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Pushback
A Finalist for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, Mainstream Mystery.Dave, an investment counselor with PTSD, survives a blowout that kills his fiancée, Allison.A year later, Dave has found unexpected happiness with Cathy. At Dave's high-school reunion, Dave is stunned that he doesn't recognize anyone there. Cathy, who was previously victimized by a con man, breaks it off. Late that night, Dave gets a "How does it feel to be so quickly forgotten?" Apparently, someone close to Allison is angry that he has moved on so "soon."Dave's PTSD symptoms make him avoid conflict at almost any cost, so he hopes this will pass. It doesn't. The harassment escalates. And now, someone is trying to kill him.Dave's only choices are to flee or stay and fight. He stays. And before the fight is done, multiple bodies lie in his wake. Someone picked on the wrong guy.Pushback is a finalist for the 2019 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense in the Mainstream Mystery/Suspense category, a finalist for the Book Excellence Award in thrillers, and a finalist for the Colorado Author's League Award in Mystery."Some people dream about going to their high-school reunion in their underwear. Dave Barlow goes to his and finds himself worse than naked—unrecognized. A lovely, twisty thriller that moves like a roller coaster—ratcheting up the suspense, then plunging into crisis, or doing a swift loop-the-loop through the flashbacks of PTSD before the climb starts again."— Diana Gabaldon, New York Times bestselling author of OutlanderAbout the AuthorJohn E. Stith is the award-winning author of multiple science-fiction novels such as Manhattan Transfer and Redshift Rendezvous, many with a strong mystery component. Deep Quarry, a private eye novel set on a distant planet, won the Colorado Authors' League Top Hand Award. Death Tolls, set on Mars, won another Top Hand Award. His Nick Naught private eye stories from Analog are collected in All for Naught.Stith's work includes best sellers, a Nebula Award finalist, a Seiun Award finalist, a La Tour Eiffel Science Fiction Book Prize finalist, HOMer Award winners, and Science Fiction Book Club selections.His work has also appeared on the New York Public Library Best Books for Young Adults list, Science Fiction Chronicle's List of Year's Best Novels, and the yearly Locus Recommended Reading Lists.
- GenresMystery
370 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2018
57 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
John E. Stith
23 books57 followersPUSHBACK , a mystery-suspense novel, was published in November 2018 and is a finalist for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, mainstream category.
PUSHBACK : At his ten-year high-school reunion, an investment counselor finds he doesn't know one person there, and soon realizes he must outwit an unknown antagonist who wants him dead.
"...unsettling Hitchcockian thriller...Judicious use of humor provides some relief from the dark plot line. Fans of Daniel Palmer-esque intelligent suspense will be pleased." -- Publishers Weekly
"Ordinary Hijacked by Extraordinary, With Comedy... what’s most captivating about PUSHBACK is that even with people like Dave Barlow—just an average guy doing average things—life can take a shocking turn for the worse. But the book reminds us that, also like Dave, we have the power to turn it right-side up again, with humor at the center of our inner strength." -- The Big Thrill, magazine of International Thriller Writers
Science-fiction author John E. Stith's works include REDSHIFT RENDEZVOUS (Nebula Award nominee from Ace Books), MANHATTAN TRANSFER (Hugo Award Honorable Mention from Tor Books), REUNION ON NEVEREND, and RECKONING INFINITY (on Science Fiction Chronicle's Best Science Fiction Novels list for its publication year, on the Nebula Award preliminary ballot).
His other novels are SCAPESCOPE, MEMORY BLANK, DEATH TOLLS, and DEEP QUARRY.
