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.

I wasn’t sure of the style at first, or our main character, but eventually I found myself absolutely intrigued. Ended up loving the story. So many twists and turns!

This one grew on me.

I wasn’t sure of the style at first, or our main character, but eventually I found myself absolutely intrigued.

Don’t get me wrong, our MC is morally dark gray edging on black, and I could never get behind his decisions, but the reasons behind everything were fascinating and I kept hoping that, somehow, even our main character would find his happy.

Expect a lot of surprises and definitely some sadness.

Oh…and drugs and booze and generally not-so-good behavior. But, he tries.

A good read.

• ARC via Publisher

Peyton Collard used to be a regular guy, a decent man who was married to his childhood sweetheart. They have a daughter, Skye, and Peyton tried his best to be the man he should be for her. Unfortunately, after leaving his job as an engineer in the military, he had a few too many drinks in celebration of a new job. On his drive home, he killed a young woman and was sent to prison. His time there changed him - not only did he lose his wife and the family they had made, he lost part of himself.

Now out of prison, Peyton is living in a horrible neighborhood, and his new job is drinking himself to this point of not remembering he took a life, something he didn’t even do in the military. Then one day, in his mailbox is $1000 and a note with a URL that takes him to a voice note. This person wants him to kill a drug dealer, and is willing to pay $100,000. Life-changing money that could help his now-teenage daughter into the medical school she wants, and set her up for a better life than his, has Peyton considering this offer. The guy’s a bad person…it’s not like he’s killing a priest (just kidding - he does kill a sex-offending priest). As soon as the dealer is dead, he has his money, and another note, this one with $2000, offering him $200,000 to kill a crooked lawyer who launders money. And so on and so on…

Now Peyton’s life is really changing - he has rented a nice house in the hills, his daughter and ex-wife are starting to respect him again - but now he’s a murderer. A MASS murderer. The ghosts of the people he’s killed live rent-free in his head, constantly telling him what a terrible person he is. It’s worth it to him to give his daughter a nice life, but now he’s determined to find out who has turned him into a serial killer. This search takes this book to an ending I saw coming, but that still shocked me as I missed a huge part of it! This was engaging, well-written (from Peyton’s POV as he writes a book about this time in his life) and the ending was great. The whole book was great. Can Peyton be a regular person again? The author’s notes say Peyton is both loath-able and lovable. It’s up to you to decide whether you love or hate him, but I guarantee you’ll feel one way or the other. 4.5 stars!

(Thank you to Atria Books, Adam Hamdy and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released December 3, 2024.)

First thank you to Atria books and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5 stars

Synopsis: Peyton was getting out of the military and had a great job lined up. However he celebrated too hard and got in an accident and killed someone. He went to prison and his life has went downhill since then. After a bad night he is in jail again but suddenly gets bailed out. When he gets home he has a mysterious offer in exchange for his freedom. He has to kill a person who doesn’t appear to be a good guy. Can he do that or is that too much?

What I liked: I like to call these popcorn thrillers because it reminds me of the movies. I wasn’t surprised to hear the author Adam Hamdy is a screenwriter. There is a lot of action in this book from start to finish and very interesting premise. I liked how the main character Peyton would talk to himself and us about his decisions and steps. I felt like the pacing was right and there were some good twists and turns in the book. Peyton is definitely flawed but liked to hear how he felt things happened in his life and what he wanted. He did love his daughter and ex wife and his friend Jim. Jim was a great character this guy was even rougher than Peyton. He definitely seem like he had some stories to tell. I don’t want to spoil anything but I liked what Peyton did at the end to resolve the case.

I think the romance for Peyton seem a little out of place for me and didn’t think the story needed it.

This was a fun quick thriller that kept you entertained while reading it.

I’d heard rave things about the authors previous book so when I saw this on NetGalley I grabbed it. It sounded good: a high octane thriller where the anti-hero kills people for money then sets out to find the person behind the whole scheme. Short chapters moved quickly though I really did not care for the main character at all, I tried. This was an ok drug fueled thriller but really was not my kind of book. I’ll give the author another try though.

Thanks to the author and publisher for the e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Atria Books publishing for providing me an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review!

I very much enjoyed this book. It was intense, fast paced, and had lots of action. The main character was absolutely infuriating, although I'm sure that's what Adam Hamdy was shooting for. I appreciated the themes throughout, and the thought it provoked when it comes to right and wrong. I loved the first person perspective and how it portrayed the characters story. It was relatable, and even though he made the stupidest choices possible, I felt connected to the main character. A great read and I can't wait to read more of Adam Hamdys work!!

Deadbeat - Adam Hamdy
Pub Date - 12/3/24
Rating - 3.5/5

Summary - An ex-military architect, Peyton Collard's life completely changed since the accident. Divorced and broke, Peyton suddenly comes across a request to murder an evil man for a life changing amount of money. After the first kill, Peyton keeps receiving requests to murder many more for increasing amounts of money. Who is sending these messages and why? What is the end game?

