Fatal Flaw: 3 (Victor Carl Series, 3) - Softcover

Lashner, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060508183 ISBN 13: 9780060508180

Publisher: HarTorch, 2004

Synopsis

The acclaimed author of Hostile Witness and Veritas is back with the legal thriller of the season―a sizzling tale of murder, innocence, and justice. . . . “William Lashner is . . . remarkable.”―Nelson DeMille

“Lust will make a fool of any man, but it is only love that can truly ruin him.” So believes Victor Carl, the antithesis of the classic sharp-eyed, cool, and dispassionate lawyer. Late one night Victor gets a panicked phone call from an old law school buddy. Guy Forrest claims he’s just found the body of his fiancee in the house they shared. The victim is the entracing Hailey Prouix, a woman with numerous charms who had mesmerized Victor―and every other man she ever met.

Though Victor is convinced Guy is guilty, he agrees to represent him, silently vowing to see justice done. To build his case, the determined attorney embarks on a quest that will take him cross-country and back―and lead him to the horrifying discovery that nothing is as simple as it seems. Now time is running out and all too soon the wheels of justice Guy set into motion will fall with unmerciful force on his own head.

About this title

Review:

Fatal Flaw is a rare delight: a legal thriller with freshness and vitality, qualities too often lacking in this sometimes-tired genre. This third entry in the Victor Carl series opens with a bang, as Victor finds fellow lawyer Guy Forrest at the front of his lover's house, stark naked in the pouring rain, a gun beside him, his lover's bloody corpse on the bed inside. He sure looks guilty--but then, little is as it looks in this exceedingly well-plotted tale. The first 30 pages alone deliver several jolting revelations that change what we thought we knew, and the surprises keep coming right up to the last few pages.

Fortunately, William Lashner is as fine a wordsmith as he is a plotter. The settings are crisply evoked, from Philadelphia and Las Vegas to the dirt-poor Appalachians. All the characters are vivid, and a few--including the murder victim--are unforgettable. But it's the narrative voice of Victor Carl that really carries the book. Cynical, funny, streetwise and ethically flexible, he's an exceptionally engaging writer. And, like some of the wisecracking private eyes he resembles, he can deliver both breezy sarcasm and real emotional power. --Nicholas H Allison, Amazon.com

From the Back Cover:

Some victims deserve nothing less than the truth . . .

Ethically adventurous Philadelphia lawyer Victor Carl usually does the right thing, but often for the wrong reasons. When old law school classmate Guy Forrest is accused of murdering his beautiful lover, Hailey Prouix, in their Main Line love nest, Carl agrees to represent him -- while keeping silent about his own prior romantic involvement with the victim, and his present determination to see that his client is punished for the brutal crime. But once Carl sets the machinery of retribution in motion, it may be impossible to stop it, even after his certainty begins to crack. Now Victor Carl must race across the country to uncover shocking truths: Who, really, was Hailey Prouix? And why is a killer still waiting in her shadow?

About this edition

• Publisher: HarTorch
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0060508183
• ISBN 13: 9780060508180
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 576