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Fiction. Mystery. HTML: Crime thrills from the New York Times�??bestselling author of Sunrise Highway�??"One of the best books I've read in a long, long time" (Stephen King). When Allison Wallis was beaten to death, Detective Francis X. Loughlin found the killer�??Julian Vega, a teenager with a crush on the murdered girl. Using his natural sense of empathy, he cozied up to young Julian, convincing him to give a confession that would put him away until he was thirty-six. Twenty years later, Julian is finally out of jail, attempting to remember how to live in a world without bars, and Detective Loughlin is still on the job, his sight fading, though his instincts are still sharp. But when Allison's blood appears at a new crime scene, everything he thought he knew about that long-ago murder is called into question. Was it really Allison they buried? Was Julian actually the killer? And if he wasn't, who else is in danger now? This ebook features an illustrated biography of Peter Blauner including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author's personal collection.… (more)
User reviews
I've never read a more captivating, detailed, and real-feeling description of what it's
As for Francis, the cop, he gains depth more slowly through the book, but by the end he's my kind of good guy - very ambiguous, painted in shades of gray, his desires filtered down to doing one thing right even as he's uncertain about what "right" is.
Francis is going blind. For some reason, I didn't like the dissipating-hero thing as much I did in other books, like Peter Abramson OBLIVION. I guess I'm not sure it was necessary to the book. It was overkill. What with Francis's impending retirement, his shifting marriage, he tenuous relationship with his partner, etc. - this additional drama was over the top.
But again, most of all I liked how sharply focused Julian is, even if the picture is almost entirely bleak.
This was an awesome book. I liked that Vega kept his dignity throughout and tried to do the right thing while he was out with some slips here and there. I liked that the book portrayed how difficult it is for ex-prisoners to get started when they are released. Society keeps punishing them - no jobs, no place to live, no financial help, no support...unless you fit into the system's stereotypes. I also liked that Det. Loughlin was real, too, not all good or all bad.
I checked this one out from the library because I like Michael Kramer's narration, and I found a new author.
Francis X Loughlin is losing his sight. He's a cop, and because of the genetically acquired retinitis pigmentosa his future on the force looks bleak. He's always been a loner so this means ever increasing
Two decades before, Francis had been instrumental in the incarceration of Julian Vega for the murder of a woman. Julian has been released following years of legal appeals he orchestrated, and soon thereafter a similar murder is committed. Now, however, the police have access to DNA technology and some very strange links and relationships lead Loughlin to surmise that Julian may have been innocent.
Blauner does a nice job of balancing the assorted POVs. We see Julian struggling to overcome the hostility of just about everyone, each assuming he's guilty and got off on a "technicality." He's somewhat baffled by societal changes having been isolated for more than a decade. The family of the dead girl still feels they haven't received justice, and Francis battles his own feelings about the case as well as the political powers who have everything to gain by hiding what may be the truth. You feel for all of the characters.
Great title with multiple meanings.