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?

I wanted to love A Rough Way to Go. I really did. Unfortunately for me, though, with eighty percent of the book feeling nothing but filler, this book was tough to get through for most of the 350+ pages. I mean, I’m not kidding when I say that this was some serious stream of consciousness writing. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the endearing relationship between Peter and Luke and Garonzik’s ability to keep me utterly in the dark. Ultimately, though, I did skim much of the first two-thirds of the book.

That’s not to say that there wasn’t anything redeemable within these pages. Thanks to a captivating conclusion and true-to-life final twist, I got won over in the end. Well, for the most part, that is. In the beginning, I absolutely loved Peter’s first-person narration. Cocky, chock-full of sarcasm, and startlingly genuine, I wondered to myself more times than I care to admit whether this is how men really think. By the end, however, his droning monologue became a bit much. Still, out of all of the characters (excluding Luke, of course), he definitely was my favorite.

I was also blown away by the insight Garonzik had about being a stay-at-home dad after being laid off. The probable sense of feeling less then while also soaking up every enviable moment with a young child read as wholly authentic. Yet the minute details of Peter’s mostly boring life came off as—well—boring. For the plot of a mystery/thriller, I was simply expecting a bit more all said and done.

But the time I flipped the last page, though, I could feel the mixed emotions as they leaked from the pages. Not exactly wrapped up with a neat, little bow, I could nevertheless understand the conundrum that Peter found himself in. Sadly, however, it also felt somewhat anticlimactic. Especially after the buildup of the last 300 pages. Just the same, with short chapters, easy to read prose, an unexpected twist, and quite the revelation on society’s norms, I did enjoy it in the end and will definitely try whatever Garonzik writes next. Rating of 3 stars.

Thank you to Sam Garonzik and Grand Central Publishing for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

PUB DATE: May 21, 2024

Trigger warning: drinking and driving, infidelity, gaslightingadvanced-reader-copy drama mystery ...more44 s2 comments Pattyh779

Thank you for the opportunity to preview A Rough Way to Go. This book is written in first person. The narrator is an out of work dad His wife has a high stress job and makes a lot of money. He spends his days with his son and it’s not a bad life.
Soon they move to a small beach town outside of New York and the dad, Pete is trying to get used to the new environment.
But Pete is bored and soon he takes to the water. Surfing. He makes a friend. frank and things are good. Until one day a body washes up and Pete knows the guy. Police say it’s an accident. But… Pete just doesn’t think so. So he starts his own investigation.
Soon things change and it seems no one wants to see if there is foul play.
And Pete thinks people are following him and watching where he goes and what he does.
His wife doesn’t seem to care. And Pete’s quest to get to the truth is getting him in trouble. A lot of trouble. And the truth may be something that may kill him.
This is different and I did find it hard to put down. 3.5 stars4 s Tabitha -424 89

Thank you to @netgalley for the advance ecopy, as well as the publisher for an advance physical copy.

This one started strong for me. I really really enjoyed the narrator's voice and humor. The chapters are short and were flying by.

Unfortunately, by halfway I started losing interest in the story and getting sick of the same "voice" of the narrator.

I did skip to the end to see the big reveal and I d it.... I just wish it came faster (that's not what she said.
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