He's the author of ALL FOR NAUGHT, which collects "Naught for Hire," and "Naught Again" both first appearing in ANALOG. If you hear about "Naught for Hire" verbally, you might think the title is "Not for Hire" but it's not. Check out the Naught for Hire website for even more info on the upcoming webisode series starring Ben Browder.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 5, 2018
First review of this book ,usually a lovely privilege, but here more like a caution. Zero familiarity with the author’s work prior to this, but there were all those award nominations like Nebula and the plot sounded intriguing enough. Should have passed. Almost did, because nowhere was the page count for this one mentioned and I absolutely hate committing (to books in this instance) without knowing the duration of the commitment. Actually by my estimate this one is about 350 pages or so, which for something of this quality is much too long. Initially it seems like there might be a potentially interesting thriller material, but it quickly dissolves into an implausible convoluted plot, inane two dimensional characters and strictly pedestrian narrative. Maybe the author’s forte was science fiction and this venture into a different genre didn’t pan out, maybe this is a one off or maybe it just wasn’t meant to be all that good. It’s very personal according to the afterword (and tragically sad at that), but sincerity doesn’t translate into quality. Basic plot involves a 28 year old financial expert who has moved on from the tragic death of his fiancé in a car crash to being in love yet again with a woman whose only reliable description is consistently upbeat and has done so in a span of a mere year (this causes much contention in the book, but let’s face it, it is pretty freaking soon). Suddenly terrible things start to occur in his life one after another and (because the police prove hugely ineffective) he decides to solve this personally and then goes on to do so, despite being repeatedly attacked, shot, etc. and, of course, without any prior crime solving experience. Not that he needs it, because there are women all around him apparently unable to resist his nonexistent charm and they assist him in any way they can. Like you’d see with a more heroic protagonist. This guy just isn’t all that, he isn’t even particularly clever or funny, although he tries for funny. Mostly he’s just cheery, inappropriately so considering his circumstances, almost like someone told him he’ll bounce right out of all this into some sort of a happy place. His backup plan is Bolivia (something that’s mentioned with exasperating frequency), because nothing attracts a well to do American like a country with crazy high poverty rates and relatively low life quality index. Anyway, you can pretty much guess the outcome, including the ludicrously happy ending, because of the sort of book it is. The low hanging fruit kind of book. The one that isn’t clever or challenging in any way and therefore can be categorized as an easy reading sort of pablum. The only thing that seems to be well done here is the descriptions of surroundings, streets, scenery, etc., so it’s actually more of a guided tour than a thriller if one must go by quality alone. Mind you, it is readable, the way stupid tv shows are watchable, but it really just seems like a phoned in affair, so utterly lackluster, any potential squandered, any premise smooshed by mediocre writing, this is essentially the Bolivia of a suspense thriller, nice scenery, low quality of life. Cheap, cheesy, lite and easy, not worth the time and is bound to be forgotten almost immediately afterwards. Thanks Netgalley.
August 18, 2019
I usually review science fiction novels here. But when I came across Pushback, an adrenalin pumping mystery novel by John Stith, who wrote Red Shift Rendezvous, one of my all-time favorite science fiction novels, hey, how could I resist? Besides, the who dunnit of mystery and detective fiction is a close cousin of the what dunnit of science science.
Read the rest of my review here .
Read the rest of my review here .
September 11, 2018
I have read a couple of John Stith’s sci fi novels, so was curious how he would do with a crime/suspense novel.
Stith’s new book, PUSHBACK is a mystery/suspense novel set in Colorado Springs. Through his skillful writing we get an intimate knowledge of the main character, Dave Barlow, who suffers from PTSD. Within the first few sentences the author tells us that Dave finds two bullet holes in his car door. This puzzles Dave; and it immediately drew me (an amateur armchair sleuth) in. Who did it? And why?
Poor Dave, he doesn’t have time to investigate the matter because he has agreed to attend a high school reunion party with his girlfriend. Although it is HIS class reunion, no one there knows him and vice versa. His girlfriend hasn’t dated him for long and she can’t tell whether the problem lies with Dave or the party goers. So she plays it safe and breaks up with Dave! Dave is stupefied to say the least.
Stith uses awesome imagery to convey feelings of confusion or dismay.
Dave: “In my imagination I was an ocean diver swimming in the presence of a cluster of octopi squirting black ink that slowly transformed from tendril into clouds and gradually obscured the environment.”
As the story continues, Dave searches for the people who are harassing him and have caused his relationship breakup. He tries his “damnedest to avoid conflict”, but when his life and his girlfriend’s is endangered, he must come to terms with demons, within and without.
In this novel, Mr. Stith not only gives us fascinating characters, but also a detailed view of the lay-of-the-land in which his characters live and move. For example, “I headed west, then south, and soon passed the Garden of the Gods park, a mostly wild area where enormous sandstone rock formations jutted from the earth like the scales on the backs of gigantic half-buried stegosaurs.”
I especially liked what he wrote about Dave’s house. Dave’s house has “a view across a valley to the foothills and Pike’s Peak”. And then from Dave himself, “I loved this view. I loved this house.” Although Stith used the word “house” for Dave’s home, the warm feeling associated with a home moved me.
