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Envy the Night
by
Michael Koryta (Goodreads Author)
"Michael Koryta earns a seat at the high table of neo-noir crime writers by putting a fresh spin on the fathers-and-sons narrative."
---The New York Times
“Koryta is one of the best of the best, plain and simple.”
---Michael Connelly
“I’ve read the heir apparent. There is grit and determination in this writing; there is heart and character; the threat of violence first simme...more
---The New York Times
“Koryta is one of the best of the best, plain and simple.”
---Michael Connelly
“I’ve read the heir apparent. There is grit and determination in this writing; there is heart and character; the threat of violence first simme...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
August 5th 2008
by Minotaur Books
(first published January 1st 2008)
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Feb 16, 2012
Almeta
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Almeta by:
Gatorman
I suspect that Koryta has finally hit his stride. For some reason I stuck with him, having a sense that he had great potential. This book confirmed that impression.
The descriptions of the lake and the terrain are those of a person who must love this particular view from his own backyard.
The thoughts and actions of each of the players stayed true to their nature throughout the book. Because of the unpredictability of human nature, plot nuances switch with lightning fast pace. As an observer, I fo...more
The descriptions of the lake and the terrain are those of a person who must love this particular view from his own backyard.
The thoughts and actions of each of the players stayed true to their nature throughout the book. Because of the unpredictability of human nature, plot nuances switch with lightning fast pace. As an observer, I fo...more
3 likes · like · see review
view all 6 comments
Feb 23, 2009
Michael
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Any mystery fan.
Recommended to Michael by:
Read about it in "Deadly Pleasures"
Fans of Stephen Hunter are sure to think that they've died and gone to heaven when they read this captivating book.
It's as if Hunter's character Bob Lee Swagger has returned to provide another adventure. In Hunter's work, Swagger is a decorated former Marine sniper who served in Viet Nam. He is living the legend of his father, former Arkansas State Trooper Earle Lee Swagger.
In "Envy the Night" Frank Temple III his warrior family tradition. Frank Temple fought on D Day and continued in the mil...more
It's as if Hunter's character Bob Lee Swagger has returned to provide another adventure. In Hunter's work, Swagger is a decorated former Marine sniper who served in Viet Nam. He is living the legend of his father, former Arkansas State Trooper Earle Lee Swagger.
In "Envy the Night" Frank Temple III his warrior family tradition. Frank Temple fought on D Day and continued in the mil...more
While it really bugs me that some reviewers feel they must reiterate the plot and storyline, my comments are simply to tell you how I felt as I read through the chapters and, finally, arrived at the last lines.
Throughout the story (and 2 other of his books), I enjoyed his use of the language and his skill at creating realistic dialogue among his characters. In my opinion, his characters are more "real" than many thriller comic book style superheros. There is a graciousness that often spills into...more
Throughout the story (and 2 other of his books), I enjoyed his use of the language and his skill at creating realistic dialogue among his characters. In my opinion, his characters are more "real" than many thriller comic book style superheros. There is a graciousness that often spills into...more
Mar 05, 2013
Jane Stewart
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery-suspense-thriller,
5-star-other
Wow. Really good suspense thriller. Good ending. Good lines. I didn’t want to stop reading.
I liked Frank. His hit man father trained him with guns and fighting. When faced with violence, he’s lightning fast and tough. It’s fun that bad guys have no idea what they’re up against. But Frank does not want a violent profession. He has been wandering for several years, trying different colleges. He thought about writing.
I liked the character Ezra. He came from Detroit where he was around too much viol...more
I liked Frank. His hit man father trained him with guns and fighting. When faced with violence, he’s lightning fast and tough. It’s fun that bad guys have no idea what they’re up against. But Frank does not want a violent profession. He has been wandering for several years, trying different colleges. He thought about writing.
I liked the character Ezra. He came from Detroit where he was around too much viol...more
3 likes · like · see review
Michael Koryta's "Envy the Night" is a very good revenge novel and a very good thriller. The characters of Frank Temple III, Ezra Ballard, and some others are well drawn. Frank is a highly skilled warrior with a grudge and Ezra is a real killing machine. No wonder they remind me of Robert Crais' Elvis Cole and the ultimate killer, Joe Pike.
