An Honest Man

February 1, 2023

Regarded fearfully on Salvation Point Island for having killed his father a decade previously, lobsterman Israel Pike is an obvious suspect when he discovers seven murdered men (including two feuding senators) aboard a yacht. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Lyman Rankin seeks shelter from an alcoholic father in a seemingly empty house where he encounters a scary woman with a hatchet. Watch the masterly Koryta pull those plotlines together. With a 60,00-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 29, 2023
At the beginning of this superb thriller from Edgar winner Koryta (Those Who Wish Me Dead), recently paroled killer Israel Pike discovers seven murdered men on a yacht adrift near the small island of Salvation Point, Maine. Despite a lack of evidence, Sterling Pike, Israel’s uncle and the island’s sole police deputy, immediately blames his nephew, who was convicted of murdering his own father 15 years earlier. Sterling, who fancies himself the island’s de facto ruler, builds a case against Israel while receiving pushback from FBI agent Jenn Salazar, who’s been assigned to the investigation. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Lyman Rankin escapes the wrath of his abusive, alcoholic father and decamps to an abandoned house, where he’s confronted by a hatchet-wielding woman who’s also seeking shelter. Koryta seamlessly stitches the two stories together with white-knuckle action and strong character development: the novel’s potency comes from the parallels between Israel and Lyman, each the products of brutal homes who are determined not to repeat their fathers’ cruelty. Koryta’s atmospheric prose is a treat, too, tempering Maine’s natural beauty with hints of the island’s corruption: “The sea was calm but the air was uneasy, too warm, too still.” This is top-tier suspense. Agent: Richard S. Pine, InkWell Management.

June 1, 2023
Two male victims of parental abuse and two female victims of sex trafficking converge on a small island off the coast of Maine following the killing of seven men on a yacht. Israel Pike, having served 15 years in prison for killing his abusive father, becomes a prime suspect in the yacht murders after discovering the bodies, which include those of two candidates for U.S. Senate. Running off to hide from his own brutal father, 12-year-old Lyman Rankin discovers a frightened young woman lying low in a former neighbor's abandoned house. She proves to have a crucial connection to the killings. The odds of anyone good coming out of this mess alive, or anyone bad getting punished for their deeds, are not high. The island, Salvation Point, is controlled by Israel's uncle, Sterling, a corrupt deputy sheriff who owns half the town and, along with his late brother, was involved in running underage girls up and down the East Coast. One of their early victims was 14-year-old Jenn Salazar, now a state cop with a secret agenda. There's a whole lot of abuse going on here--more than one novel can comfortably contain. The twin narratives can get pretty schematic. But having written two of his previous three novels under the pseudonym Scott Carson, Koryta seems recharged by the dark human themes, the stormy coastal setting (no crime writer makes more of the great outdoors), and the ugly politics. As in real life, the upcoming election here has great significance to the nation. Having created memorable outsize villains in such books as The Prophet (2012) and Those Who Wish Me Dead (2014), Koryta chills the air with smaller-than-life bad guys. A strong effort by one of crime fiction's go-to writers.

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Starred review from May 1, 2023
When Israel Pike is paroled from prison, he returns to the place he's least welcome, tiny Salvation Point Island. After all, who would trust a man who killed his own father? Israel is driven to root out the evil that he's seen there, backed by an informant deal he made with the state police. Unfortunately, that deal falls short when Israel discovers seven bodies, two of them rival Senate hopefuls, in an unmoored yacht. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Lyman seeks refuge from his father's alcohol-fueled beatings and finds that a terrified, wounded, hatchet-wielding woman has occupied his hideout. Lyman doesn't know where she came from, but he knows her fear too well, and vows to hide her from the "bad men." Israel's power-hungry uncle, the island's only cop, tries to pin the yacht murders on him, and his deal with the state police turns out to be less bulletproof than he'd thought, forcing Israel to unmask the island's trafficking ring sooner rather than later. Koryta, a regular on awards lists, rewards readers with his trademark shadowy mood and perfectly calibrated suspense in this stand-alone. They'll also find haunting symbolism, expert character development, and realistically imperfect redemption arcs as the author plays the sea's healing gifts and dangers against those of Salvation Point to make this Koryta's best yet.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 1, 2023

Koryta's (Those Who Wish Me Dead) suspense and story move along at a brisk pace in his latest, whose titular honest man is Israel Pike. Within the first pages, Israel finds seven men shot to death on a yacht drifting in the ocean off a small island in Maine. He is immediately considered a suspect, especially by his uncle, the deputy sheriff of Salvation Island. Fifteen years ago, Israel killed his own father during an argument, and his uncle arrested him on the spot. Israel had been out of prison for only a few months when he found the bodies. It appears that Israel is withholding a secret as he works with state police major crime unit's Jenn Salazar. Meanwhile, a boy named Lyman Rankin, hiding out on a nearby island, finds a woman squatting in an abandoned house. She is holding a hatchet, has terrible wounds on her feet, and has a pile of blood-soaked money. As in his other novels, Kortya's characters evoke feelings of sympathy, anger, and joy. Readers will stay engaged until the end. VERDICT Fans of Lee and Lincoln Child and of Koryta's previous works will enjoy his new offering.--Jason L. Steagall

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.