The Lucky One [Mass Market Paperback]

Nicholas Sparks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2012

In his 14th book, bestselling author Nicholas Sparks tells the unforgettable story of a man whose brushes with death lead him to the love of his life.

After U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman buried in the dirt during his tour of duty in Iraq, he experiences a sudden streak of luck -- winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph -- his lucky charm.

Back home in Colorado, Thibault can't seem to get the woman in the photograph out of his mind and he sets out on a journey across the country to find her. But Thibault is caught off guard by the strong attraction he feels for the woman he encounters in North Carolina - Elizabeth, a divorced mother -- and he keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate love affair, his secret soon threatens to tear them apart -- destroying not only their love, but also their lives.

Filled with tender romance and terrific suspense, THE LUCKY ONE is an unforgettable story about the surprising paths our lives often take and the power of fate to guide us to true and everlasting love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

U.S. Marine Logan Thibault carries a picture of a woman he'snever met because it brings him good luck. But when he sets out to find the woman, he is met with unexpected circumstances surrounding his new love and his shrouded past. Though not Sparkss most original tale, the story flows well and narrator John Bedford Lloyd delivers a solid performance. Lloyds deep bass tone is perfectly suited for Thibault, a manly man if ever there was one. Lloyds supporting characters are rich and interesting in their own right, some speaking in comical Southern drawls, others with a raw reality. The final result is quite touching without much over-the-top sentimentality on Lloyds part. A Grand Central hardcover. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Review

'Will have you weeping for the joy and tragedy of it all' Daily Mail ** 'A page turner...' Glamour ** 'Deeply moving, beautifully written' Booklist ** 'Worth spending a night with' People ** 'Sparks addresses the... struggles of people adjusting to sharing their intimate lives' Irish News ** 'Sparks writes with a depth of feeling and a tenderness rarely seen in male authors' Peterborough Evening Telegraph --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; Reprint edition (March 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1455508977
• ISBN-13: 978-1455508976
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.2 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,091 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Movie Tie-Ins

More About the Author

Nicholas Sparks is one of the world's most beloved storytellers. All of his books have been New York Times bestsellers, with nearly 80 million copies in print worldwide, in over 45 languages, including over 50 million copies in the United States alone, and his popularity continues to soar.

Sparks wrote one of his best-known stories, The Notebook, over a period of six months at age 28. It was published in 1996 by Warner Books. He followed with the novels Message in a Bottle (1998), A Walk to Remember (1999), The Rescue (2000), A Bend in the Road (2001), Nights in Rodanthe (2002), The Guardian (2003), The Wedding (2003), True Believer (2005) and its sequel, At First Sight (2005), Dear John (2006), The Choice (2007), The Lucky One (2008), The Last Song (2009), Safe Haven (2010) and The Best of Me (2011), as well as the 2004 non-fiction memoir Three Weeks With My Brother, co-written with his brother Micah.

Safe Haven is scheduled for release on February 14, 2013, and marks Sparks's eighth film adaptation, following The Lucky One, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John and The Last Song, which thus far have a cumulative worldwide gross of nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars.

Sparks lives in North Carolina with his family. He contributes to a variety of local and national charities, and is a major contributor to the Creative Writing Program (MFA) at the University of Notre Dame, where he provides scholarships, internships, and a fellowship annually. Along with his wife, he founded The Epiphany School in New Bern, North Carolina. As a former full scholarship athlete (he still holds a track and field record at the University of Notre Dame) he also spent four years coaching track and field athletes at the local public high school. In 2009, the team he coached at New Bern High School set a World Junior Indoor Record in the 4 x400 meter, in New York. The record still stands.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#44 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#9 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

#9 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

#9 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

#9 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction

#12 in Books > Romance > Romantic Suspense

#9 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

#9 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

#9 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

#9 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction

#12 in Books > Romance > Romantic Suspense

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

320 of 348 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sparks Struts His Stuff October 1, 2008

By Ann Allyn Slessman

Format:Hardcover

THE LUCKY ONE
Nicholas Sparks
Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group
ISBN: 0-446-57993-9
$24.99
326 pages
Reviewer: Annie Slessman

You can bet if Nicholas Sparks puts a book out there, it is going to sell. This scenario is due to his expertise as a storyteller extraordinaire. His latest work, The Lucky One will be touted by readers as one of his best works. Having written books like Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, readers know what they can expect when they buy a Nicholas Sparks book...great characters, great storyline and an electricity that stays with you long after you have finished reading the story.

Sparks main character in The Lucky One is ex-marine, Logan Thibault. Logan has served three tours of duty in Iraq and believes his survival is due to a lucky picture he found of an unknown woman. Once he completes his tour of duty, he walks from Colorado to Hampton, North Carolina in search of the woman in the picture.

Once he arrives in North Carolina, he takes a job at a dog training facility where he meets Nana, the elderly owner of the facility, Elizabeth, her granddaughter and her young son, Ben. Elizabeth, he discovers is the woman in his lucky picture.