The plot of this novel has many twists and turns that kept me engaged throughout. I was always wanting to know what would happen next. If this turns out to be a series, I will definitely follow. His crime writing reminds me of Thomas Perry.
John Stith’s PUSHBACK will more than satisfy any reader looking for mystery and suspense.
Stith’s new book, PUSHBACK is a mystery/suspense novel set in Colorado Springs. Through his skillful writing we get an intimate knowledge of the main character, Dave Barlow, who suffers from PTSD. Within the first few sentences the author tells us that Dave finds two bullet holes in his car door. This puzzles Dave; and it immediately drew me (an amateur armchair sleuth) in. Who did it? And why?
Poor Dave, he doesn’t have time to investigate the matter because he has agreed to attend a high school reunion party with his girlfriend. Although it is HIS class reunion, no one there knows him and vice versa. His girlfriend hasn’t dated him for long and she can’t tell whether the problem lies with Dave or the party goers. So she plays it safe and breaks up with Dave! Dave is stupefied to say the least.
Stith uses awesome imagery to convey feelings of confusion or dismay.
Dave: “In my imagination I was an ocean diver swimming in the presence of a cluster of octopi squirting black ink that slowly transformed from tendril into clouds and gradually obscured the environment.”
As the story continues, Dave searches for the people who are harassing him and have caused his relationship breakup. He tries his “damnedest to avoid conflict”, but when his life and his girlfriend’s is endangered, he must come to terms with demons, within and without.
In this novel, Mr. Stith not only gives us fascinating characters, but also a detailed view of the lay-of-the-land in which his characters live and move. For example, “I headed west, then south, and soon passed the Garden of the Gods park, a mostly wild area where enormous sandstone rock formations jutted from the earth like the scales on the backs of gigantic half-buried stegosaurs.”
I especially liked what he wrote about Dave’s house. Dave’s house has “a view across a valley to the foothills and Pike’s Peak”. And then from Dave himself, “I loved this view. I loved this house.” Although Stith used the word “house” for Dave’s home, the warm feeling associated with a home moved me.
The plot of this novel has many twists and turns that kept me engaged throughout. I was always wanting to know what would happen next. If this turns out to be a series, I will definitely follow. His crime writing reminds me of Thomas Perry.
John Stith’s PUSHBACK will more than satisfy any reader looking for mystery and suspense.
December 15, 2018
Noted, award-winning science fiction writer John Stith's new book Pushback is a great, fast-paced suspense novel. While it captured my attention within pages, it taught what it must be like to suffer from PTSD. John is great at creating fringe catastrophic problems out of everyday situations that anybody could find themselves in the middle of.
If you like suspenseful thrillers, if you like mysteries, if you like Colorado (especially Colorado Springs), then you got to read this book.
Great job, John! One of your best - and I own most of them.
If you like suspenseful thrillers, if you like mysteries, if you like Colorado (especially Colorado Springs), then you got to read this book.
Great job, John! One of your best - and I own most of them.
November 27, 2018
Pushback
Mysterious Book Report No. 354
by John Dwaine McKenna
Serendipity is the ability to make a fortunate discovery by accident . . . which is just what happened to the MBR last summer, when an author we were interviewing asked if we had read or reviewed the work of a sci-fi writer named John Stith. “No,” the MBR is crime fiction oriented was the reply. “Well, you should,” she said, “because he just finished a psychological thriller that’s being released in November. It’s his first new book in eighteen years . . . and he’s one of your nearby neighbors.” Barbara Nickless gave us the contact info, and voila! We have a new writer friend just a half-dozen stone throws up the road with a compelling new novel to introduce and talk about.
Pushback, (Re-animus Press, $15.99, 339 pages, ISBN 978-0-9672984-6-7) by John Stith is his tenth work of fiction, the first of what we can only hope will be a series of mystery crime thrillers after an award-winning run of off-planet sci-fi yarns.
Pushback begins when a young investment advisor named Dave Barlow leaves work for the day and discovers that someone has put three bullet holes in the drivers door of his brand-new car and drawn a smiley face around them with a magic marker. Instead of going to the police, Dave covers up the damage with one of his employers magnetic signs. He avoids confrontation of any kind, because he suffers from PTSD due to a terrible tragedy when he was a little boy which left him an orphan. With that revelation, the author peels back the first layer of an increasingly complex plot, as he makes one disclosure after another until the entire mystery is laid bare.
