A shocking and disturbing tale, not really what I expected and to be honest maybe not really for me., as it was very dark. But it was a bold story well told, and it is the sort of thing that does happen more often than you think of the newspapers are to be believed.

A unusual and clever psychological study where the protagonist is also the antagonist. But does he realise this?​
This story unfolds gently, without the reader realising what they are dealing with. It is told in the first person, "a good man" who acts in the best interest of his family and his workplace. He is the provider and the protector. He does his best to be the good man he should be.

The tale flips back to his childhood  in his dysfunctional family. Things have been rough for him with an abusive father and weak mother, the death of his sister to whom he was close. His younger sisters did not mature very well and remain as children. But he takes care of them financially and by doing the odd jobs around the house. He gets married o a wonderful woman and they have a well-loved daughter.

It is easy to let the little signs slip by. Only on reflection the clues become obvious, so perhaps a second reading is in order. But then we would not be on the Good Man's journey with him.

He justifies his actions by always acting as the protector and provider. The more unsavory things are dismissed and minimised in his recollections as "maybe I..." He is a good man, he is not unfaithful, for example, he believes. After a while he stops using the names of his wife and daughter and refers to them as "his girls", relegating them to immature things he needs to take care of.

Suddenly his apparently perfect life is interrupted when he is accused of something dreadful and he has to face up to it. And this, ultimately, is his undoing.

The writing style uses minimal punctuation with regard to speech, but this works well when told from the first-person perspective. The story generally has a good flow considering the time hopping aspect, and the diction is apt.

A book that is timeless and topical about the role of men and masculinity and the pressure this puts on men and women alike.  Original in that it is from the man's point of view, refreshing and disturbing. Engrossing, chilling, tense and very skilfully expressed. Katz is a writer to keep an eye on. Recommended as the best domestic noir I have ever read.

This is one of those debut novels that takes on some seriously dark topics and does so with considerable aplomb. It's highly original, compelling and different to many of the books in the market making it refreshingly different. Ms Katz certainly knows how to command your attention

A Good Man he may appear to be at the start, but as the book went on it became increasingly clear that our protagonist is anything but. No spoilers here,  but after the gradually building tension, darkness and mystery, the ending is a shocking surprise. The book is very well written, with characters finely drawn throughout, and the skill of building such tension is breathtaking - quite literally, as it had me holding my breath towards the end! This is a complex and disturbing novel and is probably not to everyone’s taste, but if a book can get me that involved, it certainly deserves 4 stars.

I was especially looking forward to this book because the blurb doesn’t give much away which made me really curious! It wasn’t entirely what I was expecting but I have to say I was completely gripped all the way through. A Good Man is basically a very intense character study and also a fascinating commentary on toxic masculinity and perception.

This is the sort of book that could easily be read in one sitting, it is relatively short and it is so interesting to take in how things unravel in Thomas’ life and why. There is a tone and style to the writing which is quite unusual and completely engrossing. I am hesitant to give away too much about the story because I think it’s best to go into it with minimal knowledge but what I will say is that this book shows exactly what is wrong with some aspects of society. The author deftly exposes a subtle sexism and darkness that exists just beneath the surface disguised as chivalry, old fashioned values and male protectiveness. There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these things but this book powerfully demonstrates how they can be twisted by a certain type of man’s narcissism and skewed perception of himself.

A Good Man is an incredibly compelling read that will chill readers to the bone. It is a fascinating and positively eerie look at an unreliable narrator and whilst it may not be to absolutely everyone’s taste, I think fans of character driven psychological thrillers will likely find it as impactful and intelligently written as I did.

The book starts by telling you the main character has done something wrong, and then takes you all through his life until this point, where something causes him to flip. I suppose it is the sort of story you might read in a newspaper, where neighbours comment that he was always a nice, family man – a good man and they can’t believe it. I found the descriptions of his upbringing and childhood home interesting, but it seemed more like the story of someone’s life, with a completely unexpected happening at the end, which didn’t really tie in with his character or the rest of the story.