The reader gets the whole picture of what is going on by about one-third of the book, and from then the plot moves speedily towards a long and explosive conc...more
The reader gets the whole picture of what is going on by about one-third of the book, and from then the plot moves speedily towards a long and explosive conc...more
"Envy the Night" is a taut crime thriller in the Dennis Lehane/Harlan Coben vein. It is also Michael Koryta's first stand-alone novel. His first four novels featured the Perry/Pritchard detective duo. This story is about Frank Temple III, a twenty-something young drifter with a strange and sordid family history: his father, a U.S. marshall, committed suicide after an FBI investigation revealed that he was also a mob hit-man for years. The story made national news and it also made (at the time) 1...more
Seven years ago, Frank Temple III learns the secret about his father Frank Temple II who had a prestigious job as a FBI officer but also led a dual life as a contract killer. To avoid prosecution and humiliation he commits suicide after being turned in by someone very close to him – Devin Matteson.
When an old friend calls Frank III and informs him that Devin is returning to Wisconsin, Frank decides to avenge his father’s death. He has been home-schooled by his father in all the skills needed to...more
When an old friend calls Frank III and informs him that Devin is returning to Wisconsin, Frank decides to avenge his father’s death. He has been home-schooled by his father in all the skills needed to...more
Really enjoyed my first novel by Michael Koryta.
Frank Temple III found out 7 years ago that his father, a US Marshall, was also a contract killer. Those 7 years he has drifted around the country trying hard to come to terms with the loving father he knew being the monster that the public perceives him to be. He believes that the son of one of his father's buddies, Devin Matteson, is the informant that gave his dad up to the FBI. When this informant heads back to the isolated cabin on a Wisconsi...more
Frank Temple III found out 7 years ago that his father, a US Marshall, was also a contract killer. Those 7 years he has drifted around the country trying hard to come to terms with the loving father he knew being the monster that the public perceives him to be. He believes that the son of one of his father's buddies, Devin Matteson, is the informant that gave his dad up to the FBI. When this informant heads back to the isolated cabin on a Wisconsi...more
An award winner in 2008 for LA Times Mystery fiction and shows its quality in setting a searing pace right from the outset and the momentum never lets up much. Leaving aside the cast of characters with which Koryta established himself in particular PI Lincoln Perry. Featuring Frank Temple III the son of a war hero turned hitman who has been taught the tricks of the trade by his father since his youth and then misled by the FBI into thinking he was sacrificed by another of his former army colleag...more
This book was Phenominal!! As a serious fan of mysteries and thrillers this book was a welcome addition to genre that in my opinion has become a little flat. I will preface that comment by saying that as a creature of habit I have been reading the same authors for 15 or so years it seems. I have only in the last 6-8 months (partially due to joining Good Reads) have a stepped out of my dark room and into the light of what are some most amazing authors.
Michael Koryta being one of them. I can't sa...more
Michael Koryta being one of them. I can't sa...more
I to a chance with a Audible sale and found this new mystery from an author I hadn't read before. This turned out to be a good idea.
Frank Temple III has some baggage he can't seem to get rid of; his father was a Federal Marshall doing some contract killing on the side. He returns to the family cabin in WI to confront, and kill, the man the FBI told him was instrumental in his father's career move. Frank has a lot to deal with and the author spends a lot of time with flashbacks and character musi...more
Frank Temple III has some baggage he can't seem to get rid of; his father was a Federal Marshall doing some contract killing on the side. He returns to the family cabin in WI to confront, and kill, the man the FBI told him was instrumental in his father's career move. Frank has a lot to deal with and the author spends a lot of time with flashbacks and character musi...more
Once you buy in to the back story of the main character, this book takes off and tells a fast-moving story of good guys versus professional killers up in the Wisconsin woods. The main character, frank Temple, is the son of a U.S. Marshall who had a sideline as a contract killer before he was eventually found out and committed suicide.
