"The reasons, the motives, the hows and whys -- they were all drawn from the same small human pool: greed; anger; envy; lust; vengeance. Every murder sprang from ordinary sources."
This crime thriller defied my usual expectations in both good and bad ways. At the half-way point, I actually wasn't sure I'd finish it. I was put off by the personality of SFPD Homicide Detective Valerie Hart -- she takes "messed up" to a whole new level. The way she thinks, talks and acts is so deliberately crass and it's true that she's the picture of a narcissist. On the other hand, I finally came to believe that it's all just one huge defense mechanism. And, she's afraid. But, enough about her innermost thoughts and angst, because it so happens that she's a pretty darn good cop. She's got good instincts, works hard, and doesn't stop until she figures it all out.
The plot -- a former star prosecutor, Adam Grant, in the San Francisco DA's office who had subsequently gone into private practice -- is discovered dead in his bedroom alongside his wife who has been stabbed, is barely breathing, but still alive. An intruder was spotted by an insomniac neighbor next door and forensics finds plenty of physical evidence allowing the police to identify the killer. A manhunt for the suspect goes nowhere -- the ex con, Dwight Jenner, has done a runner. Nor can the beautiful, blonde woman seen with Jenner, known as Sophia, be located. Although the police effort is intense and detailed, that is really not the main story. Grant's wife, Rachel, eventually recovers from her injuries well enough to go home to be with her teenaged daughter, Elspeth, who fortunately was sleeping over at a friend's house the night of the intrusion and murder. Valerie Hart follows the clues but she has no way of knowing where this complicated case is going to lead. NO SPOILERS.
I'm sorry to hear that some don't finish this book because the last third of it really made up for the earlier slog as the author dangles out bits and pieces of this and that, all the while luring the reader in for the climax. Do I like or understand Valerie Hart any more at the end? Not really, she's way too cynical and crude, too self-absorbed, too focused on wrecking her life -- but she gets the job done. I haven't read the first two books in the series, but I find myself curious as to what the next installment might offer and I'm hoping for some sort of redemption and, dare I say, some good decisions? So she could be a little content maybe? I really enjoyed the writing style, well, when I wasn't offended by the constant sexual references and again, Valerie seems to act more like an alpha male than a woman. Anyway, upshot -- I did end up liking this and how it ended. "The truth was the law didn't work. It was nothing more than the best failure civilization had on offer."
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-book ARC to read and review. I'd left it languishing on the TBR but was reminded of it when I saw it sponsored in a Facebook post. I'm glad I made time to read it.
This is Glen Duncan writing as Saul Black. Triggers abound but to list them might give things away.
This is the third book featuring Valerie Hart. I've not read the first two and felt this was OK to read without having read them.
Genre - police procedural - crime thriller
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