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“An unforgettable novel from a master of popular
fiction.”
— Booklist (starred review)
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“This rich, impressive contemporary thriller from
two-time Edgar-winner Hart focuses on two brothers, Michael and Julian, both
raised and abused at the Iron House of the title, an orphanage in the mountains
of North Carolina…Hart deftly interweaves a complex family history story with
Stevan’s intense, bloody quest for vengeance…[The book’s] powerful themes and
its beautiful prose will delight Hart’s fans—and should earn him many new ones.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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“Lean, hard, and absolutely riveting, Iron House is a tour de force. With his
best book yet, John Hart has clearly joined the top rank of thriller writers.”
— Vince Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author
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“There are few books published that can legitimately
be called a ‘must-read,’ but this is one of them.”
— Chicago Sun-Times
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“Grisham-style intrigue and Turow-style brooding.”
— New York Times
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“[An] ambitious debut thriller…a gripping
performance.”
— People
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“A top-notch debut, Hart’s prose is like Raymond
Chandler’s, angular and hard.”
— Entertainment Weekly
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“If you crave thrillers that are vividly beautiful, graphic, will make you bleed, try John Hart.
— Patricia Cornwell
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Lean, hard and absolutely riveting, Iron House is a tour de force. With his best book yet, John Hart has clearly joined the top rank of thriller writers.
— Vince Flynn
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John Hart delivers another outstanding thriller... Secrets, lies and an abandoned former orphanage beckon the reader into a web of violence and emotion. Hart creates such vivid imagery, the reader sees the story slowly unfolding in full color. Iron House immerses the reader in a world that's haunting in its tone and power.
— Associated Press
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Hart 2.0: bullet-fast and super gory, everything amplified and intensified... Hart, again working in multiple voices and from a variety of perspectives, is somehow able to pull together all of the moving parts and to do the near impossible: to transform a bloody tale of murder and mayhem into something of a meditation - or, better yet, a fugue - on familial love. In so doing, he has taken a giant step forward as a writer, demonstrating yet again the impoverished imaginations of those who dismiss popular fiction and automatically relegate "genre writers" to the bargain basement of the house of literature.
— Charlotte Observer
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Using standard ingredients (long-lost brothers, organized crime, a beautiful girl), Hart whips up an intoxicating brew.
— Entertainment Weekly, A-
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Two orphaned boys' lives take vastly different routes in this forceful tale about family bonds and the legacy of violence set in Manhattan and North Carolina. This is Hart's fourth novel, having already earned three Edgar Award nominations, resulting in two back-to-back wins.
— South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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The book combines suspense, a love story and plenty of twists and surprises. The characters are vivid, and readers can feel the tension build. Hart continues to write literate thrillers.
— The Oklahoman
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It isn't as if Hart's career needed jump-starting. His first three stand-alone thrillers have been greeted by an ever-growing crescendo of praise, including two Edgar Awards. Definitely not the kind of writer who needs a breakthrough book. And, yet, Iron House lifts Hart to an altogether new level of excellence.... The present-time plot--disaffected Mob hit man on the run, trying to carve a new life without endangering those he loves--makes a superb thriller on its own (steadily building tension, magnificently choreographed fight scenes, including a High Noon-like finale), but it's what Hart does with the backstory that gives the novel its beyond-genre depth. Like the great Peter Hoeg in Borderliners (1994), Hart uses the familiar story of mistreatment in an orphanage as a way into the inner lives of his characters, and the blind fear, abject confusion, and yearning for love he finds there are both heartbreaking and curiously hopeful, in an almost postapocalyptic way. An unforgettable novel from a master of popular fiction.
— Booklist, starred review
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This rich, impressive contemporary thriller from two-time Edgar-winner Hart (The Last Child) focuses on two brothers, Michael and Julian, both raised and abused at the Iron House of the title, an orphanage in the mountains of North Carolina.... Hart deftly interweaves a complex family history story with Stevan's intense, bloody quest for vengeance.... [The book's] powerful themes and its beautiful prose will delight Hart's fans--and should earn him many new ones.
— Publishers Weekly, starred review
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Mr. Hart has really stepped things up a notch with Iron House...one of the most interesting and masterful pieces of suspenseful fiction that I have read.
— My Reading Room
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This is one of the best books I have read this summer! It has a little something for every reader.... Romance, politics, mystery, an unpredictable plot line , suspense and lots of murder (warning: some scenes are very graphic)… In addition to the exciting plot, this is a story about the importance of family, the scars that remain from an unstable childhood and the struggle to overcome the past.
— The Book Blurb
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Iron House is…gut wrenching, and keep[s] you on the edge of your seat while your heart is beating in your throat.
— MPL's Book Nook
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It is rare that I give a book a five out of five rating. I feel this one deserves it. Iron House is a hard charging thriller with lots of action and suspense. But it is also an intense psychological thriller, with deep characters that are both flawed and exceptional.
— Reading with Mo
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Hart builds a larger-than-life tale of love postponed, the loyalty of brothers, the sacrifice of blood, and the madness of those inured to violence as a solution.
— CurledUp.com
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Put simply, Iron House is another terrific novel from Hart – the kind of crime thriller that many who don't usually read crime or mystery would heartily enjoy. It's as much about its rich cast of layered, authentic, and damaged characters as its captivating storyline. Hart exhibits some style as he vividly evokes not only the ‘Southern' setting – in all its tarnished glory – but also aspects of the broader human condition. He shows that there can be plenty of thrills without having to resort to ‘world-changing' plotlines, by simply focusing on matters that are life-and-death, spiritually or physically, for characters in their own small world.
— Crime Watch
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Excellent storytelling skills, suspense, and flashbacks make this well worth reading. Hart has brought to life the trials of childhood, of psychological damage, and the power of love and family to overcome it all.
— Reviewing the Evidence
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Iron House, a book that many critics and Hart fans are calling his best ever…is filled with…chaotic twists and turns, and scenes that will long stick in the minds of imaginative readers.
— Book Chase
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A magnificent creation...Huck Finn channeled through Lord of the Flies.
— THE WASHINGTON POST on The Last Child
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A rare accomplishment--a compelling, fast-paced thriller written with a masterful, literary touch.
— Jeffery Deaver on The Last Child
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If you haven't read John Hart...you ought to.
— NEW YORK DAILY NEWS on The Last Child
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This generation's Pat Conroy.
— THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL on The Last Child
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Settles the question of whether thrillers and mysteries can also be literature.
— PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review) on Down River
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There are few books published that can legitimately be called a 'must-read,' but this is one of them.
— CHICAGO SUN-TIMES on Down River
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A beautifully constructed story of personal redemption, family secrets, and murder--a small-town epic....
— BOOKLIST on Down River
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Grisham-style intrigue and Turow-style brooding.
— THE NEW YORK TIMES on King of Lies
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A top-notch debut, Hart's prose is like Raymond Chandler's, angular and hard.
— ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY (Grade A) on King of Lies
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[An] ambitious debut thriller...a gripping performance.
— PEOPLE on King of Lies