Whew, that's a lot of baggage. You don't meet many people whose parents were that screwed up; or who did that much messing with their heads. So you have to buy this...more
Whew, that's a lot of baggage. You don't meet many people whose parents were that screwed up; or who did that much messing with their heads. So you have to buy this...more
I don't know whether the thriller nature of this book made me feel that many things are unclear in this book. I feel the plots are somewhat hastily written. I didn't expect the killings at the climax being turned out that way. Also, although I think that the name Frank Temple the Third of the protagonist sounds cool, but I think the author should give him more conversations. Maybe the author wanted to construct this character as a mysterious, yet hard-to-catch man who is mourning his father's de...more
The novel is based on two guys' hatred for a third guy who has betrayed someone close to them and is also a murderer. They determine to do nothing about this third guy unless he goes to a place by a lake that has strong emotion attachment for the first two guys. If he goes to that place they will kill him, otherwise nothing. Nothing in between like involving the police, trying to trap him, or anything else. It's all or nothing. If he goes to the lake, they kill him; if not, they do nothing. This...more
After three successful P.I. novels featuring Lincoln Perry, Michael Koryta has written a stand-alone thriller that is superior to them all. Koryta first arrived on the crime scene as the new kid on the block. He was 21 when he penned the outstanding TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE, which made him the youngest winner of the St. Martin’s Press annual private-eye contest. Koryta then wrote two more Lincoln Perry novels: SORROW’S ANTHEM and A WELCOME GRAVE. The last one was nominated for the 2008 Shamus Awar...more
I was very disappointed in this, my second Koryta novel. I believe he is an extremely talented writer, but if I was his editor I would have had him go on to something else and may e come back to this idea when he was more refined. I found this overblown, stilted and unnatural. I don't want to ruin it for his die hard fans, so I won't criticize anymore. I need a really good Koryta to compensate for this. I couldn't even finish it. Fortunately he isn't listening to me and I have no doubt he is get...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Frank Temple III drives through the night to Wisconsin. He is returning to his father’s cabin as a result of a call from Ezra Ballard, one of his father’s closest friends. Frank Temple Jr. has been dead for seven years; he was an F.B.I. agent and a contract killer who committed suicide when his cover was about to come apart at the seams. Frank is looking for the man who informed on his father and caused his suicide. Frank plans to kill him. Nora Stafford has run Stafford’s Collision and Custom o...more
PROTAGONIST: Frank Temple III
SETTING: Wisconsin
SERIES: Standalone
RATING: 4.5
Being the offspring of an infamous person can generate some serious baggage for an individual. That is certainly the case for Frank Temple III, whose father was a Federal agent who became a contract killer. That bad choice of Frank Temple II's led to his death. He taught his son many lessons, including how to be quick in the face of danger. Despite the way that his father died, Frank III feels a strong need to atone for...more
SETTING: Wisconsin
SERIES: Standalone
RATING: 4.5
Being the offspring of an infamous person can generate some serious baggage for an individual. That is certainly the case for Frank Temple III, whose father was a Federal agent who became a contract killer. That bad choice of Frank Temple II's led to his death. He taught his son many lessons, including how to be quick in the face of danger. Despite the way that his father died, Frank III feels a strong need to atone for...more
Koryta, Michael. ENVY THE NIGHT. (2008). ***. This looks like the beginning of a series character, Frank Temple III. Frank is the son and grandson of American heroes, although his dad pooped out in the end. His dad, Frank II, was an FBI operative turned hired hit man. When this was revealed, Frank II decided to take his own life rather than live with the shame. Frank III has to overcome all this and has been hopping around the country for about seven years avoiding people who knew his father and...more
ENVY THE NIGHT (Thriller-Frank Temple III-Wisconsin-Cont) – Ex
Koryta, Michael – Standalone
Thomas Dunne Books, 2008, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9781312361587
First Sentence: Frank Temple III walked out of the county jail at ten in the morning with a headache, a citation for public intox, and a notion that it was time to leave town.
Seven years ago, Frank Temple learned that his FBI agent father had also been a contract killer. His father was committed suicide just before he was to be arrested. Frank lear...more
Koryta, Michael – Standalone
Thomas Dunne Books, 2008, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9781312361587
First Sentence: Frank Temple III walked out of the county jail at ten in the morning with a headache, a citation for public intox, and a notion that it was time to leave town.
