Book Review: Gods and Fathers by James LePore

Gods and Fathers by James LePore

Publisher: The Story Plant

Publish Date: February 7, 2012

Paperback, 300 pages 
Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
 ISBN: 978-1611880298

My Review:
This is the type of thriller I have been missing.  A little dark, but with moral lessons, and great characters, Gods and Fathers will be a suspense/thriller that I think about for quite awhile after I have finished it.  I will continue to process what happened in the book and think about the characters.  It's a true thriller in that it kept me turning the pages, but it also had me invested in the characters.  Mr. LePore has scored a home run with me with Gods and Fathers and found a loyal fan to read his previous books and any future books as well.

I love a good thriller and anyone who reads them knows that the plot drives them.  And the plot does drive Gods and Fathers.  I went through the whole book trying to figure out who did it and why.  There were a sufficient number of suspects that I was always kept guessing and I never could figure out the whys no matter how many hints Mr. LePore threw out.  The plot was really well done.  I think it was very carefully crafted.  It was also well-paced. It was never too slow nor did it feel too rushed towards the end.

The plot was a main part of this book, but the characters stood out as well and were crafted too.  I loved Matt.  He's a hot-head who is not perfect, but he has worked out a life for himself.  He's a solid A.D.A. and from what we learn early in the book he has cultivated a lot of friends through the police department.  This turns out to be very important.  However he is estranged from his ex-wife and his son.  When his son is accused of murder, his carefully crafted life is turned upside down and all he wants to do is make things right for his son.  So we see him as a good dad doing whatever he can for a son who really doesn't seem to like him.  But we get to see things change through the book and that is what I loved watching as much as the suspense plot.  The growth and change of characters is thrilling in and of itself.  Mr. LePore breathes real life into his characters and makes the reader really care for them.  I found myself truly invested in Matt, Jade, several of the police officers and eventually even Michael who seems cold and spoiled at the beginning.

Gods and Fathers is full of plots and thrills and interesting characters.  It's a hard book to put down.  I put in my earphones, some peaceful music and sat down and tuned out the world around me (my boys playing in the living room where I read) and enjoyed this book for an evening.  I escaped to a frightening world of New York City and a underbelly I hope to never know.  However the policemen, Jade and Matt, I would love to know them since they would sacrifice just about anything to find out the truth and bring it to light.  Those are the people I want on my side if I was ever in trouble.  Gods and Fathers is a wonderful book if you enjoy suspense/thrillers or if you want to jump into the genre for the first time.  I don't think I can say enough about this novel.  It really was that amazing to me.  Fast-paced, great characters, interested plots and sub-plots, just a solid suspense/thriller that has me dying to get my hands on more of James LePore's books.

My Rating: 5.0/5.0


About the Book:
Matt DeMarco is an accomplished Manhattan attorney with more than his share of emotional baggage. His marriage ended disastrously, his ex-wife has pulled their son away from him, and her remarriage to a hugely successful Arab businessman has created complications for Matt on multiple levels. However, his life shifts from troubled to imperiled when two cops – men he's known for a long time – come into his home and arrest his son as the prime suspect in the murder of the boy's girlfriend.

Suddenly, the enmity between Matt and his only child is no longer relevant. Matt must do everything he can to clear his son, who he fully believes is innocent. Doing so will require him to quit his job and make enemies of former friends – and it will throw him up against forces he barely knew existed and can only begin to comprehend how to battle.

Gods and Fathers is at once a powerful mystery and a provocative international thriller, all of it presented with LePore's signature fascinating characters placed in dire circumstances where every choice poses new and potentially fatal challenges.

Nationally bestselling author James LePore has established a reputation as a writer whose vividly drawn characters and morally complex plots have kept readers up to all hours turning pages. His new novel promises more sleepless nights and more nonstop thrills.

About the Author (from Goodreads.com): 
In 1999 I sold my law practice to write and take pictures full time. My photography can be seen at www.nakedeyeimages.com. In 2008, I signed a four-book contract with The Story Plant, a small, agile publisher in Stamford, Connecticut. My first novel. 'A World I Never Made,' was released in April of 2009; the second, 'Blood of My Brother,' on December 25, 2010, and the third, 'Sons and Princes,' in April, 2011. Reviews are on my website, or just Google me. I have also written six short stories that stand alone as pieces of short fiction, but that are meant to accompany my first two novels. The first three of these was released in February, 2011, under the title, 'Anyone Can Die.'

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FTC Information: I received this book through Partners in Crime book tours for an honest review.  I do make money from purchases made at The Book Depository and B&N.com, but all money is used to fund giveaways and shipping for giveaways from the blog.