This story was so boring that I kept zoning out while reading. I know you're supposed to hate the main character, but I felt like the worst thing about him was how pitiful he was. I also immediately hated his ex wife's new boyfriend, he was condescending and annoying.

This was definitely out of my norm but the cover caught my eye when I was sent the widget so I figured I’d give it a try. Not sure how to describe it other than gritty and dark but if the author meant to keep my hating the MMC choices, then he did a great job because I kept thinking to myself “but why?”
Peyton’s life is a disaster. He had a good life and career until he made a choice to drive drunk one night and killed someone. He gets bailed but now he’s a less than stellar father, he drinks too much to numb his pain and his car has been repossessed. One day he gets an offer that will turn all his bad luck around, or so he thinks, but it is to do the unthinkable. He’s asked to take out a bad guy in exchange for a lot of money. He doesn’t know who the person is that wants him to commit the crime, but he knows that the money will go a long way towards making his life and the life of his daughter better. But at what cost? Peyton starts to investigate who his mysterious benefactor is so he can figure out why they want these certain people unalived and the story behind it is very over the top but still very entertaining. I listened to this every chance I got because I had to see what would happen next.
It’s written as a novel but the MMC describes it as his true life story which made you definitely have to suspend belief for a while, but it was worth the journey.
Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my thoughts.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @atriabooks for this advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a lot of existentialism and internalizing by the main character. It was a morally intricate battle between Peyton, the MC, and his mind. This type of storytelling made for a very layered storyline.

Not only did you have the general plot, but you had veer offs of internal conflicts as well as flashbacks adding to the intricacy of the story. It’s a slightly unreliable narrator vibe but I still wanted things to work out for Peyton. While he’s working out what’s right and what’s wrong, he directs the same questioning to you the reader, which really makes you think, would I do that too???

While I enjoyed the layers of the plot, it was very slow starting and I kind of felt like, “just get to the climax already.” The internal back and forth constantly driving the story was a tinge frustrating and a little overdrawn out for me personally.

If you’re looking for a brooding, crime action movie-vibe book, this is it. Overall, a good psychological crime story with an absolute worth it ending (like mouth open reaction ending), that just took a little time to get going for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

A propulsive implausible alcohol and narcotic fueled rush of murder and revenge. Peyton was once an engineer who was married and doting on his daughter. Now. though, he's living and drinking on the edge after spending time in prison until one night he comes home and finds cash in his mailbox. Cash and the promise of more if he kills a man who he is told deserves it. Of course he does it (seriously?) but then things spiral and he finds himself trapped-chased by bad guys who know he has cash and by the escalating offers from his anonymous employer. Will you like him? Probably not. Will you feel for him? Hamdy does make the reader have some sympathy. Just about everything Peyton does involves a bad decision. And alcohol. This is so over the top that I almost put it down more than once but I wanted to know what would happen. And there's a surprise. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. No spoilers from me.

What price should we pay to restore a series of catastrophic and deliberate heinous crimes… How does a
person know when life has traveled beyond moral depravity and there is no atonement possible…. When
the man responsible is given a chance to live a good life and he can do it without hurting anyone else.
This is a good book from start to, finish with great characters and great backdrops, and I will be pondering
the realities for awhile.
I highly recommend this book.
My thanks to Atria Books for the download of this book for review purposes.

Without treading too deep into the morass of chart performance and economic viability, most fans and non-fans will probably agree that PEARL JAM is best known for songs like JEREMY and BETTER MAN. Penned by a San Diego teeny bopper, BETTER MAN eventually came off the 1990s Seattle grunge pioneering band's third studio album, VITALOGY. Anyone not living behind the moon in 1994 will remember the Thanksgiving release's cover, songs, and the sound that defined a whole decade. Much like this diddy, DEADBEAT explores its protagonists HOFFA-like drive to do what he's gotta do. Unlike the disappeared Teamsters honcho who just wanted to get the unions back, the eponymous DEABEAT's gotta do what he's gotta do to become a better man and provide a better life for the one person who matters most. Even if it kills him or others in the process. And there are plenty in line from cops to robot dogs, bruisers, barflies, and bikers. With bundles of cash, booze and bullets to muddy the waters, DEADBEAT runs rough-shod through the city with shockingly singular purpose and pitiless consequences for failure. Welcome to Los Angeles.

