Man of the Hour by Peter Blauner

Man of the Hour Reviews

• 
  Steve

  My wife continually tells me what small treasures I can find at yard sales. I always scoff. But of course, she’s always right. A couple of years ago I came across a table full of dog-eared books at a neighborhood yard sale. “Man Of The Hour” jumped out at me immediately. The author, Peter Blauner, didn’t ring any bells, but the intriguing cover photo was a close-up television image of an explosion with a car in the foreground. I picked it up, read the dust jacket’s synopsis of the story, and plopped down my fifty cents.
  
  I hardly ever seem to find books that are difficult to put down any more, but “Man Of The Hour” hooked me. One reason is the general plot, which concerns David Fitzgerald, a New York high school teacher who saves the life of a student after the terrorist bombing of a school bus. After a few weeks of living large as the local hero (strangers fawn over him, the president mentions him in a speech and his own son asks for his autograph), the tables turn when he’s suddenly fingered as the prime suspect in the bombing. It’s likely that Blauner was influenced by the account of Richard Jewell, the security guard who spotted a suspicious knapsack, which turned out to be a bomb, at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta (You can refresh your memory of that particular case at:
  http://www.time.com/time/magazine/arc...).
  
  As in Jewell’s situation, David’s life is turned upside down when the media announce that the cops have fingered him. It gets even worse when a reporter runs a story unjustly accusing him of domestic abuse. His possessions are carted away by the authorities (“What’s yours is ours,” one FBI agent tells him coldly), his friends avoid him and he may lose custody of his son to his estranged wife. His wife, by the way, is your basic cuckoo bird.
  
  What may save him, beyond his innocence and the determination to clear his name, is Elizabeth, a pretty young Arab student of his whose brother, Nasser, is the real bomber. The boy has fallen in with an extremist group that talks of the glorious Islamic holy war that’s coming to town, and Nasser spends most of the book torn, quite believably, between what he knows is right and what his whacky friends are telling him.
  
  Blauner does a couple of things very well in this book: first, he tells the story from almost every conceivable point of view. You see things from the perspective of David; the cops investigating the case; the reporter who recklessly smears David for the world to see; and, of course, the real villains of the piece. Second, Blauner employs a spare but fluid writing style. Each chapter is only about four pages long, but the prose is smooth, clever and even almost poetic in a few spots. This provides the reader with sufficient tension that builds up to the climax, which is predictable in some ways and surprising in others.
  
  “Man Of The Hour” is a superbly written thriller that any lover of good, tight fiction should seek out. It’s worth the effort.
  
• 
  Michael Martz

  'Man of the Hour' is a decent thriller but entirely too predictable. Peter Blauner's writing is mediocre, though the different threads of the story propel it along quickly enough. The characters just aren't very believable and the plot is awfully transparent.
  
  The novel begins with a schoolteacher's heroic effort to save a student trapped on a school bus that had been bombed by a terrorist. He becomes enamored of the celebrity that comes his way, says and does a few intemperate things, and finds himself a suspect in the bombing. Subplots abound: the actual bomber, your basic Palestinian terrorist who hates America, was once his student, the bomber's sister, a 'good' Palestinian (ie. Americanized) is a current student, he's in the process of divorcing his beautiful wife who has mental problems, etc. etc. I found the coincidences unrealistic, the 'planning' by the terrorists for subsequent attacks almost laughable, and other aspects of the story very unconvincing. You can guess what will happen, at least in general terms, at the conclusion and chances are you'd be correct!
  
  Anyway, it's a pretty quick read, nothing special.
• 
  Amanda

  This was a really great book. I have really enjoyed every book I have read by Peter Blauner. He is very talented. I wish he would write more.
• 
  Mike Fracasso

  I could not finish this book. I found uninteresting and boring.
• 
  Carol

  I wish this book would never have ended. I just love this author. He is the master at weaving a perfect story, his similes are original and hilarious, and characters are fleshed out and true. This story was about a New York high school teacher who unwittingly becomes a hero. I am constantly amazed at the perfection of this author’s writing, how he pulls the reader in, the humanity of each character, and how he describes a character's behavior to explain what they might be thinking. I was enthralled and captivated by the plight of the teacher and his students. One caveat however…..I did feel there was one gaping plot hole at the end where the FBI should have quickly apprehended Nassar once his sister had identified him as a terrorist. I doubt in real life he would have even been able to enter the school. But this was probably some license the author took to construct a better story. It annoyed me just a little nonetheless though. Having said that, I still think this is one of my favorite Blauner books and I’ve read them all. He’s one of my top five favorite authors, hands down.
• 
  Brett Wallach

  Perceptive book published shortly before 9/11 about terrorism in New York City, as well as an elegy on what it means to be a hero-or villain-in modern American society. A bit overwritten in part, and some of the dialogue is a little cringe-worthy, but overall, an entertaining, thought-provoking novel.
• 
  Clint

  Thriller concerning hero-turned-villain David Fitzgerald, a high school teacher with a broken marriage and perhaps a complex, who must deal with an angry, just-prior-to 9/11 world in late 1990s Brooklyn. Book is a little slow to start, but eventually becomes a couldn’t-put-it-down story that has way too much in common with the world since then than the world before it.
• 
  Elisabeth

  This was actually well done, so probably deserves at least 3.5 stars. However, it's about Muslim terrorism, published in 1999 -- ie before 9/11, before ISIS and everything else -- so a lot of what would have been fresh in 1999 is now almost a novelistic cliche.
• 
  Rainelle

  Masterfully written. The book is beautiful for who ever wants to read it.
• 
  Dahlgren General Library

  DA100000018824
• 
  Janel

  Man of the Hour by Peter Blauner is a thriller good read.
• 
  Bob Box

  Read in 1999. A terrorist attack casts one man as a hero in this remarkable thriller. This might be my first Blauner book but I read him for many years.
• 
  Jilles

  Great thriller delving in the very topical subject of the violence. of the jihad
• 
  Gerry Durisin

  Excellent!! A HS English teacher becomes a hero when he rescues a student from a bus under which a terrorist has planted a bomb. But his fame soon turns to notoriety and suspicion when questions arise about who really planted the bomb, and investigations and media reports begin to destroy his life and family.
• 
  Jenn

  An awesome read by Peter Blauner. Gets you right into the mind of a jihad terrorist and the man who is originally blamed for the bomb exploding in the school bus. Keeps you on the edge of your seat for the entire book.
• 
  Per

  Hero one second and then what?
  
  From the New York Times bestselling author of The Intruder comes a provocative thriller about a schoolteacher who becomes a celebrated hero -- and then has it all taken suddenly away
• 
  John

  Great story about how our media manipulates every story to fit an agenda and how they sensationalize and the rush to judgement that has become normal. Very topical, you could substitute this story for many national news stories going on right now.
• 
  Eric Castiglia

  Quite a different twist on terrorism. Very original and again well written.
• 
  Jody

  This was a real good read. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
• 
  Rod Zemke

  3.75
• 
  Blaine Engeland

  It's not too shabby so far..the writing isn't as good as The Intruder..I really liked the narrative in that
• 
  Darla

  Very good book. It gives you a different take on terrorism, and the fantatics that can explain these horrible acts by using religion.
  
• 
  Klee

  Not usually into these kind of thriller/drama books but enjoyed the ethical dilemmas raised. The characters are well created. I could see all of them. The end left me wanting more.
• 
  Stephanie Hemmerly

  its a good read lol
• 
  Nancy

  First read for this author and I will be looking for the rest of his books. Really enjoyed it.