Book Review: The Intruder

The Intruder
by Peter Blauner

Synopsis: John Gates is a mentally disturbed homeless man in Manhattan who has come to believe that a lawyer named Jake Schiff has stolen his family and ruined his life, and he begins to focus on Jake's wife. When Schiff takes up extreme measures to put an end to Gates' harassment, the world is turned upside down for both men. How far would you go to protect what's yours?

There's some pretty good characterizations in this John Grisham-eske thriller, and the story takes a few twists and turns while moving along at a nice, quick pace. It's got a bit less courtroom drama than a Grisham novel and quite a bit more violence, but it still reminded me of his work, and I mean that in a good way. I did think the outcome of main court case was pretty predictable and I saw it coming from the first few stages so that takes away from some of the suspense, but that's not where the story ends at least and what takes place afterwards pretty much put the stamp on the whole story.

Overall a nice morality play that sort of plays to people's paranoia about how fragile peace of mind is. If you like crime dramas, especially ones that co-star the city of New York and surrounding Burroughs, you'll enjoy this.

7.5/10