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SLIVER MOON
by Jay Brandon
Forge, July 2003
398 pages
$25.95
ISBN: 0312874367


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Chris Sinclair, the District Attorney of San Antonio, Texas, agrees to accompany his girlfriend, psychiatrist Anne Greenwald, to a party at her father Morris's mansion. He knew to anticipate some emotional discomfort, Anne seemed to be very distant from her wheeling and dealing politico father, but he never expected to witness a suicide -- or was it a murder?

Anne's ex-fiancé and fatheršs business partner, Ben Sewell, is at the gathering. Chris never knew of him, but then, Anne doesn't talk much about her past. Late that night, from different locations near the house, both Chris and Anne witness Ben's demise. Clear as day Anne sees Commissioner Nick Winston shoot Ben but Chris sees Ben shoot himself.

With no police intervention, the man Anne saw do the shooting is permitted to go home, and within days Anne's father is arrested for Ben's murder.

Warned that DA Andy Gunther of New Braunfels has a good case against him, Annešs father, Morris, hires a lawyer with loads of public relation and media experience but little familiarity with a murder defense.

Anne soon finds herself stalked and threatened by Nick Winston, the man she saw commit the shooting, but he's keeping his threats subtle, so it seems that Anne is the one gunning for him.

Because both Anne and Chris can't agree on what happened, slowly they grow further apart until the murder trial goes so badly for Morris, that Chris feels compelled to join his team to find out the whole truth.

Suddenly Chris is called to the homes of the most powerful politicians in Texas, all very concerned that secrets be kept. Still hoping that his old relationship with Anne can be saved, he does everything he can to uncover what actually happened which includes permitting the teenage daughter he recently became acquainted with to be included as one of his investigative helpers.

Jay Brandon, the author of SLIVER MOON, is an attorney who has also written twelve novels. He strives hard to make the Chris the lawyer, the hero, and sleuth extraordinaire of this story. The characters in the book and the readers have a lot of questions about the actual way that the death occurred. These matters could have easily been answered by a realistic and competent murder investigation. But in this story there was no investigation for the death in question, no crime scene technicians, no homicide detectives, and no forensics done whatsoever.

The ultimate explanation of the crime weighs solely on the shoulders of the boyfriend of the accused's daughter, Chris, the lawyer. The prosecuting DA asks for no hard evidence, the defense attorney doesn't think to get anything tested or to requests that any forensic experts be called upon to find out what happened. Not even the people involved, who witnessed very different views of the crime, walk through what they think they saw.

In SLIVER MOON, the readers aren't permitted to bond or make an emotional attachment to any one character. In fact, the readers are let into the interior musings of almost every character who crosses our path. Even when therešs gun play and lives are in danger, I felt a lack of a connection to the characters. I just didnšt care what happened to them.

If you've never perused any modern crime novels, have never seen a television show on forensics, have no interest in police procedures, and adore stories of unspecified political shenanigans, then SLIVER MOON is for you.

But if you've ever read any modern crime stories, expect a logical police investigation to a murder, and have a passion for well crafted mystery novels, then pass on this book.

Reviewed by Sharon Kartz, August 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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