The storyline stays true and builds to an exciting climax. There are stories within this story that adds story interest. Sparks knows how to build a story and keep a reader anxiously turning pages.

If you are a Nicholas Sparks fan, you won't be disappointed with this work. If you have never read Nicholas Sparks, this work is a great starting point.

Nicholas Sparks is the author of fourteen best selling works of fiction. Several if his works have been adapted to movies.... Sparks and his family lie in the Carolinas. Read more ›

145 of 166 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good But Not Great Read October 10, 2008

By D. Wooten

Format:Hardcover

After seeing this book was #2 on the NYT bestseller's list, I read the jacket and dove in. The book starts extremely well with a modern and interesting narrative. The flashback scenes are well done and at no time lose the reader.

About 2/3's of the way into the book, the characters become well defined and start to gain a mild complexity. Unfortunately that is where the development stops. In an attempt to create a dramatic ending the book takes on a sit com like aspect. The characters become one dimensional, the story line predictable and you feel the author racing to create a tidy ending.

If the author had further developed the auxiliary characters and ending, it could of been on par with similar books in this genre like "The Bridges of Madison County".

111 of 126 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great love story October 3, 2008

By BrianB VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

This is a wonderful novel, told in a way that is fascinating and enjoyable. Nicolas Sparks knows how to tell a story. The characters are real and believable. I found myself caring about them early in the book. The author has the ability to make people come alive in just a few pages. Once I began to care about them, I was hooked. I couldn't put the book down until I was done. The Lucky One made for a few very enjoyable hours. That is what I want in a book: discovering people that I care about, and a good story to follow them through. It may not be great literature for the ages, but it suits me.

I don't usually read love stories, but I am glad that I found this one. After finishing this novel, I decided to look up the author's other books. I believe that he has written some other good stories that I will enjoy. I believe that you will too.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as "The Notebook", but still a decent read February 9, 2012

By ikirkwood62

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I always like to start my reviews by giving a little bit about myself away. I'm a 17 year old male high school student who reads voraciously. I constantly vary my tastes from horror to mystery to literature to romance. I've never read Nicholas Sparks before, but I saw the movie The Notebook and literally balled my eyes out. So, I'm not exactly the target audience for Sparks' work, but I still felt like I should check it out.

"The Lucky One" is about Logan Thibault, a US Marine who travels across the country in search of a mysterious woman in a photograph he believes to have been his lucky charm during his service in Iraq. There are a few twists and turns, but overall it's a straightforward tale and plays out pretty decently.

And I think that's really the main flaw of this book: everything is just "decent" and "mediocre". It gets the job done. There's no risks, no shining prose, no super emotional stuff that really bonds you to the characters. Most things are taken at surface level. This isn't a bad thing if it's what you're looking for in a book. But this is not a deep, passionate, love story either.

Nicholas Sparks isn't a wordsmith poet. He uses blessedly simple prose that tells the story fast and effectively. The only problem is, he's catering to an audience... or more likely what he thinks of an audience. Many subjects are broached upon by all of our three narrators, multiple times, one after the other. For example, when Protagonist A gets worried about their kid because Protagonist B is being a jerk and Protagonist C doesn't like it, we get to see and hear about it three times, from all three directions.... This mildly interesting device very quickly wears thin and becomes tedious as the book goes on.

The structure of the story also leaves a lot to be desired. It's starts out strong, the forward action only briefly interrupted by some expository flashbacks. But then, those flashbacks don't really stop... ever. Every time something interesting occurs in the present, Logan will need to relate it back to his days in the Marines, or his fishing trip with his friend, Vinny. This screws pacing up, a lot. So, then, by the middle of the book, when all of the plot threads start getting laid out, the exposition hasn't finished yet, and the middle really drags on. Luckily, everything picks up for the last 1/4 of the book, when real danger strikes and people start to actually do things.

But the ending isn't perfect. By no means. It will satisfy even the most skeptical reader, because it wraps many things up in one swift move. But, at times, the climax does seem a little Soap Opera-ey, with characters responding to rumors and predictable, but still exciting developments playing out. Also, the Epilogue uses a cheap trick to make the reader feel any emotion at all. Tsk. Tsk.

The characters in this book are probably its one flaw, with, of course, the delightful exception of Nana. Logan, Keith, and Ben are all basically one-trick ponies. They don't ever go too far into the land of archetypes, but they never evolve past cardboard static characters. Beth is a decent character, but not because she actually *does* much, more just because she has some active opinions and sometimes acts on them. The best character is Nana, who sounds the most human out of all of them and adds some much needed humor to this bland mixture.

In conclusion, this was my first Nicholas Sparks novel, and it will be my last for a long time. I don't want to give up on him entirely, but I think my tastes are better suited elsewhere, at least for the time being. Maybe in a year or two, I'll pick up The Notebook or one of his newer novels, and give him another shot. For now, I'll stick to my other favorites.

I Recommend this book to anyone who:
- Is from the South, specifically the Carolinas
- Loves Dogs
- Likes the classic idea of "family"
- Is happy when justice gets served to the bad guys
- Likes realistic drama Read more ›