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Delivery
Permanently injured while defending his daughter, Ambo makes the decision to leave the city and settle in a secluded Somali enclave in Minnesota. To make ends meet, he scrapes out a living as a delivery driver, transporting an array of items both legal and otherwise.
During one seemingly simple assignment, Ambo makes a devastating discovery that pulls him back into his former life, plunging him into a violent world where black market surgeries, kidnappings, and murder are the norm. Searching desperately for a way out, he stumbles across a little girl whose father has made an unthinkable plan for one of her vital organs, and Ambo must find a way to help the child while ensuring that he doesn’t fall victim to the father’s ambitions himself.
During one seemingly simple assignment, Ambo makes a devastating discovery that pulls him back into his former life, plunging him into a violent world where black market surgeries, kidnappings, and murder are the norm. Searching desperately for a way out, he stumbles across a little girl whose father has made an unthinkable plan for one of her vital organs, and Ambo must find a way to help the child while ensuring that he doesn’t fall victim to the father’s ambitions himself.
- GenresFiction
235 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2020
28 people are currently reading
1721 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan R. Miller
11 books94 followers"Though his books are labeled literary thrillers, Miller is most concerned with his characters, who struggle with issues of discrimination, identity, ideological rigidity, and belonging."
- Poets & Writers Magazine
"The protagonist's story feels light-years from the typical hero's journey, consistently focusing on more existential themes—and the result is something unusually unsettling and unforgettable. A strange, inventive tale that evolves into a challenging and rewarding odyssey."
- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A bold, cerebral, and unnervingly intimate exploration of what happens when the need to make the world better collides with the corruptive pull of control. Miller balances cerebral depth with raw emotion, crafting a story that lingers long after the final page."
- BookTrib.
"Miller's skillful economy of language and penchant for playing the cards close to the vest — or chest plate — works to his advantage as the tale picks up momentum/mayhem and puts an intriguing, nonstereotyped lead character through pitfalls and deadly perils of parahumanity. Ghost in the Shell fans will have a blast."
- Kirkus Reviews
"A truly layered piece of fiction"
- ABC's news magazine program, "CityLine"
"High-tech thrillers with complex characters"
- San Jose Mercury News
"A lean, well-oiled narrative"
- Kirkus Reviews
Otherwise Award nominee and Kirkus Best Indie Books of 2025 honoree Jonathan R. Miller is an author of "magical realism" literary fiction novels, as well as sci-fi thrillers featuring diverse, complex characters.
Miller was born in Illinois, lived in New Mexico for most of his childhood, and then became a California transplant after undergraduate school at Stanford University. He was an 8th-grade teacher for 7 years in the Oakland public school system, and has worked as a writer/marketer in the San Francisco Bay Area ever since.
Miller's own multiracial heritage has had a strong influence on his thought processes and writing approach. His novels deftly explore issues of identity while providing storylines that are layered, thought-provoking, and moving.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 13, 2020
While reading Delivery, I enjoyed the characters and the pace after the first few chapters. This book is about Ambo, a man who works for a mysterious dispatch delivering packages and eviction notices to residents and hospitals. Ambo is blind but has a system implanted behind his ear that requires a battery for him to see. After the death of his daughter, Ambo comes across a girl chained in a man’s house when delivering an eviction notice. Without a second thought, Ambo rushes to her aid but discovers that it was her father that ordered her to stay there and is paying many police officers to keep quiet. Ambo decides that the best option is to take her to his home until he can figure out what to do. What Ambo did not know was that by taking this girl he would be in more danger than he ever could have imagined. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a heartwarming story.
August 31, 2020
Thank you to author Jonathan Miller for this FREE copy of Delivery. And thanks to Goodreads for hosting the opportunity.
I really liked it. Good story, well paced, nice set of characters. Great use of words to build scenery, people, calm, tension, etc. All very well done except for a handful or so of editing issues. Otherwise, strongly recommended. A good read.
