Let
me start this review by just getting this out of the way: The Mentor is a
flat-out kick-ass, balls-to-the-wall thriller that had me hooked from the
beginning pages and kept reeling me in as Lee Matthew Goldberg ratcheted up the
tension throughout this great book.
Goldberg
handles a fairly simple plot beautifully, and fills it with brilliant plot
twists and moments of suspense that will have you biting your fingernails off
in anticipation. While the plot is a simple one; one character seeks revenge
for the apparent slight of another character and they are willing to go to
great lengths to get said revenge. But rest assured, this is an oversimplifying
of the plot line, as Goldberg has a lot of tricks, turns and surprises in store
and the plot has so many mini-cliffhangers, you will need to stop and collect
your breath a few times.
The
book follows Kyle, a hot-shot editor who has signed his first client and is on
top of the publishing world. He reconnects with his old college professor and
mentor, William and they have dinner and drinks. During this dinner, William
asks Kyle to read his recently completed 10-years in the making, novel and
possibly publish it. Kyle reads the manuscript and finds it demented, sick, and
possibly the writings of a lunatic who may have actually penned a confession,
not a novel.
The possibility of an unreliable narrator,
William, helps raise the level of suspense throughout the book…does he spend
random nights away from home just having “walkabouts” in which he just roams
the “forest of his mind” and gets writing ideas as he claims, or is he spending
these lost nights committing dark, sinister crimes as Kyle believes he might be
doing? Is his novel really sick and deranged, or the work of a literary genius,
as Kyle’s fellow editor believe?
This
book really knocked my socks off from beginning to end. There is nary a slow
moment and there are no wasted pages, paragraphs, or words. Goldberg shows a
remarkable ability to put twists in which keep this book feeling like it is a
rollercoaster which is set to go off the rails and there is no way you can
close your eyes out of fear you may miss the upcoming hair point turn. This is
the second book I have read by this author and I can promise you it will not be
the last. This was a well-crafted gem of a book.
Highly
Recommended
