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Saint Oswald
Oswald Means is a small-time hit-man and his criminal past is eating his soul in this crime noir novel by New York Times bestselling author Jay Bonansinga.
Oswald Means has had a tough life. Being a low level hit-man for the Chicago mob was not his first choice of career, and yes, the occasional phantoms of his victims do bother him. But being married to Matilda, the love of his life, has kept him going. Now her cancer has caught up to her and their time together is up.
Oswald has always kept his job a secret from his wife: she’s a free spirit with a spiritual side, and would be horrified if she knew. But to his shock, as she lies dying she tells him that she knows what he does. And that her dying vision is that they can only be together in the afterlife if Oswald saves as many lives as he has taken. Oswald is devastated at the thought of losing her for eternity. And he doesn’t even know how many targets he’s hit.
So, Oswald makes a plan to save people. He has a few false starts: dealing with people who may or may not want to be saved - that lead to darkly comic confrontations on bridges and rooftops. But then he gets a great idea, an idea that might solve all his hit-man problems .
Oswald Means has had a tough life. Being a low level hit-man for the Chicago mob was not his first choice of career, and yes, the occasional phantoms of his victims do bother him. But being married to Matilda, the love of his life, has kept him going. Now her cancer has caught up to her and their time together is up.
Oswald has always kept his job a secret from his wife: she’s a free spirit with a spiritual side, and would be horrified if she knew. But to his shock, as she lies dying she tells him that she knows what he does. And that her dying vision is that they can only be together in the afterlife if Oswald saves as many lives as he has taken. Oswald is devastated at the thought of losing her for eternity. And he doesn’t even know how many targets he’s hit.
So, Oswald makes a plan to save people. He has a few false starts: dealing with people who may or may not want to be saved - that lead to darkly comic confrontations on bridges and rooftops. But then he gets a great idea, an idea that might solve all his hit-man problems .
235 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2021
1 person is currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Jay Bonansinga
96 books390 followersThe national best-selling author of ten acclaimed books – both fiction and non-fiction -- Jay Bonansinga has been called “one of the most imaginative writers of thrillers” by the Chicago Tribune.
Jay is the holder of a master's degree in film from Columbia College Chicago, and currently resides in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife and two sons. He is also a visiting professor at Northwestern University in their Creative Writing for the Media program.
Jay is the holder of a master's degree in film from Columbia College Chicago, and currently resides in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife and two sons. He is also a visiting professor at Northwestern University in their Creative Writing for the Media program.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 16, 2021
Oswald Means is a small-time hit-man for the Chicago mob. On his wife's deathbed, she tells him that they can only be together in the afterlife if Oswald saves as many lives as he has taken. So, Oswald must come up with a plan to start saving people, but how do you do that?
This is a fast-paced, action-packed and fun crime noir novel with some supernatural elements that was much better than I had expected. It reminded me in away of the Charlie Parker series by John Connolly. It's well written and almost impossible to put down. I really hope there will be more books about Saint Oswald because this was a fun read.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Burns & Lea Books for the opportunity to read this book and to share my honest review.
This is a fast-paced, action-packed and fun crime noir novel with some supernatural elements that was much better than I had expected. It reminded me in away of the Charlie Parker series by John Connolly. It's well written and almost impossible to put down. I really hope there will be more books about Saint Oswald because this was a fun read.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Burns & Lea Books for the opportunity to read this book and to share my honest review.
April 13, 2021
What an unexpected gem this is!
Picked up on NetGalley mainly because I liked the cover I was soon sucked into the chaotic frantic world of Oswald Means, An American Indian Freelance Hitman.
When his wife asks him to atone for all his sins whilst on her death bed, Oswald becomes the saint of the title as he sets about righting the wrongs he’s done in the past - namely the killings, to do this he must save a life for every one he has taken.
This then becomes a surprising, addictive, thoroughly enjoyable, absolutely jet paced thrill ride as you barrel along in Oswald’s coat tails.
With help from his friend ‘Gerbil’ this story tells of their madcap and almost slapstick adventures. It’s completely crazy, completely brilliant and actually really quite heart warming as you take the giant bumbling killer to your heart.
Fantastic
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Picked up on NetGalley mainly because I liked the cover I was soon sucked into the chaotic frantic world of Oswald Means, An American Indian Freelance Hitman.
When his wife asks him to atone for all his sins whilst on her death bed, Oswald becomes the saint of the title as he sets about righting the wrongs he’s done in the past - namely the killings, to do this he must save a life for every one he has taken.
This then becomes a surprising, addictive, thoroughly enjoyable, absolutely jet paced thrill ride as you barrel along in Oswald’s coat tails.