Seven years ago, Frank Temple learned that his FBI agent father had also been a contract killer. His father was committed suicide just before he was to be arrested. Frank lear...more
Frank Temple III grew up never having to wonder if his dad loved him. His father, Frank Temple II, was supportive and present and loving. The only problem: he was also a hit man, a murderer for hire. When the FBI finally cornered Frank II, he committed suicide, leaving behind the younger Frank, conflicted and lost. Frank III was only seventeen and society had deemed his father a monster. Frank knew his father to be different, but then how do you reconcile the father with the hit man? Especially...more
This was Koryta's first published stand alone, following three of his Lincoln Perry books, and I wonder if it was actually written before those successful books. The writing is dragged out and the action sequences are repetitive. Too many characters are given POV chapters that add pages but not depth to the story. Why three stars then? Even at his weakest story telling, Koryta is a master at sense of place. This time it is "Up North" aka the Northwoods of Wisconsin, and he gets it very, very rig...more
I have enjoyed reading Koryta, though I've read some of his newer books first. While this one didn't have the same feel to it (the others had more of a supernatural eeriness to them), I didn't like this one any less. I certainly could be wrong, but I feel as though the device of the remembered and driving words of Frank II laid the ground work for later books and more use of the dead. If I'd had more time to read, I would have finished it way sooner than I did, however it was a real page turner...more
Mar 31, 2012
Diane Fordham
added it
I only recently discovered this crime writer. Michael Koryta makes it difficult to put this book down. I particularly liked it because the story isn't told on a detective's point of view but on the point of view of an infamous hit man's son. This book is packed with suspence, the bad guys are truly scary, the twists are breath taking and the conclusion satisfying. I truly enjoyed this one.
Envy the Night was a fair bit more violent than the Lincoln Perry series. Yet, the brutality actually enriched the gripping, well-crafted plot and the engaging characters. The use of vivid details made it easy for me to imagine that lonely lake in the Wisconsin woods. Also, Koryta's ability as a storyteller made the back-story of the protagonist particularly captivating.
Touted as one of the top mysteries of 2008, this book fell apart for me about 2/3 of the way in. The characters and plot were interesting up to that point, although the "mystery" wasn't much more than a series of misunderstandings, but then it became an overly long--and tedious--shootout. The final twist was not bad, but came from nowhere.
This is a nearly perfect mystery novel. Well developed, sympathetic and interesting characters, a fascinating backstory, a budding romance, a thrilling plot. It doesn't get much better than this. Some parts dragged just a bit for me, so if I could I'd give it 4.5 stars, but I thought I'd be generous. All Koryta's books have been really good, but I think this may be his best.
Not bad. Lots of action. The body count was pretty ridiculous in this book. Kept me entertained for hours of unpacking.
Interesting back story. Lots of potential with the characters. Unfortunately, Koryta didn't quite create a connection between the reader, Nora and Frank. I was interested in what happened to them, but I wasn't invested. Even the big reveal didn't quite pack the punch that it had the potential to do. It could have been a showstopper, but it just didn't quite make it.
Interesting back story. Lots of potential with the characters. Unfortunately, Koryta didn't quite create a connection between the reader, Nora and Frank. I was interested in what happened to them, but I wasn't invested. Even the big reveal didn't quite pack the punch that it had the potential to do. It could have been a showstopper, but it just didn't quite make it.
Crime fiction- I don't usually read but my mother was telling me about a new book by Koryta and I had to read something old first. Koryta is from the same area where I grew up and attended IU. The story was good and typical of this genre; I liked the writing okay, easy, and I had to find out what happened.
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Michael Koryta (pronounced ko-ree-ta)has written nine novels, praised by such authors as Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane, and his most recent novel, THE PROPHET, was called "Friday Night Lights meets In Cold Blood...a flawless performance" by Kirkus. His last three novels, THE RIDGE, THE CYPRESS HOUSE, and SO COLD THE RIVER were all New York Times notable books and no...more
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“You became what you wanted to become. That's what Ezra believe. You could become it if you tried hard enough, could take what you really were and change it, force-feed yourself a new life until it became your old life, too, blurred together until a better self emerged.”
—
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