Nate Overbay is a veteran suffering from PTSD, who is also dying from ALS. His plan to kill himself by jumping from the ledge of a Los Angeles bank building is interrupted when shots ring out inside the bank and blood covers the partially opened window beside him. While the robbers are occupied randomly shooting employees and breaking into the vault's lock boxes, Nate is able to climb in the window and take possession of a gun one of the men laid down to free his hand to pilfer the tellers' money. In quick succession, five of the robbers are killed by Nate, but the last man gets away with an unnerving promise to Nate.

Of course, Nate becomes the hero of the day and the center of everyone's attention, especially Pavlo, the Ukrainian mob boss who's plan to take something important from one of the bank vault's boxes was thwarted by Nate. Kidnapped by Pavlo's men, Nate is told he is now responsible for acquiring that item from the bank. If not, Nate's ex-wife and teenage daughter will slowly be killed -- while he watches. With time running out and the lives of the people he loves the most on the line, Nate must devise a plan to get the item in the time frame Pavlo has allotted with the mobsters always on his tail. This chilling race against the clock has Nate reevaluating everything in his life and how he can make it all work out in the end.

THE SURVIVOR is a fast-paced, mesmerizing thriller rich in characterization and emotional depth. Gregg Hurwitz delivers an engrossing storyline with compelling conflict and a pulse-pounding conclusion. This novel kept my interest at a high level beginning to end -- a highly recommended read.

Book Summary

One morning in Los Angeles, Nate Overbay — a divorced former solider suffering from PTSD and slowly dying from ALS — goes to an eleventh-floor bank, climbs out of the bathroom window onto the ledge, and gets ready to end it all. But as he’s steeling himself, a crew of robbers bursts into the bank and begins to viciously shoot employees and customers. With nothing to lose, Nate confronts the robbers, taking them out one-by-one. The last man standing leaves Nate with a cryptic warning.

Nate soon learns what that message meant. He is kidnapped by Pavlo, a savage Russian mobster and mastermind of the failed heist. Unable to break back into the bank to get the critical item inside, Pavlo gives Nate an ultimatum — break in and get what he needs or watch Pavlo slowly kill the one thing Nate loves most — his ex-wife Janie and his teenaged daughter Cielle — both lost when he came back from Iraq broken and confused. Now he’s got one last chance to protect the people he loves, even if it’s the last thing he is able to do.