With help from his friend ‘Gerbil’ this story tells of their madcap and almost slapstick adventures. It’s completely crazy, completely brilliant and actually really quite heart warming as you take the giant bumbling killer to your heart.
Fantastic
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
February 27, 2021
Oswald Means is a small hitman honing and peddling his dubious skills in Chicago, and when I say small I mean really small, a very small pebble on the bottom part of the mobster scale. And then Oswald Means has another problem, a problem that isn't made to fix things over so easily in his life at the moment . Oswald has a conscience, he is a professional killer blessed with the ability to fell remorseful sometimes and when he starts to think about the poor souls that he coldly dispatched on the other side of the great beyond, well it doesn't sit well with his conscience.....
Oswald is also married to Mathilda. He loves his wife and she doesn't know the real nature of his professional skills. Then one day Mathilda gets sick, she falls prey to cancer and Mathilda tells him that she had known all along that his professional skills weren't so spic and span. So because she is kind of religious and she feels that her life is ebbing slowly away she tells him that the only way they could be blissfully reunited in the afterlife, will be for him to promise that from now on he will have to become a do-gooder and save people lives instead of gunning them down. So Oswald goes on a crusade to keep people overground and not send them six feet under....
So far so good, but really????? Well, not so fast because soon everything starts to go bonkers and mayhem ensues of course...
Saint Oswald is the first title in a new series coming out of the twisted mind of the very talented Jay Bonansinga and boy it's a winner. A noirish caper full of delicious fireworks and character idiosyncrasies that had me in stiches all night long and got me into trouble because I laughed too loud. Fiendishly plotted with razor sharp dialogues this first title heralds the arrival of a wonderful character on the American crime fiction stage. Please Jay, please send us another one soon.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Burns&Lea for giving me the opportunity to wake everbody up in the middle of the night with my laughter before this wonderful novel was even released.
Oswald is also married to Mathilda. He loves his wife and she doesn't know the real nature of his professional skills. Then one day Mathilda gets sick, she falls prey to cancer and Mathilda tells him that she had known all along that his professional skills weren't so spic and span. So because she is kind of religious and she feels that her life is ebbing slowly away she tells him that the only way they could be blissfully reunited in the afterlife, will be for him to promise that from now on he will have to become a do-gooder and save people lives instead of gunning them down. So Oswald goes on a crusade to keep people overground and not send them six feet under....
So far so good, but really????? Well, not so fast because soon everything starts to go bonkers and mayhem ensues of course...
Saint Oswald is the first title in a new series coming out of the twisted mind of the very talented Jay Bonansinga and boy it's a winner. A noirish caper full of delicious fireworks and character idiosyncrasies that had me in stiches all night long and got me into trouble because I laughed too loud. Fiendishly plotted with razor sharp dialogues this first title heralds the arrival of a wonderful character on the American crime fiction stage. Please Jay, please send us another one soon.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Burns&Lea for giving me the opportunity to wake everbody up in the middle of the night with my laughter before this wonderful novel was even released.
March 22, 2021
4.5 rounded up
I found this in the Read Now section of Netgalley. Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for putting it out there. I really, really enjoyed it. (I was a little shocked. That's 3 for 3- all the ARCs I've read this week have been gems. That never happens.)
Saint Oswald isn't quite my usual fare. While I like my stories gritty, I'm less fond of writing which is, I'm not sure how to put it, mean? in tone. Acerbic, maybe. I'm an oversensitive person, it makes me feel a little uneasy. Saint Oswald was definitely acerbic. But it worked.
The story was heartwarming. No, really. Yeah, people get offed, there's violence, there's some extremely inappropriate language, there's one filthy shockingly absurd sex scene (which had me in stitches) and yeah, there are scenes like this:
"Billy Elgart bangs into the room and gets halfway to the stainless steel counter before dropping to his knees and roaring vomit.
Seven and a half Rusty Nails come spewing out across the lovely checkerboard parquet in a mini-tsunami of Drambuie, Scotch, macerated cherries, and salmon-colored bile. The retching noises fill the empty restroom and bounce off the tile walls." which, I for one, think is beautifully written, but...
Fundamentally, it's a story about a guy trying to do the right thing. Oswald is an immensely likable protagonist, as is his young protege, Gerbil. Hired killer though he was, you can't help but hope he succeeds in his quest so he can reunite with his dead wife in the afterworld.
The concept was great. It allowed for a fast-paced, action packed plot, but also some genuine emotion and pathos, and a few scenes that will make you laugh, hard. I enjoyed every page, and was delighted to see that it's the first in a series.
