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FUGITIVE
by Phillip Margolin
Harper, June 2009
352 pages
$26.99
ISBN: 0061236233


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Twelve years ago, Charlie Marsh was a nobody who was serving time for petty crimes. Unbeknownst to him, he would soon turn out to be a somebody after he saved the life of a warden during a prison riot. Once on parole, he reinvented himself and became Gabriel Sun, a self-help guru who has seen the light. He claimed that he found God during the prison riot and wrote a bestseller about his experiences. He was in high demand as he hosted self-help seminars for gullible people wanting to find "the light." It was all a big con for him and he milked it for all it was worth. He separated fools from their money, had numerous affairs, and hung out with the rich and vapid. His mistake was in having an affair with a congressman's wife. Congressman Arnold Pope, Jr. is shot by an unseen assailant after a confrontation with Marsh, aka Gabriel Sun. Marsh's instincts kicked in and he fled the jurisdiction by moving to the African country of Batanga where there is no extradition treaty with the United States. Mrs Pope was charged with the crime amidst a lot of publicity and was acquitted with help from her attorney Frank Jaffe. Now Charlie is back, preferring US justice to certain death in Batanga, where a furious and cuckolded dictator wants him dead. Frank's daughter Amanda will try to get Charlie off.

When picking up a Phillip Margolin novel you have to suspend disbelief and just go along for the ride. As a courtroom thriller it exceeds expectations. There are plenty of twists and surprises along the way as Margolin brings each piece of the puzzle one at a time. It is predictable, but it is fun. The subplot involving Batanga and its dictator, who makes Idi Amin Dada look like Mr Rogers, is a bit too much. Its purpose is mainly to provide unnecessary shock value to a story that did not need to get too graphic. The resolution to this particular story element drags the book down a bit especially with its anticlimactic (and unconvincing) resolution. FUGITIVE is a bit hit-or-miss more than anything else. However, Margolin has an excellent track record with his other novels and, on those grounds alone, this one is certainly worth a look.

Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, July 2009

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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