A very well written but dark novel. I actually a vegan to like Thomas ( I know, I know, how could I?) don’t ask me how but I did....this book seemed to have me gripped and I’m actually desperate to know what happens to him afterwards? 

I was pretty gutted when it ended, and really enjoyed it, fascinating insight into the way Thomas thought and saw himself very differently to how we would perceive him.

A really good book which I thoroughly enjoyed.

My thanks to Penguin Random House U.K./William Heinemann for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘A Good Man’ by Ani Katz in exchange for an honest review.

‘Our lives were good – great, even. We were happy and secure. We had everything we needed. There was no way for anyone to know – least of all me – that it would all end the way it did.’ This statement by narrator, Thomas Martin, in the opening chapter is one of a number of early indicators that before its closing pages something monumental will occur. 

Following this provocative opening the narrative settles down and provides Thomas’ account of the events that have led here, including flashbacks to his early life. 

Thomas wasn’t an easy character to relate to. His infantilising of his wife, Miriam, by referring constantly to her and their daughter, Ava, as ‘my girls’ was irritating. Add to this the way in which he kept a tight hold on the household spending, even though Miriam had a trust fund, demonstrated a man who needed to exert control. I mean what kind of monster denies his family nice toilet paper? 

I found this novel challenging as there were times that I felt engaged and other points where I struggled. However, while it contains elements found in psychological/domestic suspense genre fiction, this is very much a work of literary fiction and as such is more demanding. 

It’s a relatively short novel and I sat down yesterday and found that I had read it in a single sitting. I feel that it is a novel that would likely yield more on a second, more measured, reading and as such may suggest it as a selection for one of my reading groups as there is a lot within to discuss. 

While I don’t know a great deal about opera it features very much in Thomas’ inner life and may reveal more about his mindset than I was able to initially appreciate. 

Given its gripping depiction of toxic masculinity, an unreliable narrator, and the way in which memory can prove deceptive, I wouldn’t be surprised to find ‘A Good Man’ featured in this year’s literary prizes, especially The Women’s Prize for Fiction. 

Certainly an assured debut and an author to watch.

Thomas Martin defines himself as a good man. Outwardly successful, earning a good wage, caring for his mother and sisters, and taking an interest in his wife and daughter. We see snippets of their life through Thomas’s eyes, and initially everything seems so straightforward.
Ever so slowly we get prickles of unease. Little details hint at something off-kilter about Thomas and his background. There’s suggestions of abuse at the hands of his father and the behaviour of his sisters seems symptomatic of those who’ve experienced neglect or abuse. But Thomas calls himself a good man and paints a picture of someone on top of their game. Why would we doubt him?
The memories of his early relationship with his wife appear fond. Then we learn that her family avoid them, and the details about her behaviour ring pretty vivid alarm bells.
As we move into the sphere of work it seems Thomas isn’t painting the full picture. This is never satisfactorily explained, but we do know he loses his job and never admits this.
Thomas’s mental decline seems to happen rapidly, but I think this was some time in the making. Before we know it we move towards a highly charged situation. Set against a beautiful winter setting we watch the most extreme events unravel. Even as I was getting over the situation between Thomas and his wife, I was not remotely prepared for the closing scene. Chilling.
A Good Man? It’s safe to say Thomas has one view of himself that is at odds with our view. How he went so long without being aware of this is hard to see, and I’m rather curious to know what he does next. This was certainly a different read, and I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for offering me the opportunity to read it prior to publication.

Unfortunately I had to dnf this book early on as I didn't gel with the writing style at all. The premise initially hooked me but unfortunately this one wasn't for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of Thomas Martin, a man with a prefect life. A beautiful wife, a loving father, son and brother and a gloriously successful career. So how does this good man lose it all and what did he do to deserve it?

