Kurzbeschreibung

A thought provoking look at the fine line between heroism and savagery from the New York Times bestselling author T. C. Boyle

Beschreibung

Absoluter Freiheitsanspruch und Verfolgungswahn T. C. Boyle erkundet in seinem Roman die dunkle Seite der USA. Adam, den seine Eltern nach etlichen Schulverweisen und Therapiesitzungen aufgegeben haben, ist eine wandelnde Zeitbombe: In der Wildnis, wo er ein Schlafmohnfeld angelegt hat, führt er ein Einsiedlerleben und hortet Waffen gegen imaginäre Feinde. Aber es gibt jemanden, der sich in ihn verliebt. Sara hat ebenfalls ausreichend Feindbilder: Spießertum, Globalisierung, Verschwörer und die Staatsgewalt. Als sie Adam am Straßenrand aufgabelt, beginnt eine leidenschaftliche Liaison. Doch bald merkt Sara, dass Adam es ernst meint mit den Feinden, sehr ernst. Sten Stenson, Vietnam veteran and retired school principal, and his wife, Carolee, are on a cruise in Costa Rica when their coach excursion is hijacked. Sten's military training overtakes him and within moments one of the attackers lies dead, the rest flee and Sten finds himself hailed a hero by the tour group and everyone back home.
Meanwhile, in the redwood forests north of San Francisco, Sara - a farrier who refuses to recognize the authority of the government - is arrested after failing to cooperate with police at a routine stop. A chance meeting with twenty-five-year-old Adam, Sten and Carolee's unstable son, sparks a strange but passionate relationship fuelled by a mutual hatred of the law. Adam, an angry and misunderstood outsider, perennially dressed in camouflage and with his head shaved to the bone, has an unhealthy obsession with nineteenth-century mountain man John Colter. As Adam's views and behaviour become steadily more extreme, he descends into a spiral of fanatical violence that is impossible for his family or Sara to halt.
The latest novel by internationally bestselling author T. C. Boyle, The Harder They Come is as timely as it is provocative. A deep and disturbing meditation on the roots of American gun violence, it explores the fine line between heroism and savagery, and just how far parents can be held accountable for the actions of their child.

Klappentext

Sten Stenson and his wife, Carolee, are on a cruise in Costa Rica when their coach excursion is hijacked. Sten's military training overtakes him and within moments one of the attackers lies dead, the rest flee. The latest novel by internationally bestselling author T. C. Boyle, is as timely as it is provocative. A deep and disturbing meditation on the roots of American gun violence, it explores the fine line between heroism and savagery.