This will probably be the only book I ever put on the crime novel shelf as I fear most of them are too brutal for my taste but I liked this one - great characters, dialogue and a page-turning plot.

It was okay. Maybe I should have read this first instead of the second book by this author as I was expecting a lot after having read the second book in the series. The book itself was okay. Took me a while to understand what was happening and also how the characters intertwined. Also for most of the book it seemed the book was more about Jakob rather than the main character. I would say read this first before reading the second book by the author, otherwise you would be left disappointed.

Este es uno de esos raros casos en que vi la película antes (mucho antes) de leer el libro. Y, teniendo en cuenta que la película es una de mis favoritas de siempre ha sido una muy grata sorpresa descubrir que se trataba de una adaptación muy fiel al libro, lo cual a su vez tiene sentido dada la cercanía de ambas obras. Es sorprendente cómo el autor logra contar tantas cosas que pasan en menos de un día (sin contar los flashbacks, obviamente), pero al mismo tiempo se trata de una lectura amena que se enfoca por igual en el protagonista y en los demás personajes.

The one book where I felt the movie was actually better. Crazy! I think the imagery they used in the movie really brought the words to life, especially during his soliloquies.

I really enjoyed Spike Lee's adaptation of this source material, and because it was little more than 200 pages, I though, why not give it a read? The 25th Hour is David Benioff's first novel, and he wrote most of it while he was a high school teacher. It's hard to imagine that Benioff would later turn this book into a great screenplay and go on to be showrunner for HBO's Game of Thrones. I suppose because I never heard much about this book (only of the movie), I didn't have high expectations for it.

Montgomery "Monty" Brogan is a drug dealer on the eve of his incarceration. On his last day before going to jail for 7 years, he spends time with friends, family, and himself. In his final hours, he's accepted his fate, but he never comes across as a broken or defeated man.

The 25th Hour doesn't read like a first novel. It's incredibly restrained -- the characters are incredibly real, and the dialog flows perfectly. The metaphors are symbolism here are treated underhandedly, and Benioff never calls attention to these motifs. I think I may recommend the movie over the novel, but they are both quite good. In fact, there are two monologues that I distinctly remember from the movie (the "F you" scene in front of the mirror and the final conversation with his father), but the writing here is so well crafted that these moments don't really stand out in the novel.

Recommend for those interested in mood or character pieces with a slight crime flavor.

Pretty short book detailing the last 25 hours of freedom for Montgomery Brogan, before he heads upstate for a 7 year stint for dealing drugs. The book has a rotating cast of characters as they all think about his last free hours, from a couple school chums to his girlfriend.

Not bad, but doesn't begin to hint at the greatness of his next novel, the transcendent City of Thieves. I did like the ending and the characters were interesting, esp. his girlfriend, but the book just kind of moseyed along and didn't really have much of a point. And I got real tired of the "how great is New York City" trope after about 5 pages. Ugh.

Was it good? Yes. Was it well written? Beautifully. Did I like it? Nope. Call me a quibbler, but for such a short book, I felt like it took a tad long to get to the point. Gorgeous sentences though.