The Good Father

A Novel

By: Noah Hawley

Narrated by: Bruce Turk, Arthur Morey, Ryan Gesell

From the award-winning creator of the TV show Fargo and author of the best seller Before the Fall, an intense, psychological novel about one doctor's suspense-filled quest to unlock the mind of a suspected political assassin: his 20-year-old son.

As the Chief of Rheumatology at Columbia Presbyterian, Dr. Paul Allen's specialty is diagnosing patients with conflicting symptoms, patients other doctors have given up on. He lives a contented life in Westport with his second wife and their twin sons - hard won after a failed marriage earlier in his career that produced a son named Daniel. In the harrowing opening scene of this provocative and affecting novel, Dr. Allen is home with his family when a televised news report announces that the Democratic candidate for president has been shot at a rally, and Daniel is caught on video as the assassin.

Daniel Allen has always been a good kid - a decent student, popular - but, as a child of divorce, used to shuttling back and forth between parents, he is also something of a drifter. Which may be why, at the age of 19, he quietly drops out of Vassar and begins an aimless journey across the United States, during which he sheds his former skin and eventually even changes his name to Carter Allen Cash.

Told alternately from the point of view of the guilt-ridden, determined father and his meandering, ruminative son, The Good Father is a powerfully emotional pause register that keeps one guessing until the very end. This is an absorbing and honest novel about the responsibilities - and limitations - of being a parent and our capacity to provide our children with unconditional love in the face of an unthinkable situation.

©2012 Noah Hawley (P)2012 Random House

Critic reviews

“The father of a man who assassinates a presidential candidate tries to make sense of his son’s crime in Hawley’s gripping new novel.…With great skill, Hawley renders Dr. Allen’s treacherous emotional geography, from his shock and guilt to his growing sense that he knows far less about his son than he thought.…Hawley’s complicated protagonist is a fully fathomed and beautifully realized character whose emotional growth never slows a narrative that races toward a satisfying and touching conclusion.” ( Publishers Weekly)

“ The Good Father is hypnotic and haunting and I lost all track of time when I was reading it. Suddenly the day had become night and still I was engrossed in one father’s poignant story and Noah Hawley’s mesmeric tales of a long litany of assassins.” (Chris Bohjalian, author of The Night Strangers, The Double Bind, and Secrets of Eden)

Almost Really Good

If you could sum up The Good Father in three words, what would they be?

Almost Really Good

Who was your favorite character and why?

The father and his transition from unbeliever to acknowledgment was really done well, as any of us with children can relate.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

The narrator did a good job of being objective in his performance, and keeping an even keel as the story developed.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Reality Show

Any additional comments?

I listened to this book days after the Aurora, CO theatre shootings. Also, I am from Tucson, AZ, where the Gabby Giffords shooting occurred (contrary to the book naming Phoenix as the place of the shooting), so this type of story was especially personal. In addition to the Phoenix error, there were other blatenly incorrect statements (such as the statement that Montana had no speed limits ((they were put in place in 1999)) that I would have thought any first-year editor would have caught and corrected. These types of errors were jarring, and although I liked the book overall, they diminished my enjoyment of it.

A Gut Punch

Loved this book start to finish. Seldom have I listened to a book that captures what it's like to be a parent -- what it's like to fail as a parent -- as much as this book.

Hits Close To Home

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to many. This book brought back many personal memories to me. My sister's murder, almost 20 years ago, was made more difficult and confusing due to the murderer's family and their behavior during the investigation and subsequent trial preparation. Her murder was no "smoking gun", and a confession. The murderer was caught just following the act and the evidence was overwhelming. Years later, and in retrospect, this book does a good job of the explaining the murderer's mother and the reasons she behaved the way she did.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Good Father?

The moment the father could no longer pretend his son was innocent.The study of the power of denial is very eye opening.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

An excellent narrator.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I had to read, think about what I read, then read again.

Any additional comments?

A very good read, and excellent study of parental love, guilt, and surviving the unimaginable.

Humanity

What I like most about Noah Hawley is how he imbues his characters with their own unique and complex humanity. Their actions do not seem to simply be plot devices as they could, but rather intricate aspects of their personalities. There is more vulgarity than I am comfortable with and the frat house chaos was graphic and seemed more descriptive than necessary. I loved the way that the assassination histories were woven in as "case files". I think they added a richness to the characters.

This could have easily been a book about gun laws, full of anti-firearm sentiments, but I felt as though guns were only a piece in the puzzle of frayed souls of the men and women that took them up with the intent to harm. I left this book feeling a catharsis and a healthy burden to love those around me and express deep gratitude for the resilience of the human spirit and rich power of connection.

What is is

It was a good ending. I felt it was satisfying and wrapped it up nicely.

You'll make up reasons to drive

Keeps you thinking and wanting more
Well read and well presented
Recommended
Stayed in the car several times to steal a few more minutes

Great Story Telling

I especially liked the narration by other characters and the historical backdrop.
Vivid descriptions. Grand imagery.

Not what I expected

Too much time spent on previous assassin/attempted assassins. I wasn't looking for a history lesson. A bit of a disappointment.

Starts great then Slows to a Stutter

Would you try another book from Noah Hawley and/or the narrators?

This is my first time reading Noah Hawley....I might give him another try...maybe....probably not.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Disappointed with the last half of the novel - the plot line completely slowed, almost to a stop, and became the narrator's psychological self-examination and ruminations, which were even repetitive down to the same sentence within a few paragraphs at times.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The performance was average. Perhaps somewhat emotionally distant, which did not help with the plot line either.

Was The Good Father worth the listening time?

I've listened to over 200 audiobooks and this was one of maybe 3 that I've ever considered not finishing.

Any additional comments?

Disappointing. The novel starts off with great storyline premise but gets lost in the father's self psycho-analysis half way through.

I was drawn in from the start . . .

I was drawn in from the start by both the story and the prose. The author's use of metaphor and descriptive language borders on poetry all the while delivering a story that, as a parent, I found heartbreaking. Well worth the read even if it does leave you drained.