The Final Judgment - Softcover

Patterson, Richard North

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312381638 ISBN 13: 9780312381639

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 2011

Synopsis

A young man has been murdered. His girlfriend, twenty-two-year-old Brett Allen, is found at the scene of the crime. She claims she is innocent--even though she's dripping in blood, the murder weapon covered with her fingerprints. Enter attorney Caroline Masters, Brett's estranged aunt. She's been summoned back to her affluent New England hometown to help Brett out of this mess...and revisit the troubled family she left behind.

Caroline learned a long time ago that the ties that bind can also be broken. Now that she's back home, she can't help but doubt her family's motives--and Brett's innocence. As the trial heats up, Caroline finds herself up against those who would kill to keep dark secrets hidden...and the state prosecutor, who happens to be her former lover and will do anything to expose the truth. Now, with her family's fate--and her own reputation--hanging in the balance, Caroline must assume the role of a lifetime as she fights to save her niece. Or destroy them both...

About this title

Review:

Richard North Patterson frequently rejects the label "legal thriller" for his novels, and The Final Judgement works hard to transcend this limiting category. A cleverly assembled murder mystery told in rich prose ("Moonlight refracted on the still, obsidian waters of the lake and traced the pines and birches and elms surrounding it. The only sound Brett heard was the rise and