And just to whet your appetite, here’s the next layer of this complex and mystifying whodunit . . .
The following week, when Dave takes his new girlfriend to his ten-year high school reunion, he doesn’t know anyone in attendence. Then, someone tries to kill him . . . but who, and why? The only way to find out, is by reading this meticulously well-plotted and insightful novel of psychological suspense that plumbs the deepest depths of the human heart and soul.
Mysterious Book Report No. 354
by John Dwaine McKenna
Serendipity is the ability to make a fortunate discovery by accident . . . which is just what happened to the MBR last summer, when an author we were interviewing asked if we had read or reviewed the work of a sci-fi writer named John Stith. “No,” the MBR is crime fiction oriented was the reply. “Well, you should,” she said, “because he just finished a psychological thriller that’s being released in November. It’s his first new book in eighteen years . . . and he’s one of your nearby neighbors.” Barbara Nickless gave us the contact info, and voila! We have a new writer friend just a half-dozen stone throws up the road with a compelling new novel to introduce and talk about.
Pushback, (Re-animus Press, $15.99, 339 pages, ISBN 978-0-9672984-6-7) by John Stith is his tenth work of fiction, the first of what we can only hope will be a series of mystery crime thrillers after an award-winning run of off-planet sci-fi yarns.
Pushback begins when a young investment advisor named Dave Barlow leaves work for the day and discovers that someone has put three bullet holes in the drivers door of his brand-new car and drawn a smiley face around them with a magic marker. Instead of going to the police, Dave covers up the damage with one of his employers magnetic signs. He avoids confrontation of any kind, because he suffers from PTSD due to a terrible tragedy when he was a little boy which left him an orphan. With that revelation, the author peels back the first layer of an increasingly complex plot, as he makes one disclosure after another until the entire mystery is laid bare.
And just to whet your appetite, here’s the next layer of this complex and mystifying whodunit . . .
The following week, when Dave takes his new girlfriend to his ten-year high school reunion, he doesn’t know anyone in attendence. Then, someone tries to kill him . . . but who, and why? The only way to find out, is by reading this meticulously well-plotted and insightful novel of psychological suspense that plumbs the deepest depths of the human heart and soul.
November 20, 2019
Looking over others' reviews, I get the picture that you either love it or hate it. Let me say emphatically that I LOVE IT ! Some others are very specific about what they don't like. I don't know where they get these opinions - they often reflect the things I love the most. The hero is no James Bond wannabe, just an ordinary (albeit well-to-do) businessman like you or me. No special skills, nor a retired SEAL team member. Just a guy you can relate to.
Full disclosure: I live in Colorado Springs, over 20 years, so am very comfortable with his location descriptions. They add something personal and special for me. But that doesn't make a book good in and of itself. What makes it good, first, is the delightfully twisted plot, often fun, always well crafted, as other reviewers have described. Second is his character development. I would give a lot to have some of them as friends. The twist where one person who starts as an "extra" employed to harass him but later becomes an ally is a lot of fun. Even better is another who was hired for very serious harassment, but changes sides when he realizes what is really happening. This character is so interesting that I have very strongly urged the author to make him the hero of a future series.
My reading for many decades has focused on Dean Koontz (since he was a neophyte) and more recently Lee Child (his Jack Reacher series) but I am now hoping for material to fill a John Stith bookshelf.
Full disclosure: I live in Colorado Springs, over 20 years, so am very comfortable with his location descriptions. They add something personal and special for me. But that doesn't make a book good in and of itself. What makes it good, first, is the delightfully twisted plot, often fun, always well crafted, as other reviewers have described. Second is his character development. I would give a lot to have some of them as friends. The twist where one person who starts as an "extra" employed to harass him but later becomes an ally is a lot of fun. Even better is another who was hired for very serious harassment, but changes sides when he realizes what is really happening. This character is so interesting that I have very strongly urged the author to make him the hero of a future series.
My reading for many decades has focused on Dean Koontz (since he was a neophyte) and more recently Lee Child (his Jack Reacher series) but I am now hoping for material to fill a John Stith bookshelf.
August 24, 2018
Thanks to NetGalley and ReAnimus Press for a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Publication of this title is scheduled for Nov. 1, 2018.
