Unthinkable by Brad Parks

​    In interests of diversity and just for a nice change of pace,  I like to mix female authored thrillers with male authored ones. Accusations of sexism and generalizations aside, there really is (usually) a significant difference, in tone, mood, pacing, so many things. And this is the author I’ve been meaning to try and Netgalley accommodated.
    So then…imagine if someone came to you and told you that you had to kill your wife or she’ll end up causing a global catastrophe and death of millions. This someone would claim they were a representative of a secret society centered around a man who knows the future, a society dedicated to making precognition based murderous decisions for the greater good. Crazy, right? Moreover, positively unthinkable. Also, makes for a good story.
    Now meet Nate and Jenny, a loving couple in a longtime committed relationship, parents to two small children. Both are lawyers by training (the adults, not the kids), but Jenny is the six foot tall breadwinner of the family, while six foot four Nate is a stayathome papa. Just imagine how tall their baby girls are going to grow up to be, pure WNBA material.
   Anyway, Nate is the one presented with the unthinkable choice in the beginning of the novel…way to take the trolley hypothetical exercise to the new levels. And Nate is freaking out. Especially after the proof of the future predictor’s abilities is presented. What do you do what all the options are terrible? Well, first research. Then weapons. Then go on an all out ballistic assault like a popcorn action thriller that you’re in.
    Which is to say at some juncture the novel abandons a lot of its theoretical and cryptic aspects and just turns into a good old fashioned shoot ‘em up. And that’s actually totally fine. Because this isn’t meant to be some profound morality play, this is meant to be 100% pure fun. Fun with an intriguing premise, sure, but more so just a summer movie type of fun. With likeable leads going up against sinister forces…a sinister secret society (unlike all those other cozy kinds)…with enough gusto and cheese for an Italian restaurant menu and omnia vincit amor message to boot. Cute, wildly entertaining, more than mildly preposterous when seriously contemplated.
    Preposterousness has to be mentioned. The entire plot hinged on the fact that people apparently can’t properly communicate to their loved ones. I tested this, I conveyed the plot to my fiancé (and we’ve been together as long as the couple in this book) and asked would you  walk away from a work project if our lives depended on it and the answer was yes, of course. There, it was that easy. But then of course there’d be no book.
    Plus, to be fair, the author does throw in more plot twists in the end, so that it isn’t just as straight forward as one decision/sh*tton of deadly consequences. But the motif of having secrets from your spouse and not communicating properly remains prominently featured.
    Anyway, all that aside, this was a fun read, dynamic, entertaining and it went by quickly. An easily likeable book, good introduction to a new author for me and an exciting energetic  camera ready sort of story. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.