Eschewing the elvish dialect, though somewhat paraphrasing the couplet of 'One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them,' DEADBEAT argues that someone who's burned their soul until the light inside has blown out, someone who's lost the glue to the greatness that binds us all is, well, a DEABEAT. Enter Payton Collard, a seven year denizen of the City of Angels, a seasoned drunk and a man who's always longed for a decent father. Fading in with a worse hangover than John McClane in DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE, Peyton Collard, or DEADBEAT, comes to after darkness had washed over the dude. Swimming in the beer glass of self-pity, all the dude ever wanted was to not be at the bottom, have a better life for his daughter and himself. This is difficult since stupidity is his BFF and that faux-Persian rug is stained to hell and back by his own handiwork. Facing a hard ten after a seemingly manufactured REPO MAN incident that stinks to high heaven, and no cash to solve all his problems, Peyton is onto a new track; DEABEAT with a gun. Cash does what cash does. Especially when it comes bundled in neat packages in the mail box and easy to understand instructions. BULLET TO THE HEAD--a decision tree from hell for Peyton Collard, a devil's two pronged fork in the road.

The biggest obstacle for Peyton is not the (criminal justice) system or other imagined or real injustices, it's his constant drive and nagging want to do rise up and getting his life together. A rotting desire of getting back to how things used to be. His character flaws and weaknesses are his biggest enemy, every time he looks deep into the bottle, looking for a way out and to dull the pain of bottom of the barrel living. Moreover, Peyton sees dead people, not in THE SIXTH SENSE way but more like AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, which is not surprising when he killed the metaphorical Norse goddess of Love and death while participating in the cherished Texan past time of drunk driving. He's an emo Paul Kersey if he could blackmail himself into believing that he is a vigilante with a cause celebre and perhaps an insidious DEATH WISH. After all, assassin or vigilante sounds so much better than serial killer. Kind of like the Denzel flick JOHN Q., DEADBEAT is a modern day DEXTER, just without the police cover or the code. Since all Peyton wants to do is provide for his daughter so she has money and power to be a winner, not a DEADBEAT like her father, the narrative keeps asking whether everyone has a price. In specific, what would it take for the reader to do something to transform his/her life, would you kill, if it results in money for good. Good money for a gray deed to kill a bad person? DEADBEAT is a literary misogi challenge that takes its leitmotif from SPEED, querying in pop-quiz fashion, often and with equal vigor: "What do you DO, what do you DO?"

Akin to THE COUCH TRIP of modern day SoCal, Adam Hamdy goes deep into human suffering and understands the intricacies of DEADBEATism, living on the ragged edge of America, that line where the streets paved in gold take on the sheen of concrete and dusty asphalt. Doctor Hamdy is in the house. This in effect makes DEADBEAT an 'oof' kinda novel, one that imbues the just-exited-the-buffet feeling and every extra step is a fight, longing to sit back in a comfy chair with a nip of Jagermeister and let it digest. Ruminating on THE MATRIX's premise of what woulda happened if Peyton hadn't taken that pill, DEADBEAT reminds that it can be hard to distinguish memory from dream, desperation is the barroom buddy of stupidity, everyone has their price, regrets aren't excuses, that money greases America's wheels, and hindsight is the fool's curse. Scattered homage to BREAKING BAD, CLASS OF 1984, and FORREST GUMP, DEADBEAT dazzles with entertaining quips like malice aforethought, 'on wings of evil', mission fuel, bottle happy, the billboard life, K-hole, and poverty premium. If you didn't buy into THE OTHER SIDE OF NIGHT, buy into Hamdy and DEADBEAT--it's a phenomenal neo crime noir that absolutely rocks. DEADBEAT is electric, ruthless, observantly keen, and decidedly real--A treasure of a novel that relates to the pain of being human, destitute, and running wild in a big city.

DNF at 20%

The book got off to an interesting start with the character's voice in the prologue, but unfortunately the movement of the plot has really stalled out. I'm this far into the book and haven't even reached what the back cover teased as the plot.

Perhaps readers who better appreciate gritty noir thrillers will enjoy this more than I did.

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★
𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: December 03, 2024
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

This was an first read by our author for me and I am ready for more to come out from them. This was very twisty and kept you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Twist after twist and an ending I didn’t expect coming. Our author gives us a very flawed unlikable but likable character—Peyton, as well as very well fleshed out and complex characters. Our main character is divorced, struggling with addiction and broke and we watch what he will do for $$. The way our author wrote this book was as if there was an action packed and filled movie playing in your head and I loved it so much. Give me more of this kind of writing. I don’t want to give much out because this book just needs to be read! If you love grippy and fast paced thrillers that take you on an emotional rollercoaster with a load of tension, this book is for you. Put this on your TBR right away.

Large thank you to our Author, NetGalley as well as Atria Books

𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦: Fast Paced, Tension, Crime Thriller, Action Packed, Redemption

This book is a thrilling moral tightrope that is unputdownable.

Adam Hamdy's "Deadbeat" is a pulse-pounding thriller that masterfully balances character depth with breakneck pacing. The story centers on Peyton, a morally ambiguous protagonist caught in a gripping ethical dilemma. Hamdy's skillful narrative keeps readers on edge, building suspense with each chapter and culminating in an unexpected twist. The author's ability to evoke empathy for a complex character showcases his deep understanding of human nature under duress. "Deadbeat" is a must-read for thriller enthusiasts, offering a fast-paced yet thought-provoking experience that lingers long after the final page.

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria, for my free books for review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for this ARC!

I was very interested in the premise - I really enjoy thrillers and this one seemed right up my alley.

Unfortunately, it really fell flat for me. I struggled to get into it, and the character development was not as strong as I prefer.

Deadbeat by Adam Hamdy

Peyton Collard loves to opine on all the stupid thoughts in his head. Being in his head was real misery for me. "What an idiot" was a common refrain from me to my buddy read friends and it was so good to get to rant and rave to Jayme and Mary Beth. I don't want to read an entire book about such an unrepentant lowlife but the fact that the author wrote this character that had my blood boiling says something about the book. Still, I wouldn't want to give this character another second of my time.

Peyton really oversells himself when he goes into the definition of a deadbeat and how he is one. Instead Peyton is so much less than a deadbeat, he's an active and willing participant in bringing himself so much lower than deadbeat status and he'll justify his killing spree the entire book long, telling us that we'd do the same thing, over and over. He's not sorry, he'll keep doing it, he's all excuses and full of blame towards anyone but himself and he has not an ounce of true self reflection that might ever lead him to repenting for what he does or accepting responsibility.

We meet Peyton, wallowing in his self inflicted muck, spouting his jealousy and resentment towards anyone who has more than he does, poor, poor Peyton, drinking and drugging himself through another hour, making no effort to change, seeming to hit a permanent bottom, until he's given a offer to go even lower that he's not about to refuse. What is interesting about the story is wanting to know who is giving Peyton these deadly and lucrative opportunities, why are they doing it, and how does about everyone, bad guys and good, know where Peyton is almost all the time. Things get really OTT towards the end, in so many ways, but this is Peyton's story and you can be sure I wish things went differently.

Thanks to Atria Books, Edelweiss, and NetGalley for this ARC.

While this wasn't my personal favorite Adam Hamdy thriller, fans of morally grey anti-heroes might really enjoy this story about an ex-con who gets tricked into becoming a killer for hire under the guise of using the money to save his possibly diabetic daughter. The narration by Chris Henry Coffey wasn't amazing but he did do an okay job with the first person narrative voice but his attempts at the secondary characters fell a bit flat for me. Twisty and full of unlikeable characters doing terrible things for what they believe are justifiable reasons. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Peyton is a drunk, lowlife who has been to prison, trying to turn his life around and get back on good terms with his wife and daughter. He receives a note to kill someone in exchange for money. He goes through with it, but it is far from over. He continues to get names of people to kill. With no hope and him wanting to support his daughter, he continues to kill. But at what price? This is a fast paced, short chapters which makes you continue to read. Peyton is a frustrating character, but that's how he's written. You want him to do good, but his decisions can be frustrating. The story is good, but I was hoping for more of the story revolving him actually investigating who the person behind this is. I felt like it cam together quickly and I was hoping it would stretch out more. It is a different take on a thriller so if you're looking for something slightly different, this could be one to pick up

After previously loving THE OTHER SIDE OF NIGHT from Adam Hamdy, I was excited to check out another book from him. However, I quickly found this book had a very different tone and style than what I've previously read from the author, and unfortunately it was not engaging for me. I was not invested in the main character, and I felt like it took too long building up the action in the beginning.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.

Emotionally hollow, The Other Side of Night was a 5-star read that came out of nowhere for me, so I was very excited diving into Adam Hamdy's new title. I think expectation kind of tainted my experience with Deadbeat, as this new novel's intent and tone are vastly different from The Other Side of Night — more of a gritty, ultra-masculine action thriller, rather than the genre-bending, nuanced mystery that was The Other Side of Night.

For me, the most immediate comparison is Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby, with both stories spotlighting a father figure as its protagonist, and the reader following him through action-packed ordeals in the name of his children. Unfortunately, Deadbeat never manages to engage me emotionally with its anti-hero, so as the set pieces get more grandiose and ridiculous, I feel disconnected and can't fully sympathize the character's decisions at each critical junction. There are also some nitpicks I have with the overall storytelling: the overuse of the word 'deadbeat' as punchline (at least once in every chapter), and an predictable twist that arrives far too late to be effective.

While action thriller is not really a sub-genre I gravitate towards, it has worked for me in the past (such as the aforementioned Razorblade Tears), but Deadbeat just doesn't quite click: the writing style tries too hard to be urban and grungy (though the dash of the supernatural is a nice touch), the plot meandering and its drawn-out delivery really kills the twist (too many hints beforehand), and the protagonist too impersonal to form an attachment (a lot of telling not showing). I'm all for author diversifying their output, but the drastic difference between The Other Side of Night and Deadbeat makes me cautious to whether I should pick up Adam Hamdy's next title.

Deadbeat is a single dad that has had a bad few years. He doesn't always make the best decisions. Drinks way too much gets plastered then makes these bad decisions under the influence. I loved this book. I kept turning the pages to see what he was gonna do next. I'm hoping there will be another book about Peyton in the future. Gave this 4 stars. Read it you won't be disappointed.

3.25/5

This is the type of book with a pretty outrageous premise and you’ll have to be able to suspense your disbelief to enjoy it, but I liked the premise and I mostly enjoyed it! Peyton is a frustrating character, he makes terrible decisions and I was pretty annoyed by him for most of the book. Many people are describing this one as fast paced but I found it be on the slower side, yes the chapters are short and there are pacey moments but there are also plenty of slower sections making this one more steadily paced for me. Parts seemed almost repetitive and it definitely could’ve been a little shorter for me. Do I recommend this? Sure, to the right reader. You’ll like this if you don’t need a likable or reliable MC and if you like stories that go a little out there.

Peyton Collard, used to be a good man; but a car accident sent him down the wrong path and now he’s a deadbeat. When he’s offered a life-changing sum of money to kill a man, Peyton must decide if being a vigilante is can redeem him. But as the requests keep coming, Peyton starts to wonder who exactly his patron is and what is their end goal. As he investigates who his patron is, Peyton finds himself in a web that he might not escape from.
Peyton is such a complex and frustrating character. The way he continuously makes poor life choices was hard for me to swollen but certainly lends itself to his addict characterization. It felt like every step forward he took set him three steps back. There were a few points where you needed to suspend belief and while the short chapters kept me entertained, there were some lulls in the writing that could have been edited out.
A gritty thriller, I did enjoy the story overall. There were a few pacing issues and some repetition that brought the story down in my opinion. But ultimately it was an enjoyable dark mystery filled with regret and the tough choices we make. If you like seedy mysteries and morally grey characters, you’ll enjoy this book!

Deadbeat comes out December 3, 2024. Thank you to Atria for my advanced copy in exchange for my review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my:
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I was excited to get this because I really liked some of this authors other works but this one just didn’t work for me. It was repetitive to annoying and I didn’t like the characters enough to stay interested. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for read and review

In a nutshell: Convoluted and repetitious, but I still liked the second half, and especially the ending.

Loser is as loser does. p140

I don't know why the book gods keep sending me contemporary stream-of-conscious novels, but I'll take a rom com or something next time. Now about this book...

I feel like its downfall is its form. If it were written in first person present, it would move more smoothly and the plot would not get so swallowed up.

It's actually really difficult to write in an authentic stream of consciousness style. For a brilliant example, check out James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake or his Portait of an Artist.

I recommend Deadbeat to readers of adrenaline thrillers or action thrillers, and who like thoughtful themes. This one really takes on the source of identity and how it reflects in character/personality.

Three things I loved:

1. The best thing about this book is the narrating character's internal debate about what sort of criminal he is. It's interesting material. And also, this aspect of the story doesn't really develop until halfway through the book.

2. The plot really starts coming together in the second half of the book!

3. For this particular book, the ending is perfect!

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. I don't find the point of this paragraph clear. See, when you’ve had bad luck, you know it can happen to anyone. You know just how much of it there is to go around. But folk at the top living the billboard life haven’t had bad luck. That’s why they’re on the billboard. They think they made it there through hard work, that the people far below them, seen dimly through their privacy glass, are stuck in the gutters of the real world because they didn’t work hard enough , dabbled in drink or drugs, or lack the ambition to climb to the shining world of the billboards. They never think about the good luck, or lack of bad luck, that put them in paradise. Why would they? p85 I feel like this whole book is like this paragraph: emotional and unsure of itself.

2. The book doesn't seem to know what it wants to say about this protagonist. Is he at fault for his disaster of a life, or just unlucky and therefore pitiable?

3. As I crept through this modern Olympus, I grew to resent these people and everything they had, and by the time I spotted Farah’s red BMW in the driveway of an enormous double-fronted mansion, I was truly in the grip of envy. p150 Distaste for personal wealth can be a compelling character trait, but I can't figure out what the author is trying to say about this subject, with all he writes about poverty and wealth.

4. This unreliable narrator is the sort I don't really understand. "It's not my fault! Yes it is! No it's *their* fault! No it's mine! No, I'm a victim of circumstance! No, I accept responsibility for my actions!" It's either messy, or I feel like this author is messing with me.

5. What is "a wholesome breath?" p181

6. This one needs to end 100 pages sooner. Take out all the repetition and tail-chasing, and that would probably do it.

Rating: 💭💭💭 /5 great concepts
Recommend? Yes, for the right readers
Finished: Nov 18 '24
Format: Digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
🏎 action thrillers
🧗‍♂️ adrenaline thrillers
🗣 stream of consciousness
☘️ bad luck trope
🌄 redemption stories

Thank you to the author Adam Hamdy, publishers Atria Books, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of DEADBEAT. All views are mine.