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Ex- New York Times investigative journalist, who had been fired for fabricating a story, now famous and wealthy true Crime writer Frank Corso is the only civilian allowed into the courtroom during the third trial of Russian mobster Nicolas Balagula, who managed to subvert the jury and or the witnesses during the first two. This time, the former chief Federal prosecutor, Renee Rogers, has to take second place to a political wannabe, Warren Klein, who is convinced that he will be the one to put Balagula away. A hospital, built near a fault line, collapsed during a very minor earth tremor killing 63 people. The feds are having trouble convicting him because witnesses either keep disappearing or changing their story. Photojournalist Meg Dougherty, one of Corso's few close friends, following a seemingly unconnected story, is injured while fleeing from a pair of killers. Frank is convinced that Meg's near fatal crash is connected to Nico, so he starts investigating. Frank Corso is a loner who lives on a boat in Seattle. The locale isn't the only thing tying Corso and the Leo Waterman, protagonist of Ford's previous series, together. They both have their own sense of morality and will do anything to help the people they feel responsible for. Corso is a little too much the comic book hero. Meg lands in ICU and Frank comes up with the cash to keep her in a private room in a private hospital. He gets shot in the hand and still gets his man and keeps going. Ford's sense of the ridiculous is also still visible in this book. Meg's body is completely covered in obscene tattoos, put there by a crazed ex-boyfriend after drugging her. The Cuban killers who work for the Russian criminal, Gerardo Limon and Ramon Javier, screw up as often as they manage to get the job done. Warren Klein, the federal prosecutor, is a caricature of an arrogant attorney. The superficiality of the characters made the light bulb in my head glow brightly with the words "Movie of the Week" on it. All that said, this is as unputdownable as anything Ford has written before.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, August 2002
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