Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Prophet
    Unavailable
    The Prophet
    Unavailable
    The Prophet
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Prophet

    Written by Michael Koryta

    Narrated by Robert Petkoff

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Adam Austin hasn't spoken to his brother in years. When they were teenagers, their sister was abducted and murdered, and their devastated family never recovered. Now Adam keeps to himself, scraping by as a bail bondsman, working so close to the town's criminal fringes that he sometimes seems a part of them. Kent Austin is the beloved coach of the local high school football team, a religious man and hero in the community. After years of near misses, Kent's team has a shot at the state championship, a welcome point of pride in a town that has had its share of hardships. Just before playoffs begin, the town and the team are thrown into shock when horrifically, impossibly, another teenage girl is found murdered. As details emerge that connect the crime to the Austin brothers, the two must confront their buried rage and grief-and unite to stop a killer. Michael Koryta, widely hailed as one of the most exciting young thriller authors at work today, has written his greatest novel ever-an emotionally harrowing, unstoppably suspenseful novel that Donald Ray Pollock has called "one of the sharpest and superbly plotted crime novels I've read in my life."
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateAug 7, 2012
    ISBN9781619692305
    Unavailable
    The Prophet
    Author

    Michael Koryta

    Michael Koryta is the New York Times bestselling author of fourteen novels. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages and has won or been nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Edgar Award, Shamus Award, Barry Award, Quill Award, International Thriller Writers Award and the Golden Dagger.

    More audiobooks from Michael Koryta

    Related to The Prophet

    Related audiobooks

    Thrillers For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Terrifying Bombings Leave Cracks In Austin's Facade Of Cool

      Mar 25, 2018

      The string of attacks on the weirdness-loving Texas capital served to confirm that Austin rapidly has grown past the small town it once was, and surfaced memories of past dark incidents and attitudes.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Aussie Underbelly

      Oct 30, 2022

      An unsolved murder is central to the plot of All That’s Left Unsaid, but it’s so much more than a crime thriller. Family and friendship, the immigrant experience, racism and perfectionism are all themes that are explored within the pages of this rela

      3 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Ohlin, Adrian, Jin, and More

      Jul 27, 2021

      Our own Thom Beckwith takes a look as some notable books publishing this week. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Ohlin, Adrian, Jin, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Mar 26, 2019

      Letters
      3 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Evans, Lethem, Atwood, and More

      Nov 10, 2020

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new titles from the likes of Danielle Evans, Jonathan Lethem, and Margaret Atwood—that are publishing this week. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Evans, Lethem, Atwood, and More appeared first on Th

      3 min read

    • Article

      How We REMEMBER

      Jun 16, 2021

      How We REMEMBER
      10 min read

    • Article

      Five Novels By Black Writers Pulse With Powerful Storytelling

      Feb 1, 2024

      Great books can change lives; they have changed mine. My favorite authors include writers of every hue, but what baffles me is that the work of Black writers seems to get highlighted only during Black History Month. Great prose is for every reader, a

      5 min read

    • Article

      To Be African American Is To Be Perpetually Exhausted By Race

      Aug 4, 2019

      Ed has had enough. "I'm simply tired, tired and tired of hearing about race," he wrote last month in an email. He signed himself a "former racist" and in a postscript, wanted me to know that he used to have "a black friend" with whom he ate breakfast

      2 min read

    • Article

      Whether Good News Or Bad, Northern Sierra Readers Can Always Blame The Messenger

      Jan 7, 2019

      DOWNIEVILLE, Calif. - The editor-publisher of California's oldest weekly newspaper has rules for his publication: No children on the front page ("I loathe children"). No beauty pageants. No online presence. "As long as I'm running it, it's on pulp, p

      5 min read

    • Article

      What A Hate Crime Looks Like

      Mar 29, 2019

      Here's how you know a hate crime. The act leaves a stain, a wretched taint that festers and ferments through generations. It's a toxicity born from the hate. And no amount of criminal prosecution, spiritual cleansing or dramatic gestures of forgivene

      3 min read

    • Article

      What To Read

      Jul 29, 2022

      By HAYLEY SCRIVENOR Pan Macmillan Twelve-year-old best friends Esther and Ronnie leave school together one Friday in their small Australian town, but after they part ways only one of them reaches her home. Sydney missing-person police experts Sarah

