitely take a look at another book by this author as there was a lot of potential in his writing.