This book is very well written and is full of suspense. However, I feel like the later stages of this book are rushed. There are many references to opera in this book that I feel that I may not have got the full intricacies of, but I do not feel that that impeded my understanding or enjoyment of the story. My biggest problem with this book was that I just didn't believe in the main character - not that I didn't like or connect - but I fundamentally didn't believe that the thoughts and feeling were those of the character, which is why I can't rate this higher.

Thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone William Heinemann for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

'A Good Man' with its tight narrative and one person, epically unreliable narrator, should not work as a psychological thriller, but it does, and then some. There are not enough superlatives to describe this tour de force of a novel that is a highly explosive mix of 'Mad Men' and Brett Easton-Ellis' modern classic, 'American Psycho'. A quick read, with no natural breaks in the story arc, this is a book that demands to be read in one sitting. I certainly could not book this down, and as a consequence, finished 'A Good Man' with some satisfaction in the early hours of the morning. The novel focuses on Thomas Martin, advertising executive, family man and self-proclaimed 'good man'. Subtle, mouth-watering hints from Katz, early on, however, suggest that Thomas is not the man he purports to be. A tragedy is eluded to, a sexual precocious daughter is furtively observed, and an unhappy wife is glimpsed between the pages of this sublimely constructed narrative, and Thomas? Well, Thomas is at best, a man whose construction of self is at odds with who he really is, at worst.... psychopath, narcissist, sociopath. All these clinical terms could apply, but it would be more accurate to say that Thomas is a deeply complicated man that defies easy categorisation. Indeed, this is what makes this book so fascinating. Katz could have gone down the easy road of making Thomas unambiguously good or bad, but these themselves are simple binaries of human nature that do not exist in reality. It is the flawed humanity at the heart of the novel, captured in the compelling story arc, that makes Ani Katz both a brilliant writer and an astute observer of the human condition. 

A compelling, psychodrama of the individual mind... absolutely astonishing..

Well written and very dark but the operatic references throughout really didn’t add anything to the story,I guess unless you  are an opera fan

Struggled with this book, but it got me in the end. I'm not sure I'd overly recommend it as it was quite a tough read. I'm sure others would enjoy it but it wasn't for me. Thomas wasn't a character I understood and just couldn't get into his thoughts.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

and what a strange book it was....all about the life of a good man and his family told through his eyes and the way he saw his life....even those of his wife and daughter and his other family...

have to say though i read it and shook my head in disbelief i carried on reading it to see how it all pans out...the ending wasnt a real surprise...

an egotistical man who wanted to live life better

You will feel everything for this man. So genuinely portrayed that you cannot reject him even with the last terrible twist of the story. A study in compassion at it's very best.

After reading the synopsis of this book, I thought it would be right up my street, the type of story that I enjoy. However, and I hate to say this I struggled with some of it.

Thomas Martin, is the narrator of his own story, the whole book is narrated by the character, but how reliable is this character, he claims to be a good husband, father, employee, brother, son. But is he actually any of these. He admits he tells stories for a living, he is in advertising so knows how to spin a yarn to suit himself. So how much of the narration of events can the reader believe. Initially you are reading of his love of Opera, I found some of this to go into too much detail, practically telling the whole story of Wagner’s opera Taanhauser, but there may be some significance with that and the story, for atmosphere.

I liked the way his families dilapidated home was described, as well as the twin sisters and their eccentricities, his fragile ailing mother, and how he helped to keep them, being the good son and brother that he is. How he met his wife Miriam, love at first sight. But was it? The sex at times quite violent, was she as into that as he thought? Or states? Their daughter. He calls them his girls, in itself it’s quite a controlling phrase, they belong to him and no one else. 

My biggest problem is that I didn’t like or care for any of the characters, that caused a big problem, I should have been rooting for his wife or daughter, but I felt nothing for them. There were no twists or turns at the end. You knew from page one something was going to happen, but no idea what. I was compelled to finish the book because I had to know what happened.

The writing is good, I just didn’t engage with the story, or the characters, and I really wanted to.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #WilliamHeinemann for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

“That’s what I did for a living. I spun stories, made things like death seem clean and manageable - attractive, even.”

