Helpful Score: 1
This was a fun legal thriller. Lots of suspense, pretty quick moving story.
Helpful Score: 1
A California lawyer is aked to review the fianl appeal of a murderer... an case he does not want, until he discovers the murderer is a troubled former lover. Good read.
Helpful Score: 1
I lived in the area of California where the book takes place, so I found that interesting. I enjoyed the book...a bit of a lighter crime drama type read.
From Publishers Weekly
Despite its sleepy appearance, the tiny hamlet of El Nido, Calif., harbors terrible secrets. As Siegel's second thriller featuring attorney Greg Monarch (after The Perfect Witness) begins, El Nido resident Sarah Trant has been sitting on death row for five years, convicted by a jury of townsfolk on the basis of very shaky evidence. Monarch, who lives in the nearby town of La Graciosa and was formerly Trant's lover, agrees to handle her appeal, though he knows Trant has a history of mental instability. Upon arriving in El Nido, he gets a frosty reception. The district attorney won't help with even the most basic information, the sheriff is downright hostile and Trant's former attorney refuses to take his calls. Monarch pushes on, eventually discovering aspects of the case that were covered up the first time around. These include the fact that the testimony clinching Trant's conviction. A dying declaration from the victim identifying Trant as the killer is patently false; the dying man's throat was cut all the way to the spine. Monarch figures the key to the case is the victim, Brewster Tomaz, an elderly geologist who had been working for an oil company that wanted to build a huge health spa on its now dry fields. Trant, who vehemently opposed the health spa plan, had clashed with Tomaz several times in the past, but so had many others, including people with knowledge of one of El Nido's even bigger secrets. Though some of the plot turns are predictable, Siegel beautifully captures the flavor of scandal in a small community. Athe knowing looks, the awkward silences, the amateur attempts at cover up. The novel ends, appropriately, not with big-city drama, but with a quiet, small-town America nod-nod-wink-wink deal. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Despite its sleepy appearance, the tiny hamlet of El Nido, Calif., harbors terrible secrets. As Siegel's second thriller featuring attorney Greg Monarch (after The Perfect Witness) begins, El Nido resident Sarah Trant has been sitting on death row for five years, convicted by a jury of townsfolk on the basis of very shaky evidence. Monarch, who lives in the nearby town of La Graciosa and was formerly Trant's lover, agrees to handle her appeal, though he knows Trant has a history of mental instability. Upon arriving in El Nido, he gets a frosty reception. The district attorney won't help with even the most basic information, the sheriff is downright hostile and Trant's former attorney refuses to take his calls. Monarch pushes on, eventually discovering aspects of the case that were covered up the first time around. These include the fact that the testimony clinching Trant's conviction. A dying declaration from the victim identifying Trant as the killer is patently false; the dying man's throat was cut all the way to the spine. Monarch figures the key to the case is the victim, Brewster Tomaz, an elderly geologist who had been working for an oil company that wanted to build a huge health spa on its now dry fields. Trant, who vehemently opposed the health spa plan, had clashed with Tomaz several times in the past, but so had many others, including people with knowledge of one of El Nido's even bigger secrets. Though some of the plot turns are predictable, Siegel beautifully captures the flavor of scandal in a small community. Athe knowing looks, the awkward silences, the amateur attempts at cover up. The novel ends, appropriately, not with big-city drama, but with a quiet, small-town America nod-nod-wink-wink deal. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
I DONT LIKE TO READ BOOKS UNLESS THEY CAPTURE MY ATTENTION AT THE VERY FIRST CHAPTER AND THIS ONE DID. I LIKE SUSPENSE AND MYSTERY AND THIS BOOK HAS IT. AS WITH MOST OF THE BOOKS THAT I READ, I LIKE THE ONES THAT ARE HARD TO PUT DOWN, BUT WHEN YOU DO, YOU CAN'T WAIT TO GET BACK TO THEM. THIS WAS ONE OF THEM.
California lawyer Greg Monarch was in no mood for visitors. But it's not every day a federal judge comes knocking at his door,especially with a curious request:to review the final appeal of a murderer on death row who personally ask for Greg's assistance. Tired of defending killers, Greg has every intention of turning the case down-until he discovers the prisoner is a former lover he hasn't seen in two decades: the fiery, impetuous
Sarah Trant. Her fate determined in a verdict rendered five years before, Sarah was found guilty of slashing an old man's throat in central California's sheltered El Nido Valley. All subsequent appeals have been denied. Now, six months from execution, she turns to the one man she hopes can save her. Greg failed once before trying to rescue Sarah from her private demons. This time, however, the demons may not be just in her head.
Sarah Trant. Her fate determined in a verdict rendered five years before, Sarah was found guilty of slashing an old man's throat in central California's sheltered El Nido Valley. All subsequent appeals have been denied. Now, six months from execution, she turns to the one man she hopes can save her. Greg failed once before trying to rescue Sarah from her private demons. This time, however, the demons may not be just in her head.