Thoughts - Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. I enjoyed the short chapters and the premise of the book. I could get through it pretty quickly and the overall story was very well portrayed with a different ending that I wasn't expecting. The main character frustrated me with his awful decision making and some of the writing became repetitive. For that reason, I didn't rate this higher. Overall, good story and decent read.

Peyton Collard was a good man once, but his life changed after a horrific car accident. Divorced, drunk, and severely damaged, Peyton is offered a life-changing sum of money to kill an evil man. But as he goes on a vigilante journey that leaves a trail of bodies across California, Peyton wonders about the identity of his anonymous patron. Soon, his questions become an obsession, and he embarks on a tense and potentially deadly investigation to discover the truth about the murders he’s committed.

Peyton Collard is the main character. He is a deadbeat. He is divorced, a drunk and severely damaged. He thinks he is a vigilante. He kills bad people for money. He hears voices in his head and thinks they are the voices from the ghosts that he killed but it's actually his conscience speaking.

I had mixed feelings about this one. I started out not liking this one, then I would start liking it and then I wouldn't like it again. It did get good near 80% but that was a little bit too late for me. Near the end I had to suspend disbelief. There was a lot of repetition throughout the book and I struggle when there is a lot of repetition.

I thought it was very slow during the first half I love the short chapters because it kept me turning the pages This was a buddy read with Jayme and Marilyn. Check out their reviews.

I want to thank Netgalley and Atria Books for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved The Other Side of Night so when I saw a new book from the same author, I jumped at the chance to read it. I didn't realize, however, that The Other Side of Night was a departure from Hamdy's typical action packed thrillers (this is where it pays to read a synopsis and not go in blind...).

Deadbeat was just that, an adrenaline filled race which featured Peyton, a dad turned drunk turned hired killer trying to do good for his family, as he navigates the morality and perils of his new role. It was giving me Ryan Gosling in the movie Drive vibes. This was definitely a well paced and well thought out thriller but it just wasn't the style of thriller that I would typically be interested in so I do find it hard to give this book a rating. I would say it fell between 3.5 and 4⭐️ for me, but might be more appealing to fans of this genre.

5 Things to Know Before You Pick Up Deadbeat by Adam Hamdy

Looking for a heart-pounding thriller with a morally complex lead? Here’s what you need to know about Deadbeat:

1️⃣ A Flawed Yet Relatable Hero: Meet Peyton Collard, a once-honorable veteran turned hitman after hitting rock bottom. His journey is raw, gripping, and heartbreakingly human.
2️⃣ Themes of Redemption: Beyond the action, this novel dives deep into morality, desperation, and the lengths one will go for family.
3️⃣ A Dark, Twisty Plot: Anonymous patrons. Evil targets. Big payouts. Peyton’s hitman career quickly spirals into a dangerous hunt for truth.
4️⃣ Non-Stop Action: High stakes, shocking twists, and intense confrontations until the final page.
5️⃣ A Must-Read for Thriller Fans: If you love a literary read, morally complex characters and emotional tension, Deadbeat won’t disappoint!

📖 Available December 3, 2024—perfect for your winter TBR

Why Not Five Stars:
Though I loved how Peyton (the main character and narrator) would talk to the reader, even fictional supposed readers, being in his head got tiresome. He constantly beat himself up and rationalized with the same thoughts over and over again. Though literarily speaking, I could defend this technique as it serves a purpose; as a casual reader, it detracts from the enjoyment of the thriller aspects of the novel and slows down the pace - even becoming, dare I say it - boring. But if you love books with a more literary style, then you will find this one is a gem with lots to be discovered: notable imagery, a katabasis, and moral ambiguity that’s perfect for stimulating intellectual discussion and contemplation.

I had never heard of this author before but tho novel sounded like something I would enjoy. It kept me engaged in the beginning, but also started to feel flat and repetitive unfortunately. It was my favorite, but i’d give this author another try.

This is not the type of thriller I typically read, but I'm so glad I did.

As someone who has struggled a lot financially (in LA too), it was interesting to put myself in the main character Peyton Collard's shoes and think of what I would have done differently and what it would have resulted in. I loved the very fast pace of the book and finished it in one evening.

I didn't exactly like any of the characters, but for this kind of story, that wasn't necessary, and I don't think that was the writer's goal anyway. A cautionary tale of sorts, about what could happen if strong emotions and greed got in the way of logical thinking and empathy.

This story had a very good twist at the end that I did not see coming, and it tied up all the loose ends and questions I had while reading. Very satisfying and worth getting through the whole thing.

The only parts I didn't like were the long descriptions and details of the people/places Peyton interacted with when they weren't all that necessary for the plot. I found myself skimming those because I wanted to get back to the action.

Overall, I recommend this book if you're into fast-paced thrillers and morally gray main characters.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster / Atria Books for this ARC!

*engaged my attention right away
*plot set up is interesting

But,
*the main character 🤬
*had to put it down more than a few times due to the repetition
*implausible
*did I mention that it was repetitive?

