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    The Destroyers: A Novel
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    The Destroyers: A Novel
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    The Destroyers: A Novel
    Ebook640 pages14 hours

    The Destroyers: A Novel

    By Christopher Bollen

    3/5

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    Currently unavailable

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    About this ebook

    An Esquire Best Book of the Year • A Paste Best Novel of the Year

    Recommended by the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, TIME, Vogue, Paste, New York Post, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Seattle Times, Yahoo!, Refinery29, BBC, PopSugar, Boston Herald, New York Social Diary, Library Journal, Bookstr, Kirkus

    “A seductive and richly atmospheric literary thriller with a sleek Patricia Highsmith surface." —New York Times Book Review

    "Equal parts Graham Greene, Patricia Highsmith, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Destroyers is at once lyrical and suspenseful, thoughtful and riveting." —Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You

    “Superb. . . . A read-all-night of a book.” —Alan Furst, author of A Hero of France

    Arriving on the stunning Greek island of Patmos, Ian Bledsoe is broke, humiliated, and fleeing the fallout from his father’s death. His childhood friend Charlie—rich, exuberant, and basking in the success of his new venture on the island—could be his last hope.

    At first Patmos appears to be a dream—long, sun-soaked days on Charlie’s yacht and the reappearance of a girlfriend from Ian’s past—and Charlie readily offers Ian the lifeline he so desperately needs. But, like Charlie himself, this beautiful island conceals a darkness beneath, and it isn’t long before the dream begins to fragment. When Charlie suddenly vanishes, Ian finds himself caught up in deception after deception. As he grapples with the turmoil left in his friend’s wake, he is reminded of an imaginary game called Destroyers they invented as children—a game, he now realizes, they may have never stopped playing.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 27, 2017
    ISBN9780062330000
    Author

    Christopher Bollen

    Christopher Bollen is the author of the critically acclaimed novels The Lost Americans, A Beautiful Crime, The Destroyers, Orient, and Lightning People. He is a frequent contributor to a number of publications, including Vanity Fair, the New York Times, and Interview. He lives in New York City.

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    Reviews for The Destroyers

    3/5

    21 ratings4 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Here's the thing: I didn't not like this book.In fact, I was definitely hooked at the beginning. A man at the end of his rope, Ian Bledsoe, ends up on a Greek island to reunite with his childhood best friend, Charlie. But as more and more events transpire, Ian thinks Charlie may have invited him there to play their childhood game, Destroyers--only this time, it's not pretend.It's a fascinating premise. But my problem was how long it took to play out. Bollen has a wonderful writing style, but I felt like the book simply went on too long--a problem I didn't have with Orient, Bollen's book that was equally long but I found far more enjoyable. The twists in The Destroyers are definitely surprising, but by the time I got to them, I just wasn't as invested as I wanted to be.
    • 4/5
      After his wealthy but estranged father dies, leaving him no inheritance, Ian steals $9,000 from a family account and travels to Patmos, Greece, to ask a rich childhood friend, Charlie, for a job. Charlie agrees to make Ian second-in-command in his chapter business, but then disappears, leaving Ian to work out what Charlie has been up to and where he has gone.This novel was very long, but mostly gripping. I struggled with the fact that "Sonny" was a female character, and also with the excessive use of strange and complicated descriptions, similes and metaphors, e.g.:"Light moves aquatically across the ceiling, and dust motes Milky Way through it. The patio door is scythe-blade-streaked with glass cleaner."There were many passages like this where it took me a couple of goes to work out what on earth the narrator was saying. I found the plotting fairly good, apart from a slight confusion as to SPOILERexactly when and under what circumstances Charlie and Miles agreed that Miles would murder Stefan. All the characters were unlikeable, including Ian, who seemed to believe he had a real heart for the underprivileged, but regarded $9,000 as a negligible amount of money and had no interest in doing a decent day's work. Despite this, I found myself rooting for him as he investigated. A satisfactory ending.
    • 4/5
      This is a great beach read! It reminded me a bit of John Fowles’ THE MAGUS and a bit like Patricia High Smith’s THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY. Very entertaining!
    • 4/5
      Lots of nice little hooks that kept me interested in this slow-boil of a story which wasn’t all that surprising, but was entertaining. At the heart of it are two childhood friends; one rich and one super rich - Ian and Charlie. Neither are starkly black villains, but neither are snowflake pure and so we know that something is afoot when Charlie doesn’t admit to knowing one of the bombing victims and there aren’t hordes of tourists clamoring for his private boating services. If you read enough of this kind of thing you know Ian is being maneuvered more than he is taking advantage of a friend. You know that Charlie’s business is a front and that his disappearance could be of his own doing. Then there are killings and dropped hints that go nowhere. The pacing isn’t perfect, it lags a bit in the middle while Ian fumbles around and tells a lot of lies. Also - guys. Please. Take note. Womens’ bodies aren’t that mysterious. Check out an anatomy book before writing the following -“Her breasts expand and contract with each breath.” - p 161Uh. No. Lungs expand and contract with each breath. Rib cages do. Breasts are just along for the ride. We don’t breathe with them, boys. He wrote this again later on, but I didn’t note it. A woman has just stood up and turned around to face Ian - “Her face and vagina are competing for my attention…”Oh. No again, Christopher. The lady parts in question are her labia. Vulva would also be acceptable, but the only way you get to see a vagina is with a speculum.Sigh. Really. Oy vey.