      3 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Chin, Murray, and More

      Aug 10, 2021

      This week, we're eyeing new titles from YZ Chin and Sabina Murray. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Chin, Murray, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Reviews

      Jan 22, 2021

      When Kay Willingham is found half naked in her idling convertible behind a private school in Washington DC, it creates a stir. For with the ex-wife of the vice-president is the principal of the school and he’s also in a very compromising position. Bo

      1 min read

    • Article

      She Had A ‘Cool’ Childhood Babysitter. Four Decades Later, She Learnt He Was A Serial Killer

      Mar 23, 2021

      The first time Liza Rodman’s babysitter, Tony Costa, took her to his “secret garden”, she was puzzled. At the age of nine, she considered herself a garden connoisseur. Her farmer grandfather had taught her how to grow tomatoes and lettuce, among othe

      5 min read

    • Article

      Off The Shelf

      Mar 11, 2020

      When three septuagenarian women and an incontinent dog get together to clean out their recently deceased friend’s home and prepare it for sale, there’s an inevitable stocktake of their lives. Charlotte Wood brings an unflinching gaze to the sadness o

      2 min read

    • Article

      Is ‘Persuasion’ The Jane Austen Story We All Need Right Now?

      Sep 17, 2021

      How relevant is the work of Jane Austen to a society making its way through a pandemic – and a racial reckoning?

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Kansas Literary Renaissance: A List

      Jan 23, 2018

      Kansas is experiencing a literary renaissance. The post The Kansas Literary Renaissance: A List appeared first on The Millions.

