Michael Koryta is one of a few writers who shifts from genre to genre even though it is considered career suicide to do so. Koryta however, seems to actually thrive on it!  Known as a crime/suspense novelist, Koryta shifted into supernatural novels like So Cold the River or The Ridge but in The Prophet, he returns to his roots of crime and suspense.

Adam and his brother Kent couldn’t be less alike. Adam, a PI  and a bail bondsmen, lives a life that is not much different than the criminal element he works with. His life experience makes him wary, suspicious and untrusting. His brother Kent on the other hand is the head coach for the local high school team and is loved and respected his staff, his team and his family. Hardworking and religious, Kent believes in people’s goodness, even his own, even though, ironically, he has not spoken to his  own brother in years.

On the eve of the playoffs, the girl friend of one of the team’s best players goes missing and is eventually found murdered. As the details of the murder come to light,  Adam and Kent are implicated and inexorably caught up in the investigation.  Eerily similar to the murder of their sister years ago, Adam and Kent now have to face their long suppressed memories while also trying confront this new evil that is trying to destroy their lives.

Koryta’s characters, especially Adam and Kent, are realistic and act from motivations that seem true and consistent with their personalities. Delving deep into the murderer’s mind Koryta makes his insanity seems rational which makes him all the more creepy and maniacal.  Koryta spent a year with a high school football team doing research for this book and the way he writes about the relationship of the coach with his team and how the individual boys of the team relate to each other clearly shows the insights he gained from that research. Koryta ensnared me again with a wonderfully written suspense novel that is also an ode to brothers and football: it is a perfect summer read. Enjoy!

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 Stars out of 5)

Recommend this book to: Sharon, Ken, Keith and Marian

Book Study Worthy: yes

Read in ebook format.