TJ finds himself on a downward spiral when his
brother John admits to killing Neil Lemaire, an embezzling accountant who worked
for Devlins’ client Runstan Electronics on the verge of being acquired by
another company in a lucrative deal John has brokered. TJ and John head to the
deserted spot by Knickerbocker Quarry where John said he left the body…but
there is no body, no maroon Volvo, and no bloody rock that John said he threw
when Lemaire pulled a gun. TJ goes into search mode that night and the next day
to find Lemaire, but the police found him first, shot in the head in a white
Mercedes parked at Dutton Run Park.
In a flash, John turns on TJ by trying to get
the family to believe that TJ is drinking again and he, not John, must have had
something to do with the death of the accountant. TJ has already lost so much:
time in prison and rehab, the love of his life and her daughter, and credibility
with his family.
When TJ comes clean with his family—minus John—about
what has been going on starting with John bashing the accountant with a rock, they
do not believe him. His drinking history colors his present status especially
with his father who believes TJ has relapsed as John has said. Things are
spinning out of control as another death occurs, people are following TJ, and his
home and car have been bugged. Soon the
police turn up at his door because, after all, TJ has a criminal past.
While TJ begins to lose hope in this tangled
web of intrigue, his sister Gabby asks for his help in a pro bono case seeking
justice for former prisoners of the Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia who were
used as guinea pigs for the drug testing by real-life Dr. Albert Kligman, a
dermatology professor at Penn’s medical school. With the author’s recent
interest in writing historical fiction, Scottoline incorporates the experimenting
with Tretinoin, an acne medication that Kligman was developing, which works by
exfoliating the skin. The tests resulted in devastating health problems for the
men who were involved in the drug trials.
The pro bono case is a distraction for TJ who
is desperate to open his family’s eyes to the truth about John and the Runstan
acquisition. What can he do to redirect the police to the actual guilty
parties? Could he possibly be headed back to jail for something he did not do? Is
the truth about the Devlins going to shatter their world?
Lisa Scottoline, a former lawyer, has written more
than two dozen novels as well as co-authored nine humorous books with her daughter Francesca
Serritella. A long-time writer of a lawyer series and thrillers, she has started
writing historical fiction as well with the books Eternal and Loyalty.
She lives in Philadelphia with her horses, numerous dogs and cats, and a
life-size cutout of Bradley Cooper.
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