Heroes

By: Robert Cormier

Narrated by: Zach Herries

Francis Joseph Cassavant is eighteen. He has just returned home from the Second World War, and he has no face. He does have a gun and a mission: to murder his childhood hero.

Francis lost most of his face when he fell on a grenade in France. He received the Silver Star for bravery, but was it really an act of heroism? Now, having survived, he is looking for a man he once admired and respected, a man adored by many people, a man who also received a Silver Star for bravery. A man who destroyed Francis's life.

Francis lost most of his face when he fell on a grenade in France. He received the Silver Star for bravery, but was it really an act of heroism? Now, having survived, he is looking for a man he once admired and respected, a man adored by many people, a man who also received a Silver Star for bravery. A man who destroyed Francis's life.

©1998 Robert Cormier (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Powerful

I discovered Robert Cormier near the end of my final year of high school, the few of his books I read leaving quite the impression on me. Only later in life, when my journey had come full circle and I realized I was meant to become what I enjoyed the most, a storyteller, did it occur to me how much of an impact Robert Cormier had had on me. Now, so many years later, as I listened to one of his books that I hadn't had the pleasure of reading way back then, it's so amazing to identify a lot of my own style in his writing. The dramatic way in which he tells a story, my training ground, my roots, gives me such appreciation that it was HIS powerful tales I had come across so long ago, and not some mediocre work that I was just happy to get through and be done with. I knew one day I'd revisit this superb author and get to the titles I had yet to read, and as it turns out, Heroes is the first. Kinda funny, with him being one of only a few literary heroes I have. Heroes; such a powerful read/listen. It reminds me of why I fell in love with Robert Cormier's talent a quarter century ago. That spell of obsession he casts which leaves one transfixed until the very end. One thing I did not get from my indirect mentor is the bravery to paint a story in bittersweetness. Well, for the most part anyway. Just can't bring myself to leave characters in such sorrow, even if laced in a little hope. But yeah, despite the heart being left heavy Heroes is a story that also left me grateful. for how great it was told. So hard to come upon such substance nowadays. Powerful.