A Rough Way to Go

De: Sam Garonzik

Narrado por: Victor Warren

In this all-consuming, suspenseful story, a stay-at-home father with something to prove finds a wealthy Wall Street investor's body washed up on the shore—and decides to take the investigation into his own hands…

Peter Greene spends his days taking care of his toddler, Luke; staying on the right side of The Moms in his local beach town; and hanging out with his surf buddy, Frank. Isolated from his former life in finance, and frustrated by his current “out of work” existence, he worries that if he sits around the house for much longer, his workaholic wife might start to lose patience with him. He has few escapes aside from surfing and the love he has for his son.

But when the body of wealthy Wall Street investor Robert Townsend washes up on shore one morning, nothing about the incident makes sense to Pete, and he’s completely bewildered when the death is ruled an accidental drowning. But when he takes his concerns to the police, they ignore him—so he decides to investigate on his own. Sustained only by the unquestioning devotion of his three-year-old sidekick, Pete starts looking into Townsend’s eccentric relatives and employer, the ruthless and secretive private equity firm GDR. But has Pete deluded himself with this misguided quest for redemption? Or has he uncovered something sinister enough to risk his life, and even his family?

A Rough Way to Go is a raw, irreverent story that plumbs the depths of masculinity, unemployment, fatherhood, marriage, and modern capitalism—and the struggle to live a purpose driven life.

©2024 Sam Garonzik (P)2024 Grand Central Publishing

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Fleabag meets Gone Girl. A darkly funny, sometimes terrifying noir. Full of surprises. I couldn't put it down."—Jennifer Belle, bestselling author of Going Down

"With a sharp voice, unique perspective, and clever mystery at its core, A Rough Way to Go is a fresh take on the domestic suspense genre. I loved it!"—Robyn Harding, bestselling author of The Drowning Woman

"In A Rough Way to Go, Sam Garonzik focuses on the most frightening antagonist in contemporary American crime: money. Add to the mix an overwhelmed new dad looking to be a hero (like all new dads), and you've got a winning, nerve-jangling debut."—Andrew Pyper, author of The Demonologist and The Residence

Fantastic Debut

Most thrillers don't surprise me anymore so I appreciate that this one did. Also loved the narrator and will check out other books he's recorded. Write more, Sam!

Pete’s aimless mein.

Starts out as a thriller with Wall Street big shots in the cross hairs. Protagonist Pete Greene seems to have lost his soul and his initiative after getting fired from his job on The Street. He sees a suspicious death of a wealthy local as his life preserver.
So far so good. Then the book seems to spend way too much time on his feeling sorry for himself and way too little on any kind of cool gum shoe ingenuity . Set in a Montauk-like surf circle even the rush of catching waves or the oceans therapeutic magic never come to life. Once he is on the hunt for the killer almost every move he made I found myself thinking, “ That seems like it’s going to end badly. Why would you do that?” By the time the baffling end came to pass I felt I knew even less about the man and where he was going than I did when I started.
Just more bad thoughts and
misery rattling around in his head.
The whole journey left me as depressed as he was.
So I went surfing and put the whole thing behind me.

A delightful romp with a man trying to find his place in life.

Our character is an unemployed, new father, learning to adjust to big changes in his life. He’s a bit lost & overwhelmed, until he becomes a bit obsessed with an apparent surfing accident that claimed the life of a slight acquaintance. Unable to accept the ruling that the death was an accident, he probes into every aspect of the investigation, Even after the police have closed the case. The eventual outcome presents a wonderful plot twist! At that point, our protagonist if forced to view his life from a completely different aspect- and to make some seemingly impossible decisions.

The narrator was absolutely perfect for this book. His cadence, pacing, & mannerisms successfully captured all of the aspects of the personalities of each character. I have an Audible library of 1200+ books, & this one truly stands out for many reasons. Chose it, & join the challenges, angst, & introspection of a wonderful fictional character. Though it isn’t as complex, it reminded me a bit of The World According to Garp, in that the primary character is simply trying to find his way through life, somewhat oblivious to the waves & ripples that affect us.

Pretty Good…

Overall, I thought this book was quite good. I would say even better than good, except it did get a little convoluted for me and I got a little lost at times as to who was who, as well as parts dealing with the timelines. The narrator, however, was really fantastic(!), and I enjoyed his performance immensely! And why not as I looked him up and came to find he in fact is a professional actor!! So it really was a performance, and not merely a narration…BRAVO! ☺️

Pathetic main character

I hated how the main character responded to a stunning betrayal he discovered at the end of the story. So pathetic.

Great narrator!

This book has a rhythm, and the narrator got it !!!
What twists, I was going way off the trail w my thoughts, kinda like our main man!
Never saw that coming…

Ranting of a crazy man

A small surprise toward the end but that just makes the ranting whiny. Really can’t recommend this one

A unique and engaging thriller

I really enjoyed this novel. It is very well written and narrated. Peter’s a dedicated stay-at-home dad. He lost his job some years ago. When a wealthy finance guy mysteriously dies, solving the case gives Peter purpose. But it also leads to many unseen consequences. Big surprise ending! Recommended.

Mr. Mom plays detective

The story is surprisingly engrossing. There’s a mystery to be solved and this dedicated dad is determined to do it. Through a series of events and surprises the story comes together. You may not be satisfied with the ending but try it out.

It's okay.

This was a fast-paced tale that did a good book of keeping my interest even if there were some things I found irritating about it.
The main character is a likable bored house husband who's completely devoted to his young son while the wife is the busy business executive whos out with the girls in her spare time with no time for the the family. It's the cliché with role reversals.

It was just a bunch of little things that bothered me... like the child being so present and other times wondering where he was, and we he could talk to well.
It was just little details that were off or missing, and I couldn't help but wonder if they they were purposely ignored in hopes in would help the story flow or actually overlooked.

Toward the end, I thought maybe the husband was suffering from some mental illness for a while that had broke down his marriage, but then wondered if perhaps the author was trying to show that his wife had been abusing him all along... I'm still not sure. Maybe it's easier to follow that if you read it, although it did not feel as though it was difficult to follow at all.

It wasn't a bad story, and it did keep me engaged. The narration was good and fit the story. The twist was surprising enough. I would not turn anyone away from this listen and would likely try another book by this author.