Publishers Weekly
03/25/2024
A financier turned surfer investigates the mysterious drowning of a hotshot investor, in Garonzik’s cutting yet thin debut noir. Former New York City financial analyst Peter Greene has moved with his wife, Lauren, and three-year-old son, Luke, to a sleepy beach town a few hours outside the city, where he regularly delays his search for employment by catching waves with his buddy, Frank. One day, the body of Robert Townsend, who made a name for himself at the shady Manhattan private equity firm GDR, washes ashore on the beach Peter and Frank frequent. The police rule it an accidental drowning, but Peter’s not so sure. Sensing that his financial connections might qualify him to find answers about Robert’s death—and that doing so could provide his life with some much needed direction—Peter sets out to uncover Robert’s many secrets. Though Peter’s voice is well-developed, Garonzik stumbles when drawing the supporting players: Peter’s tense relationship with the nameless mothers at Luke’s nursery school is clunkily satirical, and Lauren and Frank feel mostly like two-dimensional foils. A late-stage plot turn surfaces some interesting ideas about contemporary fatherhood, but by the time it arrives, the book’s waters have been too choppy for too long. In the end, this doesn’t live up to its aspirations. Agent: Emma Parry, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (May)
From the Publisher
"Crime fiction has a great new voice in Sam Garonzik . . . Smart, clever, and has something to say about the world today."—Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Resurrection Walk
"With a stay-at-home dad as the unlikely hero of the tale, Sam Garonzik puts an engaging twist on the domestic thriller. His debut, A Rough Way To Go, is a compelling read from a fresh new voice."—Nancy Allen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Payback
"Does for the mystery novel what Mick Herron's Slow Horses did for the spy thriller. Darkly comic and whip smart."—Alexandra Andrews, author of Who Is Maud Dixon?
“Who hasn't wanted to drop out of their stressful life to start over in a laid-back beach town? For Peter, it turns out to be more of a mixed bag, and a dead body washing up on the shore doesn't make things any easier. A wry, pitch-black comedy crackling with tension, A Rough Way To Go doesn't pull punches and holds nothing back. Sam Garonzik's observations are so on point that you'll feel seen in the best (worst?) possible way . . . Will alternately make you gasp, laugh, and nod in agreement.”—Nina Laurin, author of Girl Last Seen
"Fleabag meets Gone Girl. A darkly funny, sometimes terrifying noir. I couldn't put it down."—Jennifer Belle, bestselling author of Going Down
"Sam Garonzik's A Rough Way to Go is a twisty and delicious ride that plunges the reader into the life of Peter Greene, whose new stay-at-home-dad status has him feeling aimless and unfulfilled. When he stumbles across a dead body and begins investigating the mysterious death, it may help him fill a void, but it also puts his life—and everyone he loves—in danger. If you think you have the twists figured out, think again. You won’t want to miss this unputdownable novel that is sure to keep you guessing until the very last page, and you won’t believe it’s a debut."—Seraphina Nova Glass, Edgar Award-nominated author of The Vacancy in Room 10
"With a sharp voice, unique perspective, and clever mystery at its core, A Rough Way To Go is a fresh take on the domestic suspense genre. I loved it!"—Robyn Harding, bestselling author of The Drowning Woman
"In A Rough Way To Go, Sam Garonzik focuses on the most frightening antagonist in contemporary American crime: money. Add to the mix an overwhelmed new dad looking to be a hero (like all new dads), and you've got a winning, nerve-jangling debut."—Andrew Pyper, author of The Demonologist and The Residence
"Darkly comic . . . Ambitious."—Kirkus
"Peter’s voice is well-developed . . . surfaces some interesting ideas about contemporary fatherhood."—Publishers Weekly
Kirkus Reviews
2024-03-23
A murder victim prompts a stay-at-home dad to play gumshoe in this darkly comic yarn.
Peter Greene, the narrator of Garonzik’s debut novel, is disheartened. A recent layoff from his finance job has left him with little to do but ferry his 3-year-old son, Luke, to appointments and run an endless-seeming series of errands for his wife, Lauren. At Lauren’s prompting, they’ve left city life for a coastal town whose sole virtue is the opportunity to indulge his love of surfing. On the beach he meets Robert Townsend, a former colleague, who turns up dead on the sand a week later. With few places to apply his analytical skill and feeling emasculated by his employment status, he begins following leads. What kinds of nefarious deeds was his old firm up to, what brought Robert to that wind-wracked beach, and why are so many people trying to keep him from asking questions? Garonzik strives to make Pete into the kind of sad-sack dad who’s populated novels by Sam Lipsyte, Gary Shteyngart, and Teddy Wayne, capturing the adult male put upon by daily responsibilities; a request from Lauren to pick up milk prompts a catastrophic overreaction: “Chernobyl. All is lost. Game over.” And he sees the comic absurdities of parenting a toddler, a feeling intensified by Pete’s taking Luke to grown-up locales like bars and police stations. In time, Pete learns that Robert’s fate is simpler and sadder than his earnest dot-connecting effort suggests, but by that point Garonzik has still struggled to establish a voice for the novel, which sits awkwardly between detective story and man-child bildungsroman. Pete’s complaints about Lauren are meant to comically expose a certain narcissism, but she rarely rises above a hectoring harridan. Plotlines about the finance world slow the pace, and the mood of self-deprecation tends to devolve into general sourness.
An ambitious if awkward attempt at genre hopping.