      4 min read

    Reviews for The Prophet

    3.5/5

    156 ratings25 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      When I started this book, I thought I was in for a long, uninteresting read because the "soundtrack," if you will, of this story is football. And I am not a football girl. I was a cheerleader, but I didn't give a crap about the home team. I wanted to wear the cute outfit. So I jumped when the other girls jumped and I clapped when they clapped -- not caring one bit if we won or lost all those Friday night games.So, I start reading about a community with 2 dead girls and deep roots in football and as the story unfolds, we're given detailed plays and drills and formations along with information about the tragedies -- and I was hooked. Mr. Koryta deftly took a book heavy with football stuff and made it a story that I cared about, characters I cared about and a mystery and murder that needed solved. I invested myself because his story development and writing skills demanded no less from me. Anyone who lives, loves, breathes football will love this story. And those of you like me? Who don't give a rat's left nut about the gridiron? You are going to love it too. The murder that needs solved will keep your eyes moving across the page. The last couple chapters were hard to get through, watery eyes and a choke in your throat will do that sometimes. And yes, even a strong wash of nostalgia from my own days of the big important game tugged just a little bit.Tomislav Tikulin did the cover art and while it is very beautiful, I'm not sure what it has to do with the story. A detail I must have missed somewhere as I was quickly devouring the book.I am very upset that I have probably missed many Cemetery Dance editions by this guy. I will definitely seek out more of this author's work.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed the story line,and liked the characters but was a little put off by the minute details of the football games.
    • 4/5
      The past has come back to haunt the Austin brothers, one a high school football coach and the other a private detective. Their 16-year old sister was murdered twenty years ago and now another high school girl has been killed. Finding the killer will be one way of redeeming one brother of the death of their sister, but will the price be too much for the other. Overall this was a very good read even if it did have a bit too much football.
    • 5/5
      I couldn't put the book down as the plot led me to its inevitable end. The football descriptions were excellent and I left feeling satisfied with the book, even if I would have wished for a different ending.
    • 1/5
      I got as far as page 200 and decided enough was enough. All the football details page after page after page of it a tiny little bit about the murder and then some more football details. Why it averages 3 point something stars is beyond me. If you like American football and understand the rules and everything else about it then maybe, just maybe, this is the book for you but even so I think you'll find it dull.
    • 3/5
      Great storyline in this book and the character development is amazing. The downside is: there is too much football. The story did not need the pages and pages and pages of football to be a good story. In fact, it would have been better had much of it been eliminated or shortened up. This will not keep me from reading more of Koryta, but I must say, this one was not my favorite.
    • 2/5
      I am not a football enthusiast so I skipped these parts -- not sure how they fit into the plot.. Somehow this book didn't really 'grab' me. Rated it 'okay'.
    • 4/5
      A gripping fast read. This is a midwest small town murder mystery that takes place on the backdrop of football strategy. It will hold interest even for readers who never played football, as the story digs deep into family ties between compelling believable and flawed characters with baggage. Ultimately it is a suspense novel more than mystery.Recommended. This reviewer will seek out other Koryta books as a result.
    • 4/5
      What is interesting about this novel is the story of two brothers coping with the murder of their 15 year old sister. Each becomes a very different man from the other brother.Adam Austin is a bailsman living on the edge in a small town. There is a sense of restless violence boiling down within his soul. Kent Austin is a hero football coach seeking a state championship for his team. He is a mainstream kind of a guy, trying to be a steady father and husband.The story heats up when the star wide receiver's girlfriend is brutally murdered. Adam becomes entangled in the investigation and Kent's family is threatened by the unknown killer. History collides with the present as the brothers try to find peace from within the brutal murders, as well as resolve their own desire for revenge and forgiveness.Throughout the novel, Koryta writes methodically, creating tension and excitement, not only from the investigation and pursuit of the killer, but also from the football team's march to the championship game. Coming from a small town obsessed with high school football, this story felt authentic to me. I also liked the suggestion of faith that does not descend into being a preachy piece. The Prophet is an enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      Micheal Koryta is one of my favorite authors. His newest novel was good, but not quite as good as his previous ones. Maybe because I am not a big football fan, but I also wasn't crazy about the ending.
    • 4/5
      A small town in Ohio, once the home of steel, now dying, population decreasing and a very good high school football team that means much to the people who haven't left. Two brother, taking different paths after the murder of their sister and someone who wants to test one of the brothers faith. Another winner by Koryta, a thriller that explores the concepts of revenge and redemption, faith and acceptance. It is also a novel about what family means, that despite differences there may be times when this is all one has left. Highly recommend. ARC from NetGgalley.
    • 5/5
