'ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS'......A THRILLER RIPPED FROM THE '#ME-TOO' HEADLINES.....

One Of The Good Guys by Araminta Hall (2024)

          I feel the same way as many of my fellow reviewers do after reading this book. Conflicted ,perplexed, not quite sure of how to fashion a reasonable view.

       This much I can say with no hesitation. For generating lively and possibly heated discussion among readers, there may be no better Book Club selection than "One Of The Good Guys"

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          While it's structured as a thriller (and does a more than effective job of it), the book has a lot more on its mind than just making you go "oh wow!" at its twists. This book ignites a fully armed

 guided missile aimed at a patriarchal culture that keeps women living in fear of violence.

           We see the agenda through the points-of-view of its three major characters. Cole considers himself as an enlightened, liberal "good guy" in his experiences with women. Emotionally bruised from a bitter divorce from his wife Mel, he's taken a park ranger job amid a coastal landscape with a forbidding dangerous cliff. He kindles a potential relationship with Leonora, an artist who's taken residence in a cottage by that cliff. 

But in doing his job to keep people from tumbling off the cliff's edge, he ends up with an angry, unfortunate encounter with two young women. And they happen to be well known activist-vloggers taking a marathon hike to highlight violence against women.....and their recorded incident with Cole goes viral.

       When Mel and Leonora take over with their own separate narratives, we then get an entirely different portrait of Cole than the one he described for himself. And it's unsettling and at times, downright disturbing, much of it coming from Cole's insistence that Mel endure the grueling IVF procedures to help them conceive a child. He may think of himself as 'one of the good guys' but his overall entitled clueless behavior speaks otherwise.

      Then it's no wonder that when those two woman activists go missing after their encounter with Cole, he becomes a prime suspect.......and sets off a social media firestorm of podcasts and twitter comments.
But here's where book throws a live grenade into the proceedings with its whopper of a twist. Depending on your point of view, a reader can either feel a long overdue satisfaction or drop their jaws appalled at a twist that so pollutes the book's central issue, it leaves an ugly stain over the entire storyline. Or as one of the social media characters perfectly puts it, "I wouldn't want to have tea with any of them...."

    I'm not afraid to admit I lean a little toward the latter reaction, but I'd love to be a fly on the wall for those Book Club discussions ...(especially any attended by both men and women...)

         One thing undeniable though.....however it strikes you, "One Of the Good Guys" is a compelling read from start to finish......and with its subject matter in constant current events, it's probably one of best conversation starters of the year....making it not to be missed. See what you think and by all means chime in here.....3 stars (***)