The Unwilling by John Hart Book Review

This is the first book I "won" via BookishFirst. This is a book that I had my eye on and when I started to read the excerpt, I didn't even have to finish it to know it would be a good read. I was not disappointed.

This story takes place during the Vietnam war era and revolves around the French family, parents Bill and Gabrielle, twin sons Robert and Jason, and youngest son Gibson (Gibby for short). Like his father, Robert joined the service and went to Vietnam. He did not return. Jason, his twin, decided to join and serve in Vietnam as well. The only difference ... Jason came home a broken man. Bill is also a member of the police force, so when Tyra is murdered all suspicions point toward Jason as he knew Tyra; as well, some suspicions were pointed toward Gibby because he also had a brief encounter with Tyra. Then, Sara, Tyra's roommate, goes missing. Also, suspicions were pointed heavily toward Gibby because he was seen with Sara. Enter Becky Collins, a girl who has had a crush on Gibby since sophomore year in high school. There is also Chance who is Gibby's best friend. There are also a couple of really nasty dudes, one simply referred to as X who is basically in charge of Lanesworth Prison where Jason ends up. Then, there is Reece who is apparently X's lawyer, but really is just a pawn in X's endgame as are the warden of the prison and a few of the guards.

At the heart of the story is a family who has been hurt by the war, a father who only wants to love and understand his son (Jason) and wants to also protect his younger son (Gibson). Gabrielle, the mother, always favored Robert and wanted only to protect her baby boy, Gibson, and wanted nothing to do with Jason nor did she want Gibby to have anything to do with Jason. Of course, Gibby has some conflicting emotions himself, to include anger at his father and his mother for shunning, so to speak, Jason, and he wanted to be involved in his brother's life.

This is a well-thought out and written story of what a family goes through in trying to understand each other through a time in our history that was not an easy one.

Due out June 23, 2020
St. Martin's Press