      Michael Koryta's ninth book, The Prophet, is scheduled for release on August 7, 2012. After three paranormal thrillers, The Prophet is a return to Mr. Koryta's roots: a mystery set in northeast Ohio. Since I am a fan of mysteries, a fan of Mr. Koryta, and a northeast Ohioan, I was excited to get my hands on a copy of this thriller. And I was not disappointed. On page five, still part of the prologue, I knew I was hooked after reading this, a glimpse inside the mind of the as of yet unknown antagonist: Unshakable confidence. Unshakable stupidity. He is fascinated by the confident specimens of the helpless. He finds no fascination in the fearful. The story is about Adam and Kent Austin, brothers who are tormented over twenty years after their sister was kidnapped and murdered. Adam, the older of the two, blamed himself, and joined his father in drinking too much and obsessing on revenge. He ruined his chances of advancing his promising football career when he left Ohio State after only one semester. He eventually returned to his home to work as a bail bondsmen in a struggling blue collar city. Kent focused on football, becoming the head coach of the high school team he played on. He found religion, had a beautiful family, and was cool, calm, and collected; a respected member of society. Neither of the brothers had fully moved on after the death of their sister, and when another high school girl is found murdered, it comes back to haunt them. It doesn't take long for Adam and Kent to realize they both were to blame for the girl's death, and the killer doesn't seem to have any intention of letting them forget it. Michael Koryta has grown as an author with every book, but The Prophet may be the most notable since Envy the Night. He superbly developed the character of two protagonists. Both brothers had likable and dis-likable qualities, both had good intentions, and despite doing things differently, neither were really wrong in the reasoning behind their choices. The antagonist was beautifully despicable, rich with evil, a pleasure to hate. Good character development is what makes an author great, which makes me feel as if I know the characters and understand their thoughts and actions. Consider this exchange between Adam and Kent: He looked back at Kent. "Can you do that? Because you're going to need to. The shotgun rounds will drop him, but they won't keep him down. Not a .410 shell, which is what this takes. So you'll need to be able to finish it. Can you do that?" I don't hope to have the opportunity to find out." "Can you do it?" Adam said. "Because otherwise, there's no point, Kent. Go buy some pepper spray and hope the neighbors hear with Beth screams." Kent winced, turning his head as if to shed the words. Then he swallowed, looked back at Adam, and extended his hand for the gun. This exchange was emotional for me, brought tears to my eyes; brothers, not on the best terms, but there for each other, talking about decisions that had to be made, life and death decisions, about character, and fundamental truth. But to a reader who had not read the 253 previous pages, hadn't known Adam and Kent Austin, would likely not have had a similar response, there would be no emotional investment in the people having that conversation. Dialogue like this, between characters that seem alive and real to a reader, is what makes reading worth it, something that can rarely, if ever, be captured in a movie or television show. Plot is sometimes secondary to good, believable characters; a good plot can not survive bad characters, but a book with a weak plot but likable heroes can. In The Prophet, a reader will experience the best of both. Finally, just as a quick side note for those who aren't football fans, don't let that disuade you from reading The Prophet. While football was integral to the book, defined the characters, it isn't what the story was about. It was much deeper than that. And Mr. Koryta will have you if not loving football, then at least caring about the outcome of the games in this book. Michael Koryta has become an author unto himself. His books can compete with the best--Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Daniel Woodrell, James Lee Burke, Stephen King, Lawrence Block--and he has developed a style that is unlike the others, making him a stand-out author. I look forward to reading many more books from him.
    • 5/5
      Really good. Mystery crossed with Friday NIght Lights. About family, justice, revenge, and... football. What could be bad?
    • 4/5
      I enjoy Michael Koryta’s writing and this book was no exception, although the football stuff was a bit too much for me as was Kent’s holier than thou attitude. Brothers Kent, big time football coach, and Adam, semi- low-life bail bondsman/ PI have never gotten over their sister Marie’s death. I felt bad for Adam he has blamed himself all these years for his sister’s death and it tore the brothers apart and that separation has not gotten better with years. Right before the big play-off game a young girl is murdered and she has a connection to both of the brothers and when information comes to light that Adam may have had something to do with what happened brings up memories for these brothers best left buried.This book is so much more than just a murder story, it is also about how these brothers dealt with their grief (or didn’t deal with it) for me that is what makes this book unique, yes we have a great mystery and someone killed a young girl but the relationship between these brothers and how they deal with this new tragedy makes for a great read.As always Robert Petkoff’s narration is fabulous, I love this man’s voice and all his accents and voice are spot on.3 ½ Stars
    • 3/5
      Well, I liked this book, but I thought it could have been much shorter. The author spent a great deal of time with character background and development, and not enough time on action and suspense. Two brothers face two murders twenty-two years apart, and I never really felt scared or nervous for either of them. I think more words could have been thrown the evil doers way. But, there is a decent plot twist at the end, and the cover is pretty clever!
    • 4/5
      Koryta uses a talented football team as a backdrop for a murder mystery that describes how a death in the family can affect the family. About half way through, we thought that the killer had been corralled, but nope! Read on. The book delves into brotherly relationships and football. The cast is small and the brothers are pretty well developed. Others, including the wives are not. Fun read, think I'll have another.
    • 4/5
      Kent is the local football coach that has never taken his team to a state championship. He is Zen-like in his approach to coaching. His brother, Adam, is a chain-smoking, liquor drinking, former football star and who is now a bail bondsman in the same hometown. When they were younger, their sister, Marie, was killed. Now a local young woman has been killed again and the murders are similar.