This may be just the book for other readers, but unfortunately, this one Deadbeat wasn’t for me.


Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the DRC

What better way to start a book than with a confession!! He lost everything thing five years ago when he killed someone in a car accident. It was interesting to see how the main character justified his actions all along the way and had you cheering for him, even though he was the murderer. I very much enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone who like a good and twisty thriller. Thank you NetGalley.

I liked Hamdy's last book The Other Side of Night, because it had a great twist at the end. Although I liked the way this eventually came together, I just didn't like how it got there.

The main premise is that Peyton Collard is a deadbeat. He's a divorced dad whose life was on track after a career in the military and a successful re-entry into civilian life--until he chose to drive drunk and killed someone. Now he has no income, no friends, and his ex wife rarely lets him see their daughter. That is, until he gets an anonymous message offering him a staggering amount of money to kill someone, and this turns into more. Peyton starts to wonder who is paying this money and why and starts to investigate on his own.

My main problem with this book was how much I hated the main character. He was constantly getting drunk/high at the absolute wrong times and making a bumbling mess of everything. You'd think with all of his cash motivation and wanting to do right by his daughter that he'd at least try to make better choices but for as intelligent as he was supposed to be, he was caught in an endless pity party and making bad choices right and left.

Like I said, I did like the way it all came together, but it took SO long to get there. I honestly got a bit bored of reading about all of the places he left his car when drunk and partying, how he didn't want to go back to jail but wasn't making any inroads to prevent that happening.

I'm definitely in the minority, many people have liked this book a lot more than me so if you think the premise sounds good then definitely give it a try.

3.5 stars ⭐️

Adrenaline Thrillers aren’t my favorite genre, but based on positive reviews and the fact that I found his last book, “The Other Side of Night” intriguing-I decided to give this one a try.

The book opens with a CONFESSION:

Peyton Collard, a former Military man, who was voted “most likely to succeed” in high school, is admitting that he is now a KILLER.

He lost EVERYTHING 5 years ago, after taking a life in a car accident-He should NOT have been driving drunk. And, now, he is back in a jail cell for something else and unable to make bail.

But an anonymous benefactor has gotten him released and made him an offer he can’t refuse-Kill an evil man with two shots to the head, and claim $100,000 cash. Seems too good to be true-and you know what they say about that…

Why was he chosen?

Why was he offered a fresh start, and a College fund for his daughter so she can go to school to become a Doctor and not have HER own life ruined because of HIS poor choices?

He convinces himself that taking the offer would be no different than (for example) what a CEO who could prevent workplace accidents does by not enforcing higher standards, and the many examples he came up with to rationalize his behavior made this story a bit deeper than most others in the genre, and I enjoyed this aspect.

So, YES-he takes the job out of DESPERATION.

He tells himself he is doing it for LOVE.

Peyton Collard repeatedly makes REALLY POOR CHOICES, despite his conscience trying to steer him off of his chosen path, and there is quite a lot of repetition- DRINK-KILL-GET BEAT UP-REPEAT.

To put an end to it all, Peyton will have to figure out who his anonymous benefactor is, and his or her end game.

The book reads a lot like an Adrenaline Thriller you might WATCH at the movie theater so I wasn’t surprised to learn that Adam Hamdy is a Screenwriter. It’s still not my favorite genre to read-but this SEEDY story is ENTERTAINING though VERY Over-the-Top! If you love those kind of films-this book is for you!

Prepare to suspend your disbelief! 🍿

A buddy read with Mary Beth and MarilynW. Be sure to watch for their thoughts too!

Expected Publication Date: December 3, 2024

Thank You to Atria Books for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. As always these are my candid thoughts!

This was a fun read. I loved how gritty and raw it was. The main character, Peyton, was entirely unlikeable, but I really enjoyed him, nonetheless. He was a fun character, and he wanted better things for his daughter which I can appreciate. I loved that this book was written in the first person. It made me feel much closer to Peyton and his struggles. I think that Peyton was in a loose situation and really struggled with what to do. As the book went on, there were so many twists and that was fantastic. The ending was fantastic, and I loved how it worked out. The themes of the book were dark, and this book is heavier in terms of what I read. The pacing was fast, and I blew through this book in one sitting. I finished it over the course of a few hours one afternoon. I also appreciated the short chapters which helped hold my interest and keep me engaged.

If you are looking for a fast-paced thriller that will make you question your morality, then you need to check this one out.

Adam Hamdy is becoming an auto read author for me. Deadbeat follows Peyton, a single divorced father to Skye, just trying to not be a fuck up for the sake of his daughter. After serving 3 years in prison for accidentally killing a young girl in a car accident, he’s surviving best he can when he receives an offer he can’t refuse. Kill a seemingly random man and get $10,000 cash.

From here the wildness unfolds, the stakes continuously get higher and Peyton becomes entangled in a game he’s not sure he knows the rules of playing. Who’s leaving the money and who is controlling the game?

The ending was perfect, exactly what I’ve come to expect from Hamdy. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.