Dave Barlow, an almost 30-year-old financial advisor in Colorado Springs who has an obsession with Bolivia, narrates this story, which starts with two bullet holes in his new car followed by his attendance at his 10-year college reunion where no one recognizes him and he doesn't appear to exist. This set the whole plot in motion and had the potential to be a really good book, but it moved much too quickly into being unbelievable.
As events unfold, it is clear that someone is out to destroy Dave's life - personally and professionally. We get a clue very early in the book regarding who the culprit might be, but even though Dave is telling the story, he doesn't seem to come to the same conclusion as the reader. This book also employs the unfortunately often used plot line that the police are too busy and/or incompetent to solve crimes so the narrator must do it himself because he has more motivation to solve the crime himself. The issue here is that Dave doesn't have any background that would lend itself to him being a superior detective. I'm not saying financial advisors aren't smart, but they're not detectives. And Dave does a lot of law-breaking while he's gathering evidence, which would never hold up, and that doesn't seem to factor in at any point in the book. In addition, Dave withdraws a large sum of money from his bank account at a time in the story where it would be necessary for him to have readily available cash. Without spoiling anything, we're told at one point that he has now lost the money that was left in his car, but the amount he would need to buy all of the things he buys is probably more than would comfortably fit in his wallet. He just seems to have an endless supply of cash, and I couldn't reconcile that.
Another challenge I had with this was the character development, which was pretty much non-existent. The characters were completely unsympathetic and no one had any back story to speak of. The reader has no idea of how the characters got where they are in the present day. We learn a little bit about Dave's history only in that it is necessary for us to understand what's happening to him now (although I'm not sure that constant references to PTSD advanced the story at all), but there is no depth to the characters and I don't feel bad or good about any of them. I didn't care if Dave ever found out who was behind his troubles. I was curious about the motivation behind them, but it certainly didn't drive me to keep turning pages until I finished. I finished when I finished. I really wasn't in any hurry.
The writing style left a lot to be desired. I know this author has been nominated for awards for some of his science fiction work, and I haven't read anything of his before, but the writing style in this feels amateurish and stilted. And there were several instances where it seemed like he was trying to be funny or use innuendo that just fell flat. As I mentioned earlier, the author seems to be obsessed with Bolivia. There are 10 separate references to fleeing to Bolivia, heading to Bolivia, what do you think of Bolivia. Because clearly if you want to escape your current life, Bolivia must be the place to go?
Finally, this could do with a huge editing job because the details around where Dave is driving and what Dave is seeing are all too much. I believe in authors setting a scene, but if you don't live in Colorado Springs, you won't get many of these references and they're too much detail for anyone who doesn't live in Colorado Springs and has no frame of reference. Every time Dave got in the car to drive somewhere, I felt like I was reading Mapquest.
"I swung by my house to get my workout clothes and then drove up Centennial and then across on Vindicator to a strip mall anchored by a Safeway."
"Bruce lived in a neighborhood called Holland Park, on the west side, a few miles north of the parking lot I was in. I got onto I-25 and got off where Fillmore climbed to the west, one of the steepest major roads in the Springs. I made my way north through an idle construction zone, keeping watch for anyone following me. To the north, Centennial Boulevard swung downward in a gentle curve through the Holland Park neighborhood. I passed Hans Brinker and Amstel without seeing any windmills or dikes. Next was Amsterdam Drive and I took a right. One of the houses near the intersection had tulips growing in the front yard."
And then there were the weather reports: "The day was moderate, partly cloudy. White, puffy clouds, not thick, dark, lowering clouds." I really don't need that to set the scene.
All in all, if you're a fan of this author, you might enjoy this book more than I did. Otherwise, I recommend taking a pass.
Dave Barlow, an almost 30-year-old financial advisor in Colorado Springs who has an obsession with Bolivia, narrates this story, which starts with two bullet holes in his new car followed by his attendance at his 10-year college reunion where no one recognizes him and he doesn't appear to exist. This set the whole plot in motion and had the potential to be a really good book, but it moved much too quickly into being unbelievable.
As events unfold, it is clear that someone is out to destroy Dave's life - personally and professionally. We get a clue very early in the book regarding who the culprit might be, but even though Dave is telling the story, he doesn't seem to come to the same conclusion as the reader. This book also employs the unfortunately often used plot line that the police are too busy and/or incompetent to solve crimes so the narrator must do it himself because he has more motivation to solve the crime himself. The issue here is that Dave doesn't have any background that would lend itself to him being a superior detective. I'm not saying financial advisors aren't smart, but they're not detectives. And Dave does a lot of law-breaking while he's gathering evidence, which would never hold up, and that doesn't seem to factor in at any point in the book. In addition, Dave withdraws a large sum of money from his bank account at a time in the story where it would be necessary for him to have readily available cash. Without spoiling anything, we're told at one point that he has now lost the money that was left in his car, but the amount he would need to buy all of the things he buys is probably more than would comfortably fit in his wallet. He just seems to have an endless supply of cash, and I couldn't reconcile that.
