THE GHOST CASE POSSE

In Greco’s thriller, a lawyer defending a serial rapist in a high-profile trial suspects something dark is at play when his girlfriend goes missing and bodies begin to pile up.

Jedidiah “Jed” Bouvier has spent 17 years as a public defender in Murrieta County, California. His most difficult case begins when he takes on client Dexter Wayne Jones, a serial rapist and possible killer on trial (again) for the decades-old slayings of an entire family. With the previous trial having ended with a hung jury, the pressure is on to make this one count. Jed feels the evidence is circumstantial enough to possibly set Dexter free, but the case’s bulldog prosecutor, Catalina “Cat” Galvez, has other ideas. An already complicated situation gets even messier when one juror from the first trial is found murdered and a second goes missing. Jed’s new girlfriend of a few months, Amy, also disappears, leading him to wonder if he ever really knew her in the first place. It soon becomes clear, from jury tampering and threats of violence, that someone is interfering with the proceedings. As the trial finally nears its end, Jed unsuspectingly hurtles toward a shocking revelation that changes everything. Greco delivers a dialogue-heavy courtroom drama that manages to move briskly and avoid any tedious legal verbiage. Although the book’s main twist is not particularly surprising, the buildup to get there is more than worthwhile. This success is thanks to the author’s clear and occasionally sardonic narrative voice (Jed “often wondered whether practicing law or drinking whiskey was more to blame for wrecking his life”), believable dialogue, and a cast of characters who manage to transcend their plot functions to feel like real people. (Jed’s oft-contentious conversations with his ex-wife prove particularly illuminating.) The result is a satisfying, if somewhat predictable, yarn that meaningfully probes themes of justice, forgiveness, and revenge.

A satisfying blend of legal drama and psychological thriller.