(One last thing. Is it just me, or were there a more-than-usual number of scenes with very fat women in strange situations? Like, a lot? The author actually mentioned Lane Bryant- twice. From the hugely fat old lady at the laundromat in the beginning of the book with the underwear fit for a Volkswagen bus, to the enormous woman getting a tattoo on her aircraft carrier bosom st the end of the book, with several other scenes in between, and a fat, once-crooked lady detective with Margaret Thatcher hair. It was... weird. Was it a running gag? Was it coincidence? I don't know.)
I found this in the Read Now section of Netgalley. Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for putting it out there. I really, really enjoyed it. (I was a little shocked. That's 3 for 3- all the ARCs I've read this week have been gems. That never happens.)
Saint Oswald isn't quite my usual fare. While I like my stories gritty, I'm less fond of writing which is, I'm not sure how to put it, mean? in tone. Acerbic, maybe. I'm an oversensitive person, it makes me feel a little uneasy. Saint Oswald was definitely acerbic. But it worked.
The story was heartwarming. No, really. Yeah, people get offed, there's violence, there's some extremely inappropriate language, there's one filthy shockingly absurd sex scene (which had me in stitches) and yeah, there are scenes like this:
"Billy Elgart bangs into the room and gets halfway to the stainless steel counter before dropping to his knees and roaring vomit.
Seven and a half Rusty Nails come spewing out across the lovely checkerboard parquet in a mini-tsunami of Drambuie, Scotch, macerated cherries, and salmon-colored bile. The retching noises fill the empty restroom and bounce off the tile walls." which, I for one, think is beautifully written, but...
Fundamentally, it's a story about a guy trying to do the right thing. Oswald is an immensely likable protagonist, as is his young protege, Gerbil. Hired killer though he was, you can't help but hope he succeeds in his quest so he can reunite with his dead wife in the afterworld.
The concept was great. It allowed for a fast-paced, action packed plot, but also some genuine emotion and pathos, and a few scenes that will make you laugh, hard. I enjoyed every page, and was delighted to see that it's the first in a series.
(One last thing. Is it just me, or were there a more-than-usual number of scenes with very fat women in strange situations? Like, a lot? The author actually mentioned Lane Bryant- twice. From the hugely fat old lady at the laundromat in the beginning of the book with the underwear fit for a Volkswagen bus, to the enormous woman getting a tattoo on her aircraft carrier bosom st the end of the book, with several other scenes in between, and a fat, once-crooked lady detective with Margaret Thatcher hair. It was... weird. Was it a running gag? Was it coincidence? I don't know.)
June 28, 2021
This book is such an unexpected thrill.
You expect the same sort of thing we've seen plenty of times before but this one IS different, Oswald Means is a lumbering giant who you can't help but root for and even empathise with. His dying wifs wants Oswald to atone for his sins and of course being a hitman there's many of them. We get to follow him as he tries to become Saint Oswald and let me say that it's definitely worth joining him on the ride to get himself in karmas good books.
Whole-heartedly recommended this book.
You expect the same sort of thing we've seen plenty of times before but this one IS different, Oswald Means is a lumbering giant who you can't help but root for and even empathise with. His dying wifs wants Oswald to atone for his sins and of course being a hitman there's many of them. We get to follow him as he tries to become Saint Oswald and let me say that it's definitely worth joining him on the ride to get himself in karmas good books.
Whole-heartedly recommended this book.
April 7, 2021
A fast-paced fun read. The saint isn’t a saint by choice, but out of obligation. So he can be reunited with his wife in the afterlife, he must atone for his sins as a second (or third)-class hit man. His escapades and efforts provide non-stop entertainment. I received an advanced digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and voluntarily provided an honest review.
February 16, 2021
This book was great. A criminal who develops a conscience and hijinks ensue. Couldn't put the book down. Can't wait for the next book in the Oswald Means series.
January 27, 2022
This was such a fun read. Fast paced, page turner with great characters. I also found it touching and dashed with unexpected laughs in the dialogue. A true heroes journey.
May 27, 2021
Jay Bonansinga's thriller is hardboiled and humorous, and completely un-PC. It's crude, rude, madly innovative and complexly original with a denouement aboard a moving train that well-and-truly puts Tom Cruise and the entire Mission Impossible franchise to shame.
Oswald Means is a 270-pound Native American with a real determination to get into heaven and join his late wife Matilda. A bit of a task for a hitman until he decides to seek redemption and he's only got until the next full moon to do it.
Full of fabulous characters - both living and dead - this is an outstanding novel I can't recommend highly enough.
Oswald Means is a 270-pound Native American with a real determination to get into heaven and join his late wife Matilda. A bit of a task for a hitman until he decides to seek redemption and he's only got until the next full moon to do it.
Full of fabulous characters - both living and dead - this is an outstanding novel I can't recommend highly enough.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews