Aaron Alexander has just been released from jail after serving eleven years for causing the death of Joshua Moore in a hit-and-run. Now a free man, all he wants to do is stay on the straight and narrow and leave his troubled past behind him.
But for Joshua’s mother Evelyn, eleven years in jail isn’t nearly enough. Consumed by grief and rage, she has been waiting for Aaron’s release, counting down the days until she can exact the revenge he deserves. And now that time has come.
But as Evelyn and her husband Tobias embark on a road trip to track Aaron down, they find themselves caught on two different sides of a gripping game of cat-and-mouse. Because Tobias knows what Evelyn is planning, and he will do anything to save her from herself.
Even if it means protecting the man who killed their son.
Locked in a collision course set in motion eleven years ago, Aaron, Evelyn and Tobias are about to find out whether the road they have chosen leads to redemption . . . or to retribution.
I'm delighted to be sharing my review of Redemption as part of the Jack Jordan blogathon today. Many thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me and Simon & Schuster for my digital copy of the novel.
Jack Jordan excels at putting his characters into the most awful situations, where every possible option is almost unthinkable and then allowing the drama to unfold in the most unexpected ways. His latest book, Redemption is a breathlessly tense rollercoaster of a read from start to finish but unlike Do No Harm and Conviction, the moral dilemmas aren't thrust upon Evelyn and Tobias by a calculating villain; here they are driven by a devastating loss which ripped their world apart.
After a deceptively light-hearted introduction to the young couple, madly in love and nervously but eagerly anticipating the birth of their first child, the storyline skips forward several years. The death of their son, Joshua who was killed in a hit-and-run accident has left them broken shadows of the people they once were. However, with Joshua's killer, Aaron Alexander newly released from his eleven year prison sentence, she believes she will finally be able to fulfil her obligation to her son by avenging his death. Meanwhile, Tobias walks on eggshells around the woman he still loves, desperate for the occasional glimpse of the old Evelyn despite her contemptuous, dismissive treatment of him.
As she sets off on her vengeful road trip, he is a reluctant companion who has realised that if he has any chance of having his wife return to him, must prevent her carrying out the act she has so meticulously planned, Evelyn's white-hot rage is all-consuming and the raging wildfires which are drawing ever closer to them are an intense, physical representation of her excruciating grief. As she spirals out of control, she isn't an easy character to like but even at her worst, Jack Jordan's nuanced, empathetic characterisation shines through and the harrowing truth that she is a mother without her child imbues every terrible choice she makes.
Tobias is the more obvious protagonist and, compelled to save his wife from herself, he is forced into behaviour he would never have believed himself capable of. However, Jack Jordan cleverly provokes readers into questioning whether his actions – or inactions – should mean he should also be held culpable for the tragedy of almost Shakespearean proportions which develops here.
The storyline is told through the perspectives of Evelyn, Tobias and Aaron himself and as the tension inexorably builds towards the inevitable denouement, we learn more about the young man who left a child to die on a desert road. Aaron is not the same man who went into prison but he has been unable to escape the wretched town which, however brutal, is the only home he has ever known. As the narrative switches between the three, Redemption becomes a pulse-pounding cat-and-mouse chase which is as heartrendingly poignant as it is exciting.
With its graphic sense of place throughout, Redemption is an unsparingly nerve-shattering thriller with some shockingly dark scenes; it is also a soul piercingly exploration of guilt and grief, and is Jack Jordan at his very best. I tore through the pages and thoroughly recommend it.
Redemption is published by Simon & Schuster, purchasing links can be found here.
About the Author
Jack Jordan is the global number one bestselling author of Anything for Her (2015), My Girl (2016), A Woman Scorned (2018), Before Her Eyes (2018) and Night by Night (2019). His thriller, Do No Harm, was an instant Times bestseller and shortlisted for the Most Recommended Book in the DeadGood Reader Awards. Coined the thriller of the summer for 2022, it was described as “relentlessly tense” by Sunday Times Bestseller Lesley Kara, and “Chilling and perfectly paced” by New York Times Bestseller Sarah Pearse. The idea for Do No Harm came to Jack after undergoing a minor medical procedure where he had to be sedated and trust strangers with his welfare. After the anaesthesia wore off, Jack began scribbling his notes, wondering to himself just how iron-clad a surgeon’s oath is, and what it would take to break it…
Conviction, was published in June 2023 and featured in Cosmopolitan’s ‘best new books out in June’ round-up, it was also chosen as one of the June featured books by Magic Radio’s Book Club and the audiobook was selected for Fingerprint Award at Capital Crime 2024.
His most recent book, Redemption was published in June 2024.
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