Another challenge I had with this was the character development, which was pretty much non-existent. The characters were completely unsympathetic and no one had any back story to speak of. The reader has no idea of how the characters got where they are in the present day. We learn a little bit about Dave's history only in that it is necessary for us to understand what's happening to him now (although I'm not sure that constant references to PTSD advanced the story at all), but there is no depth to the characters and I don't feel bad or good about any of them. I didn't care if Dave ever found out who was behind his troubles. I was curious about the motivation behind them, but it certainly didn't drive me to keep turning pages until I finished. I finished when I finished. I really wasn't in any hurry.
The writing style left a lot to be desired. I know this author has been nominated for awards for some of his science fiction work, and I haven't read anything of his before, but the writing style in this feels amateurish and stilted. And there were several instances where it seemed like he was trying to be funny or use innuendo that just fell flat. As I mentioned earlier, the author seems to be obsessed with Bolivia. There are 10 separate references to fleeing to Bolivia, heading to Bolivia, what do you think of Bolivia. Because clearly if you want to escape your current life, Bolivia must be the place to go?
Finally, this could do with a huge editing job because the details around where Dave is driving and what Dave is seeing are all too much. I believe in authors setting a scene, but if you don't live in Colorado Springs, you won't get many of these references and they're too much detail for anyone who doesn't live in Colorado Springs and has no frame of reference. Every time Dave got in the car to drive somewhere, I felt like I was reading Mapquest.
"I swung by my house to get my workout clothes and then drove up Centennial and then across on Vindicator to a strip mall anchored by a Safeway."
"Bruce lived in a neighborhood called Holland Park, on the west side, a few miles north of the parking lot I was in. I got onto I-25 and got off where Fillmore climbed to the west, one of the steepest major roads in the Springs. I made my way north through an idle construction zone, keeping watch for anyone following me. To the north, Centennial Boulevard swung downward in a gentle curve through the Holland Park neighborhood. I passed Hans Brinker and Amstel without seeing any windmills or dikes. Next was Amsterdam Drive and I took a right. One of the houses near the intersection had tulips growing in the front yard."
And then there were the weather reports: "The day was moderate, partly cloudy. White, puffy clouds, not thick, dark, lowering clouds." I really don't need that to set the scene.
All in all, if you're a fan of this author, you might enjoy this book more than I did. Otherwise, I recommend taking a pass.
February 2, 2020
Pushback is an adrenaline-fueled thriller that follows our main characters Dave, a mostly likable conflict-averse investment counselor. Now in the past, Dave’s had a bit of bad luck….really bad luck. A year prior he was involved in a car crash that killed his fiancé Allison so that pretty much destroyed him. He also suffers from PTSD, not just because of the car crash but because of another horrendous event in his life, which the book reveals later on.
So now, it’s a year later, Dave has met a new woman named Cathy and for the first time in a long time, he feels happy and hopeful. The story begins by Dave discovering two bullet holes in the door of his car. He’s curious as to where they came from but pushes it aside for later because he had plans to take Cathy to his high school reunion.
But when they arrive, he is shocked to discover that he doesn’t one single person there nor does anyone there know him. Now it’s worth mentioning that Cathy who was victimized by a con man in the past, suddenly mistrusts Dave’s intentions and breaks up with him right then and there.
So Dave figures out pretty quickly that the entire reunion was a set up by someone who for some reason has it out for him; maybe someone who believed he’d moved on too quickly after his fiancee’s death. Someone who wants to end him.
But the reunion was only the beginning and the harassment escalates, becoming more dangerous, more extreme and more over-the-top each time, resulting in catastrophic consequences. Dave feels that running would be useless as his stalker would no doubt find him no matter where he goes.
The story hurtles along at breakneck speed, rarely giving the reader time to catch their breath as Dave’s situation becomes more and more dire — I mean to the extreme — until Dave has nothing left to lose. So he pushes back. Hard.
