Reviews for The Intruder

The average rating for The Intruder based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-04-26 00:00:00 Andres Bermudez If you're tired of the cotton candy fiction that populates the bestseller lists, a book like Peter Blauner's The Intruder just might hit the spot. Beautifully written, wonderfully evocative of city life, this is a thriller for the middle-brow crowd (and there's not many these days -- there doesn't seem to be a great many writers between the Jonathan Franzen side of the aisle and, say, the James Patterson). The book involves three men (and a few exasperated women) -- the book's protagonist, Jake Shiff, a New York lawyer who overcame a rough and tumble childhood to establish an upper crust life; John Gates, an on-again off-again junkie who got clean long enough to find a wife (also a junkie) and daughter and begin a career with the subway system, but who lost everything following an accident in which his daughter was killed; and Philip Cardi, a low-level, closeted and self-loathing hood trying to work his way out of his Uncle Carmine's grip (all while not being 'outed'). In turn, each of these men 'intrude' into the other's lives. Two brutal murders, and the moral implications of each, bookend the story. Keenly interested in sociology, Blauner delves into the similarities between the men. Although each occupies a vastly different social strata, in very real and disquieting ways they're all men traveling through their very own circle of hell. Brute self-interest, a barely functioning moral compass (and nonexistent for one of them) inhibits the lives of each, but even more disastrous seems to be their self-imposed isolation. Blauner seems to conclude that men make their own prisons and then curse the bars. Last night, with ten pages left to go in the novel, I was almost positive that Blauner couldn't wrap up his story. Satisfactorily, anyway. Boy, was I wrong. The conclusion was horrifyingly perfect. A family on the verge of obliteration, aided by a man who lost his, bands together to end their nightmare. I'll definitely hit up Blauner again (although I'm a little down that he's only written six, and nothing in nearly a decade), and if you're looking for a novel that's not simply to pass the time but to truly engage with (but aren't quite up for a Great Novel) then you could do a helluva lot worse than The Intruder.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-12-01 00:00:00 Robert Stockman A great read although a little chilling. I really enjoyed this book and read it very quickly due to getting hooked from the start. I plan to read more of Peter Blauner.