Welcome back Mr. Reardon! Finding Jake was an amazing book and had to be difficult to follow, but Reardon does it with fine form, proving his truly gifted writing skills!! Not only is this an edge of your seat read, it’s also a story of enduring love and hope. A fast paced, thought provoking, roller coaster of a book. This story will haunt you for days after the last page is turned.

Michael and Julia Swann seem to have it all as the saying goes. He has a good job as a salesman and she left her government job to be a stay-at-home mom to their two sons, Evan and Thomas. However, Michael ends up losing his job. After a job interview in New York City when he is getting ready to return home, an explosion occurs in Penn Central. From that point on, this book is a gripping, twisting, suspenseful thriller that is an addicting page-turner until the shocking twist of an ending. Once I started reading this book, I did not want to stop and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great suspenseful thriller.

The Real Michael Swann – Bryan Reardon

I was fortunate to receive this novel as an Advance Reader Copy, in exchange for an objective review.

It’s an idyllic summer day in a suburban neighborhood, and Julia Swann is home with her children and a couple of her close neighbors are with her. Her husband it commuting from NY City, and they share a couple of innocuous phone calls as he attempts to get home. But there’s been a brush fire and the commuter trains have been stopped. During a third call to his wife, Michael Swann vents his frustration, only to have the call suddenly drop without warning. Despite the relative normalcy of a dropped call, Julia is very unsettled and inexplicably frightened.

Shortly thereafter the news comes out – a bomb has been detonated at Penn Station – hundreds dead, hundreds more injured, and Julia has no word on Michael’s whereabouts. Frantic with worry, she attempts to approach the scene, only to be turned around by police. As she waits for news, she remembers different aspects of their many years together, reliving the night they first met, along with other milestones throughout their marriage.

Meanwhile, a man survives the explosion and staggers out of the wreckage of Penn Station, still clutching his briefcase. But he has no memory of whom he is, or where he’s from. As he finds his way to safety, his thoughts are shared with readers as well. But now, for reasons unknown, law enforcement have set their sights on Michael Swann as a possible conspirator.

As Julia struggles to find news of her missing husband, and an unknown man struggles to learn his identity, this book carries you off into a tremendous journey, full of fear, love, betrayal, bewilderment and ultimately hope. I was staggered by the last several pages of the novel – in fact my assumptions were so wrong, I had to go back and start from the beginning - and so many questions remain! A fabulous, edge-of-your-seat read!

The events in this novel take place on a 9-11-type of day in NYC. The book brings back memories of what happened in real life, but places them in an interesting fictional context. I don't want to give any plot points here, but they are a different twist on the situation and it makes you think about the impact of what Swann and his family have to go through to try to locate him after the attack. I highly recommend this book.

This was a good read, courtesy of Netgalley. The story is very current and touches on current issues: terrorism, Trump's America, social media. It starts with a "terrorist attack" in NYC and there are 2 story lines, one from the main character's wife perspective and one from the main character injured in the attack. Good story line which keeps the pages turning.

Julia Swann is waiting for husband Michael to return from a job interview in the city but he's been delayed by what they believe is typical commuter chaos. Unfortunately, nothing is normal about the situation and an annoying delay becomes a nightmare as a bomb explodes. Julia frantically tries to make contact with her husband in the destroyed train station, she learns that the police are also looking for him but for a different reason.
Could the authorities be right about her husband? Who is the real Michael Swann?

Bryan Reardon does not disappoint in his next novel. I loved Finding Jacob and I loved The Real Michael Swann. The twists and turns his poor characters went through were terrifying for the fact that they could happen to any of us at any time.

I enjoyed this as I was recently in the area of Penn Station while in NYC on holidays. The terror the family feels is heartbreaking as they know their loved one could never commit the actions with which he has been accused.

Something here just didn't really work for me, the story felt disjointed and the payoff was disappointing. I enjoyed the premise but the execution fell a bit flat for me. I really enjoyed Reardon's debut, Finding Jake, so I am still interested in seeing more from him, but unfortunately, this one was just mediocre for me.

I would like to rate this novel as a 3.5. An explosion in New York's Grand Central Station leaves a woman frantically searching for her husband, the father of her children.. The plot leads the reader along a trail full of unexpected twists and turns as it seems that he may have survived.

A mysterious man sets a forest aflame next to a railroad, diverting oncoming trains back to a train station. Not much later, a man wanders into the same train station with a briefcase full of explosives. A few minutes later, the train station is blown to pieces, leaving thousands of people dead and injured.

What happened that fateful day? Who is responsible for the killings?

Bryan Reardon's The Real Michael Swann centers on this mystery, focusing on how it ripples through the lives of the Swann family. Michael Swann is at the train station, Penn Station to be more specific, when the blast goes off. Julia Swann, Michael's wife, is on the phone with him when the explosion happens. Michael's phone goes dead, leading Julia on a wild chase to find her husband and discover the truth about what happened that terrible day.

Is Michael somehow involved in the terrorist plot? Who is behind the plot, and how is the Swann family involved?

This book pulses with heart and tension. The heartbreak and terror Julia experiences as not only Michael's wife but the mother to their two boys bleeds through the pages. I found the ending very satisfying but bittersweet. I read the book in less than 24 hours because I could not put it down!

Thank you to the author, Bryan Reardon, the publisher, Dutton, and Edelweiss+ for the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy of The Real Michael Swann. The book will be available for purchase on June 12, 2018.