      I have never read a Michael Koryta novel, but now I can't wait to go grab the rest of his collection. Really enjoyed this one!
    • 5/5
      Michael Koryta is one of those authors,not perhaps very well known generally,who has written some genuinely unique books. I have managed to find a couple of his supernatural tales which I have already reviewed. In 'The Prophet' I have been introduced to his crime output,albeit a stand alone one. The remarkable thing about this is that a major part of the book concerns not only football,but American football.Football ! and I liked it,me who hates football and all who sail in her.This is the story of two brothers,one is a football coach and the other a bond chaser.Years ago their sister was murdered and both of them still have a heavy sense of guilt.Now another young girl is murdered and their feelings of guilt returns to haunt them.
    • 2/5
      The writing is mostly okay. There are a few clunker sentences that stand out but generally it’s not bad, and there is good use of sentence length and style for variety and for different types of situations. Dialogue is okay and there are some strong elements in how the plot works its way through. Contrasted with that, though, are some predictable elements (damaged character finds release through vengeance killing/death), and some strains on belief (bad guy turns out to be manipulated by the true bad guy, who was a spiritual guide to a main character and a peripheral figure, but in reality is a psychopath?), but my biggest issue is with the characters.The characters have, well, characteristics. Drinking or religion, football player sized bodies, jobs, relationships to each other, histories, roles in the story, emotion-like reactions to situations. But they’re flat figures and feel like a compendium of traits rather than a personality with facets. This is a little different from Dan Brown and his cardboard cutouts that he uses to execute the plot. Kortya has spent time adding elements to his characters and has tried to be consistent in terms of how that character might react to a given situation, but he fails to make them breathe on their own. Like Dr. Frankestein he has collected the parts but, unlike the good doctor, he can’t find the spark of life. There are moments that are close; thinking about the property that they might buy to start a new life together, and other internal, intimate moments that don’t feel so force fed by the plot and that make the characters almost human, but there aren’t enough. Instead, the characters are mostly puppets, doing and purporting to feel what the script requires them to do, not quite feeling or thinking or seeing or experiencing as if they were real people.The villains are the worst examples. They’re bad, just because, they’re bad. The term psychopath is brought up by the investigator, and Koryta uses that as carte blanche to not have to explain why the mastermind does anything he does, thereby limiting the fear or care that he produces. He’s simply the bad guy, the one who has to die to end the story. The other villain has a little more backstory supplied by his brother, but when confronted he’s pretty easily duped and disposed of.Again, it’s not awful. It can be done, using antagonists that have limited dimensions when the primary story is how they force the protagonists to work out their issues, but if the protagonists are not fully flesh and blood, having thin foils makes it worse.
    • 1/5
      Slow to develop.Predictable and boring.Why would anyone give this book 3-4 stars?
    • 4/5
      I was introduced to Michael Koryta by a patron at my library, who recommended I read So Cold the River. I loved that book, so I decided to give this one a try. It took a bit of getting used to for me, since I was expecting something along the horror lines of SCtR, but as a crime novel, this one is still pretty darned good.Adam and Kent Austin are brothers living in the same town they grew up in, but neither of them has spoken to the other one in years. Both are still trying to recover from their sister's horrific murder during their teenage years, and both have learned to cope in their own unique way: Adam works as a bail bondsman and Kent Austin is the beloved football coach for the high school. Both men have tried to put their sister's murder behind them, until another local girl is murdered and the two men are forced to work together and come to terms with what's happening in the present day. This is a mystery/crime novel at its heart, with Adam investigating the murder, since he believes he may have inadvertently sent the girl to her death, and Kent being dragged along for the ride. The actual plot is pretty standard, but what makes this novel really stand out is the attention that Koryta gives to each of his characters. There are no cardboard caricatures in this novel, and I found myself fascinated by both Adam and Kent, and how their personalities, traumas, and history defined their relationship with one another. The story itself is told from both of the men's viewpoints, so the reader really gets a close look at their respective personalities.And, surprisingly, this is also a book about sports. One of the reasons why I didn't give this book a higher rating was because there was a significant amount of space dedicated to the high school football games. (One of the major subplots involves Kent's team moving ever-so-slowly towards the state championship, and several of the games are recorded in detail.) That's not to say that these passages weren't exciting - sports fan or not, it's hard not to pick up on the sense of competition, adrenaline, hope, and despair that the team experiences. I just wasn't knowledgeable enough to understand and relate to the strategies & plays described in the book. A Goodreads user described this book as "Friday Night Lights meets Dennis Lehane," which I think is a pretty apt description, even though I focused more on the Dennis Lehane aspect myself. Recommended for: fans of character-based crime novels, genre novels with an emphasis on sportsReadalikes: Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. Both of these books feature a small number of main characters living in a small town/neighborhood, and all of these characters' relationships are defined by a trauma from their past. The writing is sharp, and the characters are all extremely well developed.Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben. If you like the idea of mixing mystery with sports, try the Myron Bolitar series from Harlan Coben. Bolitar is a sports agent who gets mixed up in a murder mystery, right as he's about to sign his first big-time client. So Cold the River by Michael Koryta. Everyone talks about The Ridge or Cypress Hill when it comes to Michael Koryta, but if you're looking for more of a horror-based novel, give So Cold the River a try. It's a modern-day ghost story set in Indiana with a compelling mystery alongside.
    • 4/5
      This is the second book I have read by Michael Koryta and I enjoyed this or so much more than So Cold the River. The two brothers who serve as the main characters are flawed but sympathetic and I really was hoping for a happy conclusion. I did figure the mystery our rather early but it didn't seem to make much of a difference in my enjoyment of the book.
    • 3/5
      The plot begins with what what initially appears to be the story of a killer who slays a teenage girl in a small town and turns it into a complicated narrative that mixes psychological trauma, tension, old wounds, football, broken relationships, and a good dose of twists and turns.

