Man of the Hour (unabridged)

Rating:
Summary: A Great Novel!!
Review: In these jaded times it sounds corny and false to say that a writer just keeps getting better and better, but in Peter Blauner's case, it's the absolute truth. Although his novels have the pacing of thrillers, I consider them to be the very best urban fiction of our age. From "Slow Motion Riot" to "Man of the Hour", Blauner has brilliantly dramatized the perils and rewards of life in urban America in a way that makes the territory his alone. If you dig a great story...if characters you'll never forget are your thing, make "Man of the Hour" the next book you read.

Rating:
Summary: Man of the Hour
Review: Peter Blauner did a great job in writing MAN OF THE HOUR because he took a fictional story and mixed it with reality. Blauner sends the message that our lives are not set because you could be going on with your normal life and then one act can change your life forever. He shows us this through David Fitzgerald, a teacher, who begins by getting everything ready for a field trip before all of the kids get on the bus, but one girl who was pregnant. The next thing you know the bus is in flames and he is saving his student's lives.
The character that sticks in my mind is Dave Fitzgerald, because he is going through a troublesome time in his life and then the bus blows up and and makes everything worse. The way he handled the problems at first showed that he was a weak man and then later he starts to handle the situation like he has been through it before.
I expected this book to be about a building blowing up and Dave Fitzgerald saving someone. As I was reading, things that I thought wouldn't happen did happen. I believe that this book should be made into a movie because the plot was always changing and it was extremly vivid. I would recommend this book to people who like suspense, action, and thrillers book because MAN OF THE HOUR has it all.

Rating:
Summary: Decent Audiobook Fare...
Review: There was a lot more to this tape than it seemed at first "reading." At first, I found myself a little wary of a terrorist plot, given how the very subject is super-charged with anxiety. The plot, however, was more about a young man caught in very conflicting societies and belief systems, a teacher who wants to be better than he believes he is, and a sister's love of her brother making it near impossible to do the right things.

The plot is basically itself quite straightforward: a teacher is catapulted to fame when a school bus bombing gives him an opportunity to shine through with courage: he saves one person from the bus. It doesn't last, however, as he is soon the key suspect in the bombing. As the real terrorists plan a new assault, the teacher's life falls apart, and the sister to the man who planted the bomb starts to realize what is going on, the tension jacks up, notch by notch.

Joe Mantegna has a good voice for this tale, moving from the voices of a Moslem teen to a Brookyn teacher with ease, and without sounding overmuch like a bad stereotype. His pacing is excellent.

It's a strong enough story to entertain, and it did make me think a little about the nature of courage and sacrifice.

'Nathan

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Page Turner
Review: This is a book right out of today's headlines. Extremist Religious groups, Overzealous Media, Misguided youth, Violence, it's all in this book. Yet the plot brings this all together in one believable story. The author does a great job at showing each character and why they are performing such atrocities or why they have such courage to stand up for their believes. At some points you almost feel sorry for the bad guys because you know why they are in this predicament. This is a fast paced story with great characters and plot development, you will find yourself turning one page after another while you are engulfed in the story.