Book cover of 29 Seconds by T. M. Logan shows title, author, and the blurb, which reads, "It doesn't take long to get revenge...."Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read 29 Seconds in exchange for an honest review. 

29 Seconds by T. M. Logan

Genre: Suspense/thriller

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Publication Date: September 10, 2019

Summary

Sarah is an English professor with two young kids, an absentee husband, and her dream job: teaching literature at the university. There’s just one big problem:

Hawthorne.

He’s the Marlowe expert in the literary world, a media celebrity, and the darling of the university for landing the largest grant that the liberal arts department has had. He also sexually harasses Sarah on a daily basis. In the past, women who have complained about his unwanted advances have found themselves jobless, with their careers in shambles.

Sarah’s finally being considered for a permanent contract. She can’t afford to enrage Hawthorne. But he’s made it clear that she’s got a choice. Sleep with him and get the contract. Or refuse and be dismissed from her position. Unemployed. Unemployable.

Then Sarah saves the life of a child. The little girl’s father, Grosvenor, is a powerful, wealthy man. He offers Sarah a choice.

Give me one name, and I will make that person disappear forever . . .

The obvious person? Hawthorne.

It’ll only take a few seconds to make the call. Twenty-nine seconds. But should she do it?

My thoughts

29 Seconds is a book that can be read on multiple levels.

The plot level

As a suspense novel, this is excellent. Logan surprised me at several points, which is a bit difficult to do, and the plot takes us to several unexpected places. If you’re looking for a riveting, tension-filled suspense novel to devour, here you go.

But if you dive deeper, there’s more than simply a rollercoaster plot.

The emotional level.

I don’t have a doctorate, but I do have a master’s degree and seriously considered getting my doctorate in English literature. (I had two kids instead!) I’ve also spent a fair amount of time around people with Ph.Ds in the so-called “impractical” liberal arts.

I’ve watched professors spend countless hours teaching, grading, planning, researching, writing, submitting, and cross-their-fingers hoping to get another publication. All in hopes of getting a position. Getting tenure. Getting some semblance of job security. Because, let’s face it, if you have a doctoral degree specializing in literature from several centuries ago, what can you do with that degree besides teach? Not much.

Here’s what I’m getting at:

Sarah had my sympathy.

She’s highly educated and a hard worker. She’s struggling to maintain a balance between being a single mom to two young kids and her job, where coworkers believe her priorities are wrong. Then Hawthorne, the powerful and popular professor, sexually harasses her. Repeatedly. Relentlessly.

Logan did an excellent job laying out all the available options, then tearing them apart. Every time she thinks (and we think, too) that oh, yay! an escape route, he rips it apart. Every. Single. Time. I could feel Sarah’s desperation grow. Tension mounts.

Logan nails the dynamics between abuser and abused. Hawthorne whittles away at Sarah’s world, narrowing it down until he is the world and there is no escape. He is all that she can see. He consumes all her thoughts. I’ve been there, as have countless other people.

Under those circumstances, Grosvenor’s offer looks like salvation.

I said that this story can be read on multiple levels. There’s the external plot. There’s the emotional arc. But if you dive even deeper, this book has an ethical, possibly even spiritual, level.

The ethical level

This isn’t a story about revenge.

No matter what anyone else might think, I can’t read this as a revenge story. It’s much more than that. Revenge is petty and vindictive and unnecessary. That’s not the case here. She’s trying to protect those she loves and her achievements.

Don’t discount how difficult it is to work that hard, for that long, sacrificing, dreaming, striving, persevering in the face of opposition–only to watch a powerful, heartless man threaten to tear apart that dream and one’s family overnight. Fighting back isn’t revenge. It’s protecting this achievement against the threat.

But if the weapon of protection is evil, then what?

This is a Faustian tale; it’s about a battle for the soul. I thoroughly enjoyed the references to Marlowe and his most famous (infamous?) work. Faust and his devil haunt this story.

This is a story about ethical choices.

There’s the choice that Grosvenor gives her. Give him a name, or not.

What does “disappear” mean? He doesn’t say it. But it’s understood that to disappear in Grosvenor’s world is to die. It’s also understood that, by us and Sarah, this man is powerful enough to make it happen. He’s devilish, if not an actual devil.

She understands what this means for her ethically. She’s a Marlowe scholar; she knows how Faust’s bargain ends. Like Dr. Faustus, she’ll be apart from everyone else who has not made a bargain with the devil. She knows she is slipping closer and closer to selling her integrity and her soul. It frightens her.

But there’s also the choice that Hawthorne gives her. He’s made it clear that she’ll have to sleep with him (also selling her integrity) or else she’ll never get a permanent contract, leaving her unemployed and unemployable.

Damned if she does. Damned if she doesn’t.

This is a universal story.

It could take place in many fields. Law. Politics. Business. Entertainment. Religion. I’ve heard stories like this in all these fields. Many of these fields are dominated by the good old boys network.

Harassment and assault are common. Complaints are ignored or dismissed. People turn a blind eye, either refusing to believe the truth or too afraid of the negative ramifications for themselves to speak out. Outsiders are blissfully ignorant.

Meanwhile, those with power gain power and those without power have even what little they have stripped away.

How many people have lived this story? How many are living it now?

29 Seconds is haunting, deeply disturbing, and compelling.

I couldn’t stop reading it. I highly recommend it.

Thanks again to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read 29 Seconds in exchange for an honest review.