A GOOD MAN by Ani Katz is a haunting and disturbing novel. From the beginning of the story, narrated by Thomas Martin, the titular ‘Good Man’, it is clear that something tragic has occurred, horrific enough to warrant examination in the media. Thomas tells the story of his family, trying to make sense of the events. 

Despite having grown up in a damaged, perhaps toxic, household, Thomas is a successful advertising executive with a beautiful French wife and exceptionally bright daughter who adore him; at least that is how he tells it. Thomas is a convincing and engaging storyteller but there are moments when we question his reliability. He lets slip that Miriam, his wife, whose trust-fund bought the beautiful home that Thomas selected for them, was not, initially at least, as enthusiastic about leaving the city of New York as he was. Thomas loves the good things in life - opera, food and fine wine - but his occasional comments about ‘a haphazardly constructed cheese plate’ and the eating habits of others seem a little off. He frequently returns to Richard Wagner’s Tannhaüser, and its self-destructive hero with whom he appears to identify almost obsessively. In returning to parts of his tale he sometimes adds additional detail which changes our understanding.

A GOOD MAN is one of those books about which it is difficult to say much without spoiler, suffice to say that I was drawn in and held enthralled until the truth was revealed. Ani Katz is a talented writer and I read A GOOD MAN with the creeping uneasiness with which I read Shirley Jackson. It really is that good.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC.  

I really, really found this book to be a hard and difficult one to read.  I didn’t take to or particularly like the main character, found the opera references irritating and felt they didn’t add anything to the story.  
The story was told by Thomas and I thought the narrative was quite dark, almost gloomy and this didn’t make it a good read.   Just not for me.

This title of this novel should probably come with a question mark! The man in question is Tom Martin an advertising executive married to a vivacious French wife called Miriam and with a lovely child, Ava. They have every prospect of a good life together but Tom is bedevilled by his past where he was brought up by an abusive, violent and drunken father. He also has to cope with a dysfunctional mother and two damaged teenage twins - his sisters. As the story develops, the dark side of his inheritance comes increasingly to haunt him and leads the book to its violent climax.

So, that gives us a simple reading of what is going on. Seriously damaged man tries hard to do what is right supporting his mother and the teenagers, making a dream home with his lovely wife and caring for his sweet daughter. Trying to do what is best for everyone leads him into some kind of breakdown because his upbringing hasn't really taught him what best for everyone means and therefore, eventually, he cracks. He's a good man because he tries to be good even though he fails!

However, it's a bit more than that. Tom is recounting the story and his narrative has some gaps in it and some clues. Reading between the lines, he is a car crash waiting to happen. He is emotionally incompetent but he thinks he knows what is right for people and doesn’t give them space to disagree. He drinks too much and too easily resorts to rage when he doesn't get his own way. He has good intentions but they may not be the best ones and his way of delivering them could certainly be improved!

And, then there's a bit more. This is a story about a man, a man who ought to be challenged by those around him from the start. It should be obvious that he is scarred but because he is a man he seems to get away with it as a representative of the patriarchy. Miriam is increasingly depressed but much of the reason is that she has moved to a new house where she is lonely and away from her friends. Her relationship with Tom is rough, sometimes violent, and you can't help feeling that if the roles were reversed she would have gone long before the end. Even at work, there are indications that Tom is an abusive and rather unpleasant boss while retailing the image of being highly efficient. It's that workplace façade collapsing which leads to his final crisis.

We end up with a good man, good in the sense of being a representative of gutsy masculinity, of holding things together, of knowing what is best, and of supporting his families, while a closer reading reveals that he is hopelessly messed up, emotionally frozen, pathologically half crazy and a danger to society.

That tension makes this a really excellent book that people will want to argue over. It's a rollercoaster ride well described by Ani Katz. The peripheral indications of a violent world and the bare descriptions of places keep the narrative moving at speed. The ending is shocking but, somehow, we've known that's where we're heading for many pages and there doesn't seem to be any way to stop it. It's a great read to start 2020.