Impasse
A Novel
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In Royce Scott Buckingham's Impasse, a man is left to die in Alaska while on an "adventure vacation" and must somehow survive to get his revenge on those who betrayed him.
Forty and facing a mid-life crisis, Stu Stark has lost his mojo. He simply gave up after being fired from his prestigious job as a prosecuting attorney for losing the biggest case of his career. So when Stu's best friend gifts him a one-week trip into the Alaskan wilderness to rediscover his manhood, Stu thinks it just might do him some good. But after a horrible week, Stu is crushed when he realizes that no one is coming back for him. Dying, Stu is found by a grizzled old hunter who informs that winter has set in, and they're not going anywhere for a while.
So begins Stu's training to become the man he never was…and to get revenge on those who betrayed him. This adult debut by the internationally bestselling YA author is a modern day take on The Count of Monte Cristo.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This labored adult revenge thriller from YA author Buckingham (The Terminals) pits woefully unprepared lawyer Stuart Stark against the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness. After a lost case derails Stuart's career, he and another attorney, Clay Buchanan, form Buchanan, Stark and Associates in New Bedford, Mass. The ambitious and unscrupulous Clay seizes an opportunity to shunt Stuart off to Alaska on an adventure that strands Stuart in the wild instead of delivering him to a cozy cabin. Clay then charms Stuart's wife, Katherine, into wooing new clients for the firm. Stuart nearly dies before being rescued by a trapper named Blake, and he spends the next several months figuring out what happened. Blake's tutelage in survival transforms Stuart physically and mentally, while Clay manipulates Katherine into a willing tool. Stuart's unexpected return to civilization and his discovery of Clay's treachery set the stage for his poetic revenge on both wife and partner in atale that offers only predictable developments and stock characters.
