THE EXECUTIONER’S MASK

A maverick lawyer has only days to save a career criminal from execution for killing a decorated cop.

Indianapolis attorney Sonny Ritter was a high-flying lawyer with a bright future until a single misstep cost him his career, his wife, and his reputation. When Sonny gets an urgent call from police to help distraught Phil Curry, he recognizes a kindred spirit in the former FBI agent who, persecuted by the bureau ever since becoming a whistleblower, has responded by taking his ex-wife and two kids hostage. Sonny’s too late to save Curry, who engineers his own shooting by police. Shocked and determined to rebuild his own life, he gets a chance from his law-school classmate (and perennial crush) Kit Lake, who represents convicted killer J.J. Jackson, days away from execution for the murder of hero cop John Griffo. Kit’s goal is nothing more than a downgrade from death to life-without-parole, but a videotape of Jackson shooting the cop makes even that seemingly impossible. In reexamining the crime, Sonny ruffles feathers on the police force. Soon after, he’s nearly run down by anonymously helmeted motorcyclists and framed for possession of cocaine. On the way to an ingenious and surprising conclusion, Sonny gets special assists from a jaded veteran reporter and a razor-sharp septuagenarian secretary.

First-rate prose, crisply drawn characters, and a clever solution—if you can survive the parade of clichéd plot points long enough to reach it.