Customer Reviews

The 25th Hour

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

At last...after reading a series of bad books, not-so-good books and, worst of all, those that had such promise but somewhere along the way, took a wrong turn...I have read THE book!

"The 25th Hour" is one of the best books I have ever read. It is an account of the 24-hour period before a young man convicted of drug dealing is due to start serving a seven-year sentence in a Federal prison.

During this short time span, you will come face to face with friendship, love, fear, hope and despair. You will spend time with three men who have been friends since middle school. You will get to know them so intimately, it will feel almost intrusive. Along the way, you will meet their parents, friends, lovers and enemies.

I can only urge you to spend some time with these people. When you have read the last word on the last page, you will be trembling, crying or just sitting in awe of the ride you have just been on.

Although just under 200 pages, David Benioff's masterful first novel draws you into a world that you never want to end. Ostensibly a "mystery" (where else are they gonna shelve it?), "The 25th Hour" is a book unlike any you have ever read, yet is so familiar and has characters so recognizable that it's like curling up late at night with a warm gun.

A voracious reader, I can't stand tin-ear dialogue, and it's that more than anything else that will have me tossing some half-read "thriller" across the room in frustration. Not one word of Mr. Benioff's novel rings false. I'd rather invest 4 hours in words as beautifully gritty as these than slog my way through the latest 700-page Clancy.

Benioff's masterstroke is that, even though you know his "protaganist" is guilty in all senses of the word, the classic anti-hero, you root for him the entire way.

Oh, yeah, the last 20 pages are the best you'll ever read.

From now on I'm just letting Otto choose all my leisure reading. His picks are almost always right on the money, and this novel is no exception. I grew up not far from the action of "The 25th Hour," and Beniof gets the city exactly right. New York is almost a character in its own right, mysterious and beautiful and dangerous.

I think the last four pages are some of the best writing I've seen in a long time. This isn't a book for kids, though. I won't let son read it for a while. But if you're over eighteen and you like tough but heartbreaking stories, this one's really superb. Two thumbs up!

In 24 hours, handsome 27-year old drug dealer Monty Brogan will enter Otisville Federal Prison to do seven years hard time. His father wants him to run. His drug-lord boss, Uncle Blue, wants to know if he squealed. His girldfriend isn't sure what she wants, and his two best friends know one thing for sure: after he goes in, he will never be the same. In this character driven crime novel, first-time novelist Benioff dazzles with a spell-binding portrait of three high school buddies confronting the consequences of their carefree youth on the streets of New York. Monty really wanted to be a fireman, but fell in love with "sway," the deference afforded a young man with important connections. For the past five years, he's been selling drugs for Uncle Blue in Manhattan, to moneyed and celebrity clients. His pal, maverick bond trader Frank Slattery, thirsts for serenity, but dreams of avenging old wrongs while fighting his covert lust for Monty's Puerto Rican girlfriend. Despite Monty's dismal future, shy Jakob Elinsky, an ethical, awkward high school English teacher, envies his friend's self-assurance with women as he struggles to control his own secret hunger for a talented writing student, 17 year-old Mary D'Annunzio. The three friends spend one last night together dancing and drinking at Uncle Blue's nightclub. Brillantly conceived, this gripping crime drama boasts dead-on dialogue, chiaroscuro portraits of New York's social strata and an inescapable crescendo of tension. Monty's solution to his agonizing dilemmas will shock even hardened suspense lovers.

I'm not normally a very fast reader. My concentration slips, or I start watching Tv, or the phone rings. But from the first page of this book I was hooked. Except for a quick bathroom break I didn't look up again until the final page. And the final page was so good I read it three times!

My favorite character is Jakob, a high school teacher. His friend Monty is the star of the story, I guess, but Jakob is the one I identify with, a guy who genuinely wants to do the right thing but always seems to blow it.

My one objection here is the amount of profanity, but I guess that's pare for the course these days in fiction. And it is about a man going to prison, so I suppose it would be a little weird if he spoke like a choirboy.

The year is young, but this is my #1 so far. Beats the new Grisham by a country mile, that's for sure.

Mr. Benioff's first novel is a powerful portrait of modern day New York, friendship and of the human spirit. His characters are written as though they have real flesh on their bones; which can be a grity reality at times. The plot is fresh, and grips you from beginning to end. I could not put it down until 2 AM when the final page had turned. Highly recommended story from a talented writer. A superb first book.

First things first-I've read the book twice, read multiple drafts of the movie script (written by Benioff himself), and spent an hour interviewing David Benioff for Creative Screenwriting magazine, and I assure you, the film will measure up to the book.

And the book is outstanding. Slapped with the mystery/crime designation by the publisher's marketing department, the book contains very little mystery or suspense. Rather, it is a trim and haunting account of what goes on in the head of a man who realizes all too well that he's thrown his life away and that nothing will ever be the same. The story is about the last day of freedom for Montgomery "Monty" Brogan, a pretty-boy Irish-Catholic New Yorker in his late 20s who is about to spend seven years in a federal penitentiary for dealing drugs. In his last 24 hours of freedom Monty must say goodbye to his two oldest friends, Wall Street whiz kid Frank Slattery, and high school English teacher Jakob Elinsky, as well as his longtime live-in girlfriend Naturelle, his bar owner father, his loyal pit bull Doyle, and the post-Soviet mobsters he worked for.

This last day is effectively a deathbed for Monty, as he makes his peace with all the people he'll leave behind, knowing that he'll be a totally different person after seven years of hard time. But it's also about those left behind, and their own struggle to come to terms with the fact that someone close to them is gone, and that to a certain extent they are complicit in his downfall. These are fully realized characters, as Slattery struggles to control himself in a high-stakes, high-pressure job, Jakob struggles to avoid the allure of his student Mary, Naturelle must start planning on moving back to her mother's home, and Monty's widowed father must say goodbye to his only child. Despite the lack of suspense, the book builds steadily, ending with a powerful and uncompromising punch. A great debut and it's a shame Benioff has turned his attention almost entirely to film. For those who want more, there are at least three short stories of his available online for free.

I don't usually read crime novels, so when a friend recommended this book, I passed. Then a second friend recommended it, an English professor, and I thought if an English professor likes it, it can't be the standard issue murder/thriller tripe. Now I'm sorry I waited so long. This book is magnificent. I know we've all heard the "I couldn't put it down" stuff a million times, but that's literally true with "The 25th Hour."

My only advice is this: skip the jacket copy text; it gives too much away. Just start with the first sentence, a real beauty.

My favorite book of the last twelve months.

I understand the pressures of marketing and "niching" every product for specific customers, but it's a shame when literary works are unfairly categorized...: this is a wonderful novel, but it's not a crime novel. Personally, I like crime novels and I like literary novels, but I could see how some people might be irritated by false advertising. Don't expect a murder mystery or gunfights or car chases-- THE 25TH HOUR is about the consequences of crime, not crime itself. As such it succeeds brilliantly.

Read it for what it is, an exceptional book about young men and women trapped in a desperate situation.

My only complaint about this novel is it's too short. I wanted to keep hanging out with these characters. But I guess that's ignoring the title (and the whole point of the story)-- this is about one day in a life, a critical day, a last day of freedom. Maybe there will be a sequel. A very fine read.