Sturdy wartime intrigue, subpar courtroom drama, little mystery, much righteous (and infectious) anger. A great case, but a...
Bay Area lawyer Dismas Hardy’s first starring role since The First Law (2003) tackles a controversial subject: the independent contractors making a killing in Iraq.
Even though he was defended by hotshot attorney Aaron Washburn, it’s no wonder that Evan Scholler was convicted of murdering Ron Nolan in 2005. The two men had been close in Baghdad: Scholler an ex-cop National Guard lieutenant whose unit was deployed to Iraq with no clear mission, Nolan a contractor for Allstrong Security who inveigled the unit into accompanying his hefty cash pickups. But their friendship shattered when Nolan, having seduced Scholler’s ex-girlfriend Tara Wheatley back in the States, provoked an ambush that decimated Scholler’s group and left him with a brain injury. When he finally learned the depth of Nolan’s perfidy, Scholler vowed to kill him, and all the evidence indicates that he did. Three years after Washburn’s unsuccessful defense, Charlie Bowen, the attorney preparing Scholler’s appeal, vanished. Now, after six months, he’s been declared incompetent to file the appeal, which has been assigned to Hardy. After sitting out most of the opening 300 pages, Hardy settles down to sift through reams of documents, most of them damning. Eventually he notices a sinister pattern: Several minor figures associated with the case (an ex-SEAL with Allstrong, an Iraqi middleman, Charlie Bowen’s suspicious wife) have died violently, leaving behind no evidence of who killed them. Was Scholler framed after all? Of course he was—and although it’s pretty obvious who did the job and why, it’s a pleasure watching Hardy pick up the scattered pieces and fit them together.
Sturdy wartime intrigue, subpar courtroom drama, little mystery, much righteous (and infectious) anger. A great case, but a decidedly mixed verdict.Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-525-95039-4
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2007
An exciting, thought-provoking mind-bender.
In Crouch’s sci-fi–driven thriller, a machine designed to help people relive their memories creates apocalyptic consequences.
In 2018, NYPD Detective Barry Sutton unsuccessfully tries to talk Ann Voss Peters off the edge of the Poe Building. She claims to have False Memory Syndrome, a bewildering condition that seems to be spreading. People like Ann have detailed false memories of other lives lived, including marriages and children, but in “shades of gray, like film noir stills.” For some, like Ann, an overwhelming sense of loss leads to suicide. Barry knows loss: Eleven years ago, his 15-year-old daughter, Meghan, was killed by a hit-and-run driver. Details from Ann’s story lead him to dig deeper, and his investigation leads him to a mysterious place called Hotel Memory, where he makes a life-altering discovery. In 2007, a ridiculously wealthy philanthropist and inventor named Marcus Slade offers neuroscientist Helena Smith the chance of a lifetime and an unlimited budget to build a machine that allows people to relive their memories. He says he wants to “change the world.” Helena hopes that her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, will benefit from her passion project. The opportunity for unfettered research is too tempting to turn down. However, when Slade takes the research in a controversial direction, Helena may have to destroy her dream to save the world. Returning to a few of the themes he explored in Dark Matter (2016), Crouch delivers a bullet-fast narrative and raises the stakes to a fever pitch. A poignant love story is woven in with much food for thought on grief and the nature of memories and how they shape us, rounding out this twisty and terrifying thrill ride.
An exciting, thought-provoking mind-bender.Pub Date: June 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-5978-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
A grim and unbearably tense debut chiller with an unexpected and utterly fitting finale.
A lonely British schoolteacher falls for an American man incarcerated for the murder of a young woman. What could possibly go wrong?
Samantha, 31, is still reeling from a bad breakup when she discovers Framing the Truth: The Murder of Holly Michaels, an 18-year-old true-crime documentary about the killing of a young girl by then-18-year-old Dennis Danson, aka the suspected Red River Killer, who’s still on death row in Florida’s Altoona Prison. Sam writes to Dennis, and soon they’re declaring their love for each other. Sam flies to the U.S. to meet him, and although they’re separated by plexiglass, she knows that she’s found the love of her life. The chirpy Carrie, who co-produced and directed the first documentary, is Sam’s guide while she’s there, and Sam accompanies her while they film a new series about Dennis, A Boy from Red River. Sam and Dennis quickly marry when new evidence comes to light and Dennis is exonerated and released. Amid a whirlwind of talk shows, celebrity attention, and the new series premiere, married life isn’t quite what Sam had hoped for: intimacy is nonexistent, the already self-loathing Sam feels unloved and unwanted, and the appearance of Dennis’ clingy childhood friend Lindsay Durst sends Sam into a jealous fit. After Dennis’ father dies, they move into Dennis’ childhood home, and Sam begins to suspect he may be hiding something. After all, what actually happened to all those other missing girls? Refreshingly, Lloyd seems absolutely unconcerned with whether or not her characters are likable, and although a few British sayings ("round," “in hospital”) make their way into the dialogue of the American characters, her research into the aftereffects of long incarceration is obvious, and her portrait of an emotionally damaged woman feels spot-on.
A grim and unbearably tense debut chiller with an unexpected and utterly fitting finale.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-335-95240-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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