"Don't we pay for all the things we do?" OR DON'T DO?, A rape in Palm Springs in 1996 and a murder in Cape Cod in 1999. The Gregorys, a wealthy, privileged family is involved in both cases and is protected from consequences for years. Because of their reputation, all who may or may not have seen anything and those who know what really happened, well, they don't come forth. George Becket, the guest of a classmate and age 22, was in the library at the Gregory mansion when the violation of Kendrick Powell took place at the hands of two members of the Gregory family. Instead of supporting her, he helps her out and sends her home in her car all the while rationalizing that he isn't sure what went on because they were all drunk, and well, they are the Gregorys. Everyone forgets about it and no one is charged, except for the father of Kendrick Powell who is wealthy and powerful as well. He has his own agenda and sets it in motion when his daughter, Kendrick, commits suicide.
Years pass. George goes to law school and is hired by the Cape and Islands DA's office back in Cape Cod. Relegated to the basement office and prosecuting OUI cases, he lives a quiet life until one night when he is sitting at a bar eating his dinner. There he is confronted by the father of the girl who was found dead on a golf course close to the Gregory compound in 1999. Heidi Telford was home for the summer that Memorial Day and had gone out after work. Her body was found the next morning with her head bashed in, and wearing a dress that she had not let home in the evening before. "Anything new Telford" wants to know why the case was never solved and why none of the leads he had given to police was ever investigated further.
George Becket decides it is time he did something. But there are other forces at work that will, and have done, anything to keep the truth from coming to light.
He travels from one end of the world too another trying to locate those who might know what happened the night of Heidi's death -- all the while KNOWING that the Gregory boys must be involved as they were the night of the rape he witnessed. But what if his own involvement? How did that night change what has happened in his own life?
Fast paced and kept me reading! Enjoyed the terribly flawed protagonist trying desperately to right his own wrong even though I never grew to actually "like" him much! I felt that even though George supposedly was trying to make up for his complicity, he never came out publicly as a witness to explain in detail what had happened. So it was hard to respect him for chasing people all around the globe to get them to admit their knowledge of events since he did not really come clean. It was complicated and convoluted, bad guys and good guys -- wait -- who was which???
I'd recommend it! Yes, it definitely calls to mind another true life wealthy family with many similarities to actual cases, but that might also be what makes this such a fun read. Close your eyes, suspend your disbelief when some outlandish events occur, and enjoy.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ebook ARC.
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