And a surprise in the 'delivery' of this book was a copy of The Mortis! Thank you Jonathan! I look forward to reading that one shortly.
I really liked it. Good story, well paced, nice set of characters. Great use of words to build scenery, people, calm, tension, etc. All very well done except for a handful or so of editing issues. Otherwise, strongly recommended. A good read.
And a surprise in the 'delivery' of this book was a copy of The Mortis! Thank you Jonathan! I look forward to reading that one shortly.
June 8, 2017
Unforgettable!
This book is very hard to explain, yet easily read, and very easily understood. It is about a man who delivers things for a mysterious dispatcher. These things he delivers are rather unsavory. He has no idea who the dispatcher is. This man has a conscience and a well-developed value system. His deliveries devalue human life. The way this man deals with his job, his dispatcher, his family, and his value system make this an incredible story. This is one of my new favorite authors!
This book is very hard to explain, yet easily read, and very easily understood. It is about a man who delivers things for a mysterious dispatcher. These things he delivers are rather unsavory. He has no idea who the dispatcher is. This man has a conscience and a well-developed value system. His deliveries devalue human life. The way this man deals with his job, his dispatcher, his family, and his value system make this an incredible story. This is one of my new favorite authors!
September 9, 2020
I won this book through the Goodreads giveaway program, so thank you to the author for providing me a free copy of this book.
It took me a few chapters to get into the writing style, I didn't even know if I would get used to it. But once it clicks, it adds a lot to the atmosphere of the book. Especially since there is the use of Somalian words, the stark writing style that is outside of my comfort zone made me have to work harder to get the full breadth of the story.
The author cleverly uses every detail added to the characters and narrative to enhance the story. The main character's disability comes up throughout and the way it is handled is skillfully done.
Most of all though, this book was as thrilling as I could have hoped. From about a third of the way in, I was hooked and could not stop reading. The ending was not entirely predictable, though looking back it was led to quite well, which meant it more exciting to get to as I couldn't anticipate what would happen next.
It took me a few chapters to get into the writing style, I didn't even know if I would get used to it. But once it clicks, it adds a lot to the atmosphere of the book. Especially since there is the use of Somalian words, the stark writing style that is outside of my comfort zone made me have to work harder to get the full breadth of the story.
The author cleverly uses every detail added to the characters and narrative to enhance the story. The main character's disability comes up throughout and the way it is handled is skillfully done.
Most of all though, this book was as thrilling as I could have hoped. From about a third of the way in, I was hooked and could not stop reading. The ending was not entirely predictable, though looking back it was led to quite well, which meant it more exciting to get to as I couldn't anticipate what would happen next.
September 9, 2020
Well,I just finished reading Delivery.I like how the writer writes with nice crisp sentences and I like how descriptive are those sentences..This is about a man that makes deliveries with a big box truck and he delivers anything from eviction notices to hospital waste.He's a good guy put in a weird story.Sorry Jon, I don't usually get sick to my stomach but I did.And suddenly it came to an end and the description of that is not there.If that makes as much sense as the story.I won't be passing this one on to my Mother.I am glad I read it though ,just because.
November 20, 2020
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway. It is the story of Ambo, a delivery driver in Minnesota. He delivers mostly legal papers and also transports medical waste to an incineration facility. When he opens one of the bins that he is transporting, his life is forever changed.
December 29, 2021
I will admit I almost gave up on this book. It had a very slow beginning. Once I got to the little girl I was thrown into it! Her character really is the reason I finished this book. I definitely recommend giving it a chance
October 10, 2020
Loved the book. Great story
February 6, 2021
Won in the First Reads giveaway, review to come.
Read
March 24, 2022DNF. Sorry, I can't. The writing is grabbing me but I can't murder-revenge book read right now.
March 19, 2013
I will be putting an interview with the author up on my blog if you'd like to check that out, click here
After reading a lot of YA recently, every now and then mixing it up with some romance, this was definitely something else. But it was a good sort of different. Once I got past the beginning, which was a bit slow, I was enthralled by the story. The plotline got very intense all of a sudden and I found myself unable to put the book down. I am glad I read this book because it definitely reminded me of all the reasons why I like books outside of the YA and romance genres as well. It has also inspired me to read a bit more adult books and I will soon be picking up a thriller or two, since I recently bought a load of them.
