A "riveting legal thriller" by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Trial (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
The McCarrans and the Gallaghers have been close for decades, ever since Anthony McCarran—now one of the army's most distinguished generals—met Jack Gallagher, a fellow West Pointer later killed in Vietnam. Now a new generation faces combat, and Lt. Brian McCarran, the general's son, has returned from a harrowing tour in Iraq.
Traumatized by experiences he will not reveal, Brian depends on his lifelong friendship with Kate Gallagher, who's married to Brian's commanding officer, Capt. Joe D'Abruzzo. But D'Abruzzo also seems changed by the experiences he and Brian shared in Iraq, growing secretive and remote.
Tragedy strikes when Brian shoots and kills D'Abruzzo on their Virginia army post. He pleads self-defense. Kate backs him up, saying her husband had turned violent and abusive. But Brian and Kate have their own secrets, and now Capt. Paul Terry, an accomplished young JAG lawyer, must defend Brian in a high-profile court-martial. Before the case is over, Terry will become deeply entwined with the McCarrans—and learn that families, like war, can break the sturdiest of souls.
"Powerful . . . Patterson long ago established himself as one of the nation's best writers of serious thrillers, and his latest novel burnishes his reputation." —Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Readers will find themselves engrossed as well as pleased by a twist revealing that there's more to this powerful yet seemingly straightforward story than first meets the eye." —Booklist
"Patterson's insights into PTSD are fascinating but never interrupt the story's flow to its explosive ending, and his courtroom drama is as intensely engaging as the most action-filled thrillers." —Library Journal (starred review)
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
May 1, 2024 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781429951043
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781429951043
- File size: 1044 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Publisher's Weekly
Starred review from March 22, 2010
Bestseller Patterson (Eclipse
) explores the concept of honor—and how men and women can sometimes embody and sometimes blacken this lofty concept—in this riveting legal thriller. When Lt. Brian McCarran shoots and kills his superior officer, Capt. Joe D'Abruzzo, at Fort Bolton in northern Virginia soon after they return from a tour in Iraq, 31-year-old Capt. Paul Terry, of the army's JAG Corps, defends the lieutenant. That the accused is the son of legendary Gen. Anthony McCarran, the current army chief of staff, makes it an especially sensitive court-martial. To complicate matters, Joe was married to Kate Gallagher, the general's goddaughter and lifelong friend of Brian and the McCarran family. Sparks fly after Brian's gorgeous older attorney sister, Meg, insists on working with Paul. As always, Patterson chooses to deal with difficult themes, this time PTSD and the war in Iraq. This is superior genre fiction from a writer at the top of his game. -
Publisher's Weekly
July 26, 2010
A dramatic military trial is at center stage in this engrossing mystery. Lieut. Brian McCarran, a member of a distinguished military family, is on trial for shooting and killing his commanding officer. Capt. Paul Terry, an excellent trial lawyer who is on his way out of the military and into a lucrative job at a civilian law firm, is brought in as defense counsel. McCarran is claiming self-defense, but Terry knows there are secrets being kept and more to this killing than he's being told. John Bedford Lloyd reads with clear, almost clinical intonation, and this works well in the stiff question and answer phases of the trial, but not quite as well when the book moves outside the courtroom. These sections could have used a little more passion in their delivery. Still, this is a small quibble; this book is Patterson at his best, and the listener is in for a suspenseful and thought-provoking listen. A Henry Holt hardcover.
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