Though I thought that the novel started off a tad slow, it quickly picked up the pace and our main character finds himself in the most unnerving and unsettling situation possible, a situation where he has no idea why these things are happening or what his perpetrator is going to do next. The tension here is tortuous but in a good way. The fast-paced propulsive action scenes convey imminent danger vividly and the story had my heart in my throat the majority of the time while reading it.
Though the novel wasn’t overly twisty and full of surprises, it was an emotionally chilling and intense story and an absolute thrill ride once Dave is on the run for his life.
Stith here grabs you by the throat in the first chapter and doesn’t let go. It’s a brutal cobra of a story: slippery and unnerving, especially once the body count begins to rise. And the ending did not disappoint — the explosive way this story comes to a close is just the cherry on top of a wonderful book.
My only niggle was the amount of description, which felt a bit extreme in a few places. Some scenes could have used more emotion or more “showing” rather than “telling,” as some passages seemed like an overlay detailed laundry list of everything our character did.
But at the end of the day, Pushback is a pulse-pounding, edge of your seat nightmarish thriller that will leave you with one simple question: what would you do if you were in Dave’s situation?
So now, it’s a year later, Dave has met a new woman named Cathy and for the first time in a long time, he feels happy and hopeful. The story begins by Dave discovering two bullet holes in the door of his car. He’s curious as to where they came from but pushes it aside for later because he had plans to take Cathy to his high school reunion.
But when they arrive, he is shocked to discover that he doesn’t one single person there nor does anyone there know him. Now it’s worth mentioning that Cathy who was victimized by a con man in the past, suddenly mistrusts Dave’s intentions and breaks up with him right then and there.
So Dave figures out pretty quickly that the entire reunion was a set up by someone who for some reason has it out for him; maybe someone who believed he’d moved on too quickly after his fiancee’s death. Someone who wants to end him.
But the reunion was only the beginning and the harassment escalates, becoming more dangerous, more extreme and more over-the-top each time, resulting in catastrophic consequences. Dave feels that running would be useless as his stalker would no doubt find him no matter where he goes.
The story hurtles along at breakneck speed, rarely giving the reader time to catch their breath as Dave’s situation becomes more and more dire — I mean to the extreme — until Dave has nothing left to lose. So he pushes back. Hard.
Though I thought that the novel started off a tad slow, it quickly picked up the pace and our main character finds himself in the most unnerving and unsettling situation possible, a situation where he has no idea why these things are happening or what his perpetrator is going to do next. The tension here is tortuous but in a good way. The fast-paced propulsive action scenes convey imminent danger vividly and the story had my heart in my throat the majority of the time while reading it.
Though the novel wasn’t overly twisty and full of surprises, it was an emotionally chilling and intense story and an absolute thrill ride once Dave is on the run for his life.
Stith here grabs you by the throat in the first chapter and doesn’t let go. It’s a brutal cobra of a story: slippery and unnerving, especially once the body count begins to rise. And the ending did not disappoint — the explosive way this story comes to a close is just the cherry on top of a wonderful book.
My only niggle was the amount of description, which felt a bit extreme in a few places. Some scenes could have used more emotion or more “showing” rather than “telling,” as some passages seemed like an overlay detailed laundry list of everything our character did.
But at the end of the day, Pushback is a pulse-pounding, edge of your seat nightmarish thriller that will leave you with one simple question: what would you do if you were in Dave’s situation?
November 2, 2018
Dave Barlow is an investment counselor and discovers two bullet holes in his new car. But before he really can look into them, he takes his girlfriend to his ten year college reunion. But something strange is going on. He doesn’t recognize these people and they don’t know him either. His girlfriend takes this badly and breaks up with him. Thinking things couldn’t get worse, they do. It seems someone is out to get Dave. They want to destroy him completely.
Dave has some issues but is piecing his life back together after the death of his girlfriend in a car accident. He has found another girl and plans of going to his reunion. But things take a turn for the worse as it seems someone is determined to end him. From here Dave goes through hell trying to figure out who is after him and why.
This story has a rough feel to it. It’s not bad but there are a couple places that it just seems to stick. There are some descriptions that are way over done and then there is the whole Bolivia obsession. If the story would have been smoothed out I think that I would have liked it better. But that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad book. Although I might not have been as excited about this book doesn’t mean that it won’t be someone else’s top read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
Dave has some issues but is piecing his life back together after the death of his girlfriend in a car accident. He has found another girl and plans of going to his reunion. But things take a turn for the worse as it seems someone is determined to end him. From here Dave goes through hell trying to figure out who is after him and why.
