Seventh By: Lewis Hastings

Posted by Leonard Tillerman | Oct 7, 2019 | Book Reviews

The Review

For anyone who has experienced significant difficulties or heartache in their past, it is often recommended by others that they “move on.” “Forget about your past and start over,” they are told. This is actually pretty good advice for the most part. However, what happens when despite your best efforts to evade it, your past catches up with you anyway?

That is the engine driving Seventh by Lewis Hastings. Jack Cade is a man determined to move on, and he settles in New Zealand in the hope of leaving everything behind him. The novel follows his attempt to outrun a history that will not stay buried.

What I appreciated most was the sustained sense of tension running through the story. Hastings earns the thriller label — the book genuinely puts the “thrill” in the word “thrilling” — while still leaving room for the emotional weight of a second chance that may not arrive.

The pacing keeps the reader slightly off balance, which suits a story about a man who is never quite sure who he is anymore. For readers who enjoy mysteries and thrillers with a human core, this is worth your time.