Sailor

by Tom Epperson

Acclaimed novelist of The Kind One and screenwriter of such films as One False Move and The Gift, Tom Epperson brings the violence-soaked world of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men and the heroism of Jack Schaefer’s Shane together to create an iconic action thriller for the 21st century.

Gina fell for the wrong guy. Joe came into her life promising her everything, and he gave it to her, along with a world of hell. But Gina was stronger than Joe realized. After years of suffering the terror of being married to a criminal, she took the one thing he ever gave her that she her son, Luke. Then she turned the bastard in.

With her husband behind bars, her father-in-law will stop at nothing for revenge. He wants his grandson back, the heir to his criminal empire. With a vast network that stretches across the country, every favor is called in to kill Gina and return Luke to his grandfather.

Gina can trust no one. Even the US marshal assigned to keep her and Luke safe is on the payroll. So with a gun and stolen diamonds in her purse—and derelicts, the law, and hit men on her tail—Gina takes Luke and runs.

Los Angeles was only supposed to be a quick stop—sleep, eat, and continue running—but then they meet Gray. He says he’s a sailor, but he seems to be hiding a lot. And when the time comes, he’s the only thing standing between her and the grave.

Tom Epperson is the cowriter, with Billy Bob Thornton, of A Family Thing (starring Robert Duvall and James Earl Jones; nominated for the Humanitas Prize), One False Move (named as one of the year’s best films by a number of top critics), and The Gift (directed by Sam Raimi and starring Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves, and Hillary Swank). Epperson’s first book, The Kind One, was nominated for an Edgar and a Barry Award in 2009. He lives in Los Angeles.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery Thriller

Audible Audio

First published March 1, 2012

About the author

Tom Epperson, a native of Arkansas, headed west to Los Angeles with his boyhood friend Billy Bob Thornton to pursue a career in show business. Epperson's co-written the scripts for One False Move, A Family Thing, The Gift, A Gun, a Car, a Blonde, and Jayne Mansfield's Car. His L.A. noir The Kind One was nominated for both the Edgar Award and the Barry Aware for Best First Novel. Four more books followed, Sailor, Roberto the Dark Tower Came, Make Believe, and Baby Hawk: A novel in verse. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, Stefani, two pampered cats, and two frisky dogs.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel has a very high body count. Unfortunately, some of the most interesting characters end up dead. The story is well-paced and the main character the "sailor" is interesting. The female lead, though, isn't a very sympathetic character and because she is the one in danger that the hero is trying to save, readers should really care about what happens to her. I ended up rooting for her son and not caring if she made it or not. It's a good read and very cinematic. I wouldn't be surprised if someone adapted it for film.

[Denise Billings · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story had me in suspense all the way to the very last page. Good read. I was still thinking about it this morning after finishing it last night. Did they ever find out if.....? I won't spoil it for you! I'll look for more by Epperson. He also cowrote one of my favorite movies, One False Move. My hubby was in it. What's not to love?

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed for Library Journal in the Feb. 15th, 2012 issue.

Library Journal
Gina Cicala and her young son, Luke, are between a rock and a hard place in this thriller by Epperson (The Kind One). Determined to escape the brutality of her mobster husband, she informed on him to the Feds. After entering witness protection, she and Luke were relocated to a small Oklahoma town. However, their hopes for a new beginning are dashed when a hit man shows up at their door and they realize they have been betrayed by those they trusted. Unable to reach out to the police for help, they must figure out a way to stay one step ahead of the Cicala crime family. Ending up in California, they meet Gray, a quiet, contemplative man who just may be their salvation. VERDICT: A high-energy read with a veritable smorgasbord of bad guys: a crooked U.S. marshal, a Russian hit man, a sweet kidnapper, and a Chinese power broker who reads the English classics. While the ending becomes bogged down with flashbacks to Gray's earlier life, this is a solid, engaging thriller with fully fleshed-out characters. Recommended for fans of gritty suspense novels who like their villains vulgar and their heroes noble.—Amy Nolan, St. Joseph P.L., MI

[Leslie Mesmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. A woman on the run, a man in the wrong place at the wrong time, a helpful,friendly do-gooder, and lots of bad men.
Although the main characters try to keep ahead of the bad guys, they keep getting found.
That is my one of my 2 complaints.
First being the woman is found pretty quickly and never wonders how they are finding her so easily when she is randomly driving around.
Second one is Gray. The author doesn't really explain him very much. Trying for that mysterious guy but it keeps him from having much depth to him.
In retrospect, in trying to help you get to know the people while they are also learning about each other it keeps the characters from having alot of depth.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. I found several of the characters to be pretty interesting. (Norman, Grey, Luke, etc., even a couple of the villains) I thought the storyline was pretty interesting and I wanted to find out what happened next. (Good sign)

However, I would stop short of highly recommending this book due to:
1) Body count
2) Enough with the C word already
3) I guessed that he and she would knock boots at 2/3 of the way through the book. I only missed it by 18 pages! If I can come that close (being a lousy predictor of anything) then it must've been really obvious.
4) Overkill ending

Too bad, too, because overall, it was a pretty engaging book.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a woman on the run with her son in tow. She is running from her father in law, a mob boss, who is out for revenge. He wants her dead and he wants his grandson back. Then the woman runs into the sailor. Now this guy is, of course, not all that he says he is. A lot of action and mindless violence fill this book along with some real whacked out characters. It sort of reminded me of No Country For Old Men, another great novel. I really enjoyed it and I think if it sounds interesting you should pick up a copy and try it on for size.

[Laddie Tabor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that is hard to put down. Fast paced, lots of action, lot of bad guys. Too much language for my taste, but it a book about the Mafia. The one issue I had was that I did not think the ending was realistic. There was no indication by the way it was written that the good guys could have known that the bad guys were dead. On the other hand, by finishing the book the way the author did it left an opportunity for a sequel.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story but a little uneven in its tone. Gray is a good main character/protagonist who hopefully will surface again in future novels. But the myriad bad guys were sometimes hard to keep track of and some of the bumbing antics of some of the bad guys seemed as odds with the violence in this book.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Action story with a lot of murders, murderers, and black comedy. The hero, Gray, a troubled individual, runs into Gina and 10 yr old son who are fleeing from Mafia and a crooked US Marshall. The chase is on and bodies fly and fall while the bad guys succumb, and plenty of innocent onlookers. A good read.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent novel, kudos Mr. Epperson, I could hardly stand to set it down for any length of time whatsoever. Didn't want to go to bed or anything, just read. You are definitely going on my list of authors to watch!

[Mike Cavosie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good story, but fuck, why so many sentence fragments? Which got really annoying.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Herky jerky writing + flat characters + and a plot that hasn't even thought about developing by page 80 = did-not-finish shelf.

[imsocrafty · Rating 1 out of 5]

Is it wrong that I wanted her to get whacked? I couldn't even finish listening to this one.

[Joyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many characters, too many plot lines, too little focus and motivation. Lots of things I like in Suspense, but this didn't work for me

[dmsburns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio book. Very good. Kept My interest. About a man, Gray who met a Woman and her son when he offered to chAnge their tire. They were on the run from father in law and a corrupt US Marshall.

[Rebecca Alston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really good book once you got around the foul language, killing (not just humans), and masturbation. It was a fast read and kept flowing.