A Good Man By Ani Katz Is Gripping And Intelligent

A Good Man, the debut suspense novel by Ani Katz, had us riveted right up until its shocking conclusion. In it, Katz puts the dysfunctional family dynamic, the fragile male ego, and an unreliable male narrator front and center.

Thomas Martin was a devoted family man who had all the trappings of an enviable life: a beautiful wife and daughter, a well-appointed home on Long Island’s north shore, a job at a prestigious Manhattan advertising firm. He was also a devoted son and brother, shielding the women in his orbit from the everyday brutalities of the world.

But what happens when Thomas’s fragile ego is rocked? After committing a horrific deed — that he can never undo — Thomas grapples with his sense of self. Sometimes he casts himself as a victim and, at other times, a monster. All he ever did was try to be a good man, but maybe if he tells his version of the story, he might uncover how and why things unraveled so horribly.

…a satisfying psychological thriller and an ambitious literary exploration of toxic masculinity, gender violence, and the dangers of outdated gender norms…

Within the pages of A Good Man, Katz makes readers question what aspects of Thomas’s narration are real and what are imagined, ultimately making him unreliable. Sometimes he casts himself as a victim and, at other times, a monster. Like Leila Slimani’s The Perfect Nanny, this story is engaging, disturbing and hard to put down.

This is both a satisfying psychological thriller and an ambitious literary exploration of toxic masculinity, gender violence, and the dangers of outdated gender norms about family and marriage.