This story has a rough feel to it. It’s not bad but there are a couple places that it just seems to stick. There are some descriptions that are way over done and then there is the whole Bolivia obsession. If the story would have been smoothed out I think that I would have liked it better. But that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad book. Although I might not have been as excited about this book doesn’t mean that it won’t be someone else’s top read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
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February 21, 2020Contemporary 1st person novel. The protagonist is recovering from the car-crash which killed his wife by taking his new love to a class reunion. Which has people who don't recognize him, nor whom he recognizes.
Other things happen to screw up his life, then worse, trying to kill him.
The protagonist goes around Colorado Springs trying to survive and to find out who's doing these things to him, and why.
Other things happen to screw up his life, then worse, trying to kill him.
The protagonist goes around Colorado Springs trying to survive and to find out who's doing these things to him, and why.
December 30, 2018
I am a sucker for a book about Colorado (Colorado Springs), and while this one kept me going, I am not sure why. It wasn’t very authentic (can you steal a cement truck with no evidence? Can you scrape a house in less than a day?),but I guess I was entertained.
February 3, 2019
I don’t really read mysteries but I will always read Stith. A whole universe of possible conspiracies and unlikely frame ups of our plucky narrator awaits. Also Colorado Springs now seems halfway interesting.
March 24, 2022
I enjoyed reading a book set in the Colorado Springs area, where I live. The book held my interest as I wanted to find out who was behind the harassment. That said, some of the harassment defied credulity, as did Dave putting himself in dangerous situations given what he was experiencing.
September 14, 2019
This was a very enjoyable book! The story is very well written, and the action scenes leave you wanting to read further!
October 21, 2020
If you're looking for an adrenaline-fueled, pulse-pounding, edge of your seat thriller, I highly recommend this book. It takes place in Colorado Springs which made it more enjoyable.
October 12, 2022
VERY good book - terrific storyline - took place in Colorado Springs, down the road from me. FAST PACED!!!!! His others seem to be SciFi - not my choice in reading, but this was GREAT (not SciFi)
October 29, 2022
Think about the worst day of your life and multiply that by a million... that is what Pushback is all about!
November 17, 2022
Very interesting
I loved that it was based around Colorado Springs. And the mysterious stuff that happened. A good read I would recommend
I loved that it was based around Colorado Springs. And the mysterious stuff that happened. A good read I would recommend
January 10, 2019
Dave Barlow was fine until he saw two bullet holes in his car. Another reminder of Allison, his fiancé, who perished in an auto accident a year ago. Dave had been the driver of the automobile. He was now with Cathy, a veterinarian, with whom he has great feelings for.
Cathy and Dave attend his class reunion - no one was familiar- he was not even allowed entrance! Cathy became overly angry and defensive to Dave about this. They parted ways. (The real reunion was LAST weekend).
This is only the beginning of Dave's nightmarish existence. His car and his house are ruined, He was poisoned, shot at, tailed and hit by an oncoming SUV. He ends up living in a motel, and then in his (third) rental car. Finally, he is mainly with the clothes on his back. Holly, who he has befriended, helps Dave out through thick and thin.
Dave suspects Ben, his fiancé's father and/or Kevin, Allison's, brother-in-law of being behind this mess. All Dave had were some pointed pictures and videos of his debacle.
Finally, Dave meets up with the "slim man" and things go haywire from there...
Many thanks to NetGalley and ReAnimus Press for an interesting read.
Cathy and Dave attend his class reunion - no one was familiar- he was not even allowed entrance! Cathy became overly angry and defensive to Dave about this. They parted ways. (The real reunion was LAST weekend).
This is only the beginning of Dave's nightmarish existence. His car and his house are ruined, He was poisoned, shot at, tailed and hit by an oncoming SUV. He ends up living in a motel, and then in his (third) rental car. Finally, he is mainly with the clothes on his back. Holly, who he has befriended, helps Dave out through thick and thin.
Dave suspects Ben, his fiancé's father and/or Kevin, Allison's, brother-in-law of being behind this mess. All Dave had were some pointed pictures and videos of his debacle.
Finally, Dave meets up with the "slim man" and things go haywire from there...
Many thanks to NetGalley and ReAnimus Press for an interesting read.
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