(109) Iron House by John Hart

John Hart deserves every award he has ever won. He is the only author ever to win back to back Edgar Awards. For those of you who don't know, the Edgar Awards are like the Pulitzer for thrillers. He has been compared to John Grisham and Scott Turow, but frankly he deserves to be labeled something more than just a legal thriller author. He proves that with his new novel, Iron House.

Iron House is the story of two brothers, Julian and Michael. They were found in a riverbed when they were just babies. Left to grow up in an orphanage, Iron House, the boys are left to the mercy of the older, more vicious kids. Julian does not fare well under the pressure and Michael rises to the challenge and looks after his twin. Their torture at Iron House shapes them into who they will become. Julian is adopted by a Senator and becomes a bestselling author of nightmarish novels. Michael kills his first man by the age of ten and is left to fend for himself on the streets of New York. Until a mob boss takes him under his wing and makes him family.

Fast forward 23 years. Michael is ready to "get out" of the family. He has fallen in love and is going to be a Father. He doesn't want this life for his child, so he does what he has to do to break free. Before he disappears into the night, he needs to make sure Julian will be safe. What he finds sends him back to Iron House. Determined to solve the mysteries of the past and keep Julian safe at all costs.

Iron House is the literal definition of "page turner". I could not put it down. Michael and Julian are so real. Both tortured by their pasts, but both very different in their way of dealing with the past. I loved how John Hart worked Abigail, Julian's adopted mother into the story, and I was just SHOCKED at the revelation made at the end of the book. John Hart is a name that you all need to get to know. His exceptional writing can rival that of John Grisham and Stephen King, but his imagination is all his own.