I’ve been impressed by Michael Gruber’s previous novels, Tropic of Night, Valley of Bones, and Night of the Jaguar. The Good Son begins with a peace conference in Pakistan that’s ambushed and the scholarly participants, including their billionaire sponsor, are held hostage. The son of one of the participants, Theo, just happens to be a member of an elite U.S. Army unit. Theo and his father concoct a scheme to get the U.S. military to rescue the hostages. However, the heart of this book is the survival strategies of Theo’s mother, one of the hostages. Sonia, knowing the culture and trained in Jungian analysis, turns herself into an interpreter of dreams of her guards. Her dream interpretations manipulate her captors and change the dynamic of the hostage crisis. Gruber always delivers unusual novels. I enjoyed The Good Son a lot. GRADE: B+
(Thanks to the North Tonawanda Public Library for providing this book.)
Yes, Gruber’s books are fascinating. No one else I know is writing plots like his. I’ll have to check this one out.
THE GOOD SON holds several surprises, Jeff. I’m sure you would enjoy this book.
My favorite book about a hostage situation is BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett. Have to check out Gruber.
Diane and her book club loved BEL CANTO, Patti. THE GOOD SON is a different kind of book, but Gruber’s amazing character of Sonia, with her dream interpretations, with astound you.
Not my kind of book, and sounds like a lot of coincidences, but a B+ from you is strangely compelling…
THE GOOD SON mixes several genres, Rick. There’s the hostage subplot, the military/spy subplot, and the historical subplot. I thought it was an ambitious novel.