The Hit

by Jere Hoar

Book Overview

Luke Carr awakens in a mental institution as a convicted murderer. How did he get there? The answer has the critics raving: This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451211960
• ISBN13: 9780451211965
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: New American Library
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Edge of Your Seat Reading

One of the best thrillers I've read in years!

Gripping noir novel from Jere Hoar

Jere Hoar's first novel, The Hit, is totally absorbing with characters that grab you and hold your attention. The dialog is often cynical, sometimes witty and never dull. For a first novel, this one hits dead center with a dynamite plot that has more twists than a pretzel. I curled up early one Friday evening and couldn't put it down until I was through. Jere Hoar makes you forget you are reading a book.

A wonderful Mississippi mystery noir

Just finished "The Hit." Damn, what a thrill ride! Those final half-dozen or so chapters -- excuse me, notebooks -- were spellbinding and as fast-paced as Indy cars.The final notebook and epilogue floored me. I never saw it coming. Brilliant.It was every bit as gripping as a John Grisham novel, but with a much more more shocking conclusion and, no offense to Grisham, it is much more richly descriptive and evocative. I could feel what Luke felt, from his broken ribs to the stinging sleet blowing onto his face.This book has juice, and I think it's going to be big. I expect I'll see it before too long in a movie theater.

Don't Miss This One!

"The Hit" is one of those books you just can't put down. Hoar doesn't give you time to get comfortable - he just pulls you right in and starts the motor! I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.I think that what gives this book its legs is that Jere Hoar is a kind of writer that doesn't come along very often. He doesn't just write the story -- he tells it to you. This book speaks to you as if Hoar were reading it to you himself. If you are familiar with his first collection of stories, "Body Parts", then you know what I'm talking about. (Another great, dark offering from Hoar, BTW)If you still need more encouragement to buy this book, take a look at his review and interview (the interview is fantastic!) at USA Today online from April 16, 2003. Every review I've read about this book is over the top. And, if John Grisham, who pumps out bestsellers and box office hits, "wishes" he wrote it himself? Wow.

Tight as a drum, twists like a screw

It's often said that no one can write anything truly original anymore because everything has been written about already. It's even harder if you like a mystery or a thriller or anything with a twist, because it seems like all the old plot devices have been done a million times and you have all the culprits pegged by the third chapter. Thank God then for Jere Hoar. He may not be reinventing the wheel, but it hasn't rolled this smooth in a long, long time. Luke Carr, the narrator, relates the story from inside a mental institution, so you know who gets caught at the start. What you don't know, and what makes this novel so compelling, is who he had to betray and be betrayed by to end up there. A heel husband, a cheating wife, the lover with the shady past--even a disheveled investigator and a bumbling but smarter-than-he's-letting-on sherriff--this book has all the elements of a good noir thriller but with a unique southern twist. Carr, back in rural Mississippi from Vietnam and the horrible things he did and saw there, plans to lay low, live a quiet life, and steal some valuable paintings from his ex-lover's new husband. Then she shows up on his doorstep with all her curves and a burning desire to be a widow. 'Nuff said.To boot, Hoar writes lines so tight it hurts. That's the other great thing about this book: it's literary. I don't care if you're a light reader with a junior high education or if you hold a doctorate in literature, this book will grab you and not let go.