As mentioned above this book had a bit of a slow start. It was partly because of the descriptiveness of the writing. On the other hand it also had to do with the fact that we were kept in the dark about where this story was headed. But once you read about that first swift turn of events you are instantly sucked into this whirlwind adventure alongside Ambojeem.
It was a very interesting ride to read about Ambojeem and the craziness that has become his life. It was fascinating to see how he handled all these curveballs that where thrown his way. This just felt like a very realistic and humane person. These are hard times that are upon him and still Ambo finds it in himself to care for others. It just gives you that little spark of faith in humanity, especially in this world that is growing so dark. I know this is a fictional book, yet I thought it was inspiring.
Ambojeem is half Somali and he uses a lot of Somali vocabulary in the book. Though usually it’s pretty clear what this word means, we never get a full, definitive answer as to what they mean in some cases. And this was sometimes a little bit of a let-down. As I said, the context often hints us into the right direction, but at times I was still a bit uncertain about certain words or phrases. Though these helped shaped the feel of the situation, I sometimes really wanted to know what these words meant. But this was definitely a minor irritation.
Check out this blogpost any many others here on my blog
After reading a lot of YA recently, every now and then mixing it up with some romance, this was definitely something else. But it was a good sort of different. Once I got past the beginning, which was a bit slow, I was enthralled by the story. The plotline got very intense all of a sudden and I found myself unable to put the book down. I am glad I read this book because it definitely reminded me of all the reasons why I like books outside of the YA and romance genres as well. It has also inspired me to read a bit more adult books and I will soon be picking up a thriller or two, since I recently bought a load of them.
As mentioned above this book had a bit of a slow start. It was partly because of the descriptiveness of the writing. On the other hand it also had to do with the fact that we were kept in the dark about where this story was headed. But once you read about that first swift turn of events you are instantly sucked into this whirlwind adventure alongside Ambojeem.
It was a very interesting ride to read about Ambojeem and the craziness that has become his life. It was fascinating to see how he handled all these curveballs that where thrown his way. This just felt like a very realistic and humane person. These are hard times that are upon him and still Ambo finds it in himself to care for others. It just gives you that little spark of faith in humanity, especially in this world that is growing so dark. I know this is a fictional book, yet I thought it was inspiring.
Ambojeem is half Somali and he uses a lot of Somali vocabulary in the book. Though usually it’s pretty clear what this word means, we never get a full, definitive answer as to what they mean in some cases. And this was sometimes a little bit of a let-down. As I said, the context often hints us into the right direction, but at times I was still a bit uncertain about certain words or phrases. Though these helped shaped the feel of the situation, I sometimes really wanted to know what these words meant. But this was definitely a minor irritation.
Check out this blogpost any many others here on my blog
July 14, 2016
This is the second book by Mr. Miller I've read. Totally different than Frend. Different style, different voice, different pace, different characters. Not really scifi as much as it is about crime and mystery. The first third of the book is really spent building and building for what's coming. If I had to rate just the first third, I would give it four stars, but the rest of the book bumps it to five for me. I read somewhere I think on Amazon that someone didn't care for the ending, but I'm the opposite, I thought the ending was the right ending.
July 10, 2015
I keep going back and forth on giving this book 3 or 4 stars. The first half of the book was slow, but the descriptive writing is excellent. The second half of the book is what really got me interested and it became harder to put down. I enjoyed Frend a lot more, but this was still a really well written story.
August 4, 2022
**Giveaway Winner**
This book was a wild ride! There was a turn everywhere and sometimes a lil implausible but very entertaining and super easy to read hehe.
This book was a wild ride! There was a turn everywhere and sometimes a lil implausible but very entertaining and super easy to read hehe.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews