Doodad

The Thrill is Back

John Hart’s latest novel, The Unwilling, is finally here

by page legget t Greensboro’s own John Hart,

New York Times bestselling author of fast-paced thrillers, has just wrapped up a virtual tour for his latest novel, The Unwilling, released on Februar y 2.

Set in a “bigger, dir tier, scar ier” version of Charlot te in 1972, the novel is told f rom severa l points of v iew.

T he thr iller beg ins w ith Jason French ’s ret ur n f rom three years in pr ison follow ing a dishonorable discharge f rom the Mar ines dur ing the Vietnam conflict.

“I created a nonexistent pr ison,” notes Har t. “Nor th Carolina never used the electr ic chair, but I wanted one.”

Jason is a heroin addict prone to v iolence whose folk s aren’t thr illed about his homecoming.

His younger brother, Gibby, desperately wants to reestablish a relationship w ith Jason, so they set out on a caref ree jour ney that takes a chilling t ur n when they encounter a pr ison transfer bus on a stretch of empt y road. Jason’s g irlf r iend, who taunts the pr isoners, is later murdered. A lthough Jason is accused, he isn’t the novel ’s v illain. T hat role belongs to a myster ious character k now n as X.

Har t’s intr icate, fictional plot began w ith t wo seeds f rom real life.

“First was the Mỹ L ai massacre in Vietnam and a brave soldier who stood dow n a murderous soldier intent on destroying a v illage,” Har t says. “He faced v ilification. It was 30 years before he was recog nized as a hero.”

T he second came f rom a moment that happened 30 years ago. Har t and his then-g irlf r iend were headed to Wr ightsv ille Beach and ended up on a deser ted road w ith a pr ison transfer bus. W hat if the g irl in the conver tible, he wondered years later, lif ted her shir t?

“T hen, I w rapped those [ideas] up in a family stor y that takes place in a communit y split by war.”

Har t c a me to t he w r it ing life t he sa me way fel low b estsel ling aut hors S cot t Turow a nd John G r isha m did — by first b eing a law yer.

“I was a prett y unhappy law st udent and then a prett y unhappy law yer,” he admits. He had t wo unpublished book s, a w ife and a young child and realized he needed time and space to focus on w r iting.

“With my w ife’s blessing, I quit my law practice,” he says.

It might not have happened at the break neck pace of his novels — and, he admits, it cer tainly didn’t happen over night — but Har t event ually landed on what readers love most about his cr ime thr illers: characters they care about.

With T he Unwilling, Har t has done it again. OH For more infor m at ion about T he Unw i l ling an d upcoming @johnh ar t au -v ir tu al event s, v isit johnh ar t fi ct ion.com or foll ow th or on In st ag ram.