Week 3 Annotations: “The Real Michael Swann” by Bryan Reardon

The Real Michael Swann

By Bryan Reardon

Synopsis:

The Real Michael Swann asks the question, how well do you truly know the person you decided to spend your life with. 

 Julia Swann is on the phone with her husband who informs her his train has been delayed and he is stuck inside Penn Station.  Moments later, the conversation is cut short as Julia hears through the phone a loud noise, and the call is suddenly disconnected. Julia knows something is wrong when Michael’s phone goes directly to voicemail – but can’t quite figure out what. Later that evening while reluctantly watching television with her sons, BREAKING NEWS comes across the screen to inform her and the rest of the watching world that a bomb had gone off in Penn Station and it is a suspected terrorist attack.  As if that isn’t terrible enough for Julia, she finds out that her husband is the suspected terrorist, and he might still be alive. Julia races to the city to find her husband and help clear his name – but is he really the same man she started a life with?

Characteristics of Thrillers:

·     * Pacing: As with all thrillers, The Real Michael Swann hooks you from the beginning with news of a terrorist attack at the exact location of the protagonists’ husband.  The book continues at a fast pace as Julia Swann races to find out if her husband is truly alive, and if so, where he is and what really happened in Penn Station.

·     * Frame/Setting:  The professions of Michael and Julia Swann are discussed throughout the book, as Michael is struggling at work and coming home from a job interview pre-explosion. Julia left her promising career to be a stay-at-home mom to their two children.   However, readers aren’t introduced to an insider’s look at the characters’ professions, as they would be in most thrillers.  We are given a lot of details that explain how the characters got to be where they are in the story, and the details are so thorough that you can fully picture the setting in your mind while reading.

·    *  Storyline:The storyline jumps around a bit and is told from two different points of view.  Each chapter rotates from a man who was in Penn Station at the time of the explosions point of view, to the protagonists point of view.  Thrillers are layered puzzles that end with a big plot twist, and The Real Michael Swannfits this criteria to a T.

·     * Characterization:Throughout the book, Julia is trying to find her husband who might still be alive and is going against the law and against police orders to do this.  That is a commonality in thriller books, where the protagonist follows their own moral code that clashes with common practice or laws.   Another commonality The Real Michael Swannshares with the thriller genre is that Michael Swann might be a terrorist, and readers don’t figure out if he’s the good guy or a bad guy until the very end.  Thrillers often use terrorists as secondary characters, and it’s also common for the reader to not know if they’re undercover good guys or if they are actual terrorists.

·     * Tone/Mood:  The mood of this book is dark, filled with mystery and questions, but also a big energetic with the protagonist in a rush to find her husband and learn what really happened in Penn Station.   Without giving away the ending, The Real Michael Swannfollows trend with thrillers whereas no victory comes without a cost.  This is extremely true for one of the most final scenes in the book and most readers will be left shocked and dejected.

·     * Style/Language: The story was told from two point of views, as I mentioned before, one of those characters is experiencing amnesia from the blast of the bomb at Penn Station. The style and language is confused as he is trying to figure out who he is throughout the entire book.  The second character is wife and mother Julia Swann.  Her style and language are more frantic, but that of a stay at home mother and wife. Nothing about the language of this book stuck out to me.  However, the book meets the criteria of a thriller by opening with a prologue that piques the readers interest and pulls them into a storyline of investigation.   

Read-A-Likes:
If you enjoyed reading The Real Michael Swann, you might also enjoy these similar books:

-      - Defending Jacob by William Landay

-      - The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

-      - The Things We Wish Were True by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

-      - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

-      - Finding Jake by Bryan Reardon