      Adam Austin, a private kind of guy, works as a bail bondsman in the small town of Chambers, Ohio. He spends his days looking for criminals on the run and what little free times he has in the arms of a woman whose husband is in jail. His brother Kent is the religiously calm, respected, and beloved coach of the local high school football team, a father and husband, and hero in the community. Besides leading very dissimilar lives, the brothers have not spoken to each other in years after an argument culminated in a fight.

      A teenage girl comes to Adam to help her find where her father is staying after being released from prison. This is a dimple task for a guy who specializes in locating "skips." But, he has no idea that giving her an address will lead to her death. The horrific murder shocks the town, but it’s even worse for Adam and Kent Austin. When they were teenagers, their sister was abducted and murdered while walking home from school. It devastated their family and filled them both with unspeakable anger and guilt. Now it has happened again, and the details that emerge from the investigation connect the crime to the Austin brothers. An intelligent, cunning, and very dangerous killer is on the loose, and the siblings will have to come together to fight old ghosts, ensure Kent’s success in the playoffs after a great season, and try to stop the killer.
    • 3/5
      This murder mystery audiobook was great company as I drove north on a road trip. A casual read, it will not tax the brain. When a young girl is murdered, its investigation touches the lives of two brothers who had lived through the tragedy of their own sister’s murder, two decades earlier. Their painful memories, previously submerged by Kent Austin, were always present in the mind of the other brother, Adam Austin. He had set up a shrine to his sister in his childhood home, where he still lived, and often sat in her room speaking to her spirit, riddled as he was with personal guilt about her death.Both brothers had been football stars in their youth. Embedded in this story, occurring concurrently with the murder investigation, is the effort of the town football team, the Cardinals, to win the championship, inspired by their coach, Kent Austin. It is a great diversion and distraction, perhaps sometimes, too much of one. However, the encouragement and competition of the sport helps to rebuild the townspeople and the mourners, raising them back up after tragedy strikes again. It is a contrast to the loss of life. On the one hand there are tears and on the other, cheers. Adam is a bail bondsman and private investigator with a quick temper. Kent, the coach, is the milder of the two, who also ministers to and mentors prisoners, even to the point of speaking with and forgiving his sister's violent murderer. The current murder mystery ensnares both brothers in a web of intrigue and danger.It is a fast read with twists and turns, perfect to keep the driver’s mind alert on a long trip.
    • 5/5
      Michael Koryta is one of a handful of suspense writers that has the ability to not only create realistic families in crisis but also drench them in horrific situations…His latest thriller, THE PROPHET is a study in how brothers react to an act of violence so close to home and the effects it has on their own souls. Think THE PRINCE OF TIDES meets MYSTIC RIVER. A thriller set in the confines of high school football in a small Ohio town.Adam Austin, former high school football player now a small time bail bondsman,more than occasional drinker who helps a young woman seek her birth father through a series of letters sent to her from prison.Kent Austin, former high school football player, now the coach of the local high school, happily married with two children.Together as brothers they share a family tragedy. More than twenty years ago their teenage sister Marie vanished and was found dead a short time later. Eventually her killer was caught and is now deceased. The night she disappeared did so much damage to the brother’s emotionally the family was decimated and now smolder’s in ashes….Once the wind blows…a spark ignites….Flash forward, a teenage girl is found murdered. She is the young lady that Adam helped initially to find her father…Coming full circle and never dealing with themselves as a family is what drives this thriller to a more than satisfying conclusion. Mr. Kortya in my opinion ‘never’ writes the same style of suspense thriller twice. How refreshing to never know what you are going to encounter with his novels..I personally consider THE RIDGE, his last thriller to be one of the finest horror novels I have ever read.I consider myself someone who knows when a novel is above the usual faire when I have the desire to think about the ending and wonder what happened next once I close the book! Jim MunchelCo-Manager BooksBooks A MillionHarrisburg, Pa.