The Survivor

Hurwitz’s hair-raising stand-alone stars an unlikely hero, 36-year-old Nate Overbay. Diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease nine months earlier, Nate is about to leap off an 11th-floor ledge of a bank building in Santa Monica, Calif., when he notices a robbery in progress through the window next to where he’s standing. Nate climbs back in the window undetected, grabs a handgun a masked man has conveniently set down, and, thanks to his ROTC firearms training, succeeds in shooting dead five of the six robbers. In revenge, the thwarted theft’s mastermind, a notorious Ukrainian mobster, vows to brutally kill Nate and his teenage daughter unless Nate can retrieve the robbery’s objective: an envelope stored in one of the bank’s safe deposit boxes. In between tight, compelling action scenes, Hurwitz (You’re Next) sensitively depicts Nate’s struggles with ALS. While Nate’s exploits may be a little beyond his skill set at times, thriller fans won’t let this one gather any dust on the nightstand. Author tour. Agent: Aaron Priest. (Aug.)