Sunday, March 11, 2012

"When you have a shattered heart, God is watching you." Song Lyrics


Some authors have that special talent for making the reader interested in their characters and story from the first page. James LePore is one of that talented group.

Matt DeMarco is a prosecutor for the Manhattan District Attorney's office. At the start of the story he leads the prosecution into finding a nineteen-year-old man guilty for mudering his fifteen-year-old sister. His reasoning seemed to be that his sister was becoming too westernized and had an American boyfriend.

Years later, Matt is at home with his son Michael, who is a grad student in Boston. Michael is accompanied by two friends who look and act suspiciously. They are surly when he asks about them and then they leave. Michael tells his father that the two men work for Michael's step-father, Basil.

Police arrive at Matt's home with a search warrant for Michael's room and arrest him for the murder of his girlfriend, Yasmine Hayek, a student at Columbia.

As we read, we observe an undercurrent of foreign involvement. Michael tells the police that the two men he was with are house sitting for a home on Long Island.
Suspense mounts as the police set up a stake out on that home.

The author writes in a professional manner and is a polished story teller. The reader is already interested in the story and wondering where the action will lead with all of the foreign characters.

One clue after another is peeled away and we find that there is much more to the story than originally suspected. There are surprises and plot twists that take the reader in a totally unexpected direction.

I found the story greatly entertaining. The one thing that stood out in the story was friendship. Matt had made friends with a number of members of the New York Police Department and these friends went beyone the normal call to duty in order to determine the guilty parties and correct any injustice.

1 comment:

Jonathan Wilhoit said...

Excellent review. Question:

Do you feel that the inclusion of ao many foreign antagonists in this novel speaks to a growing sense of xenophobia in this post 9/11 world, or is it simply a plot device the author uses to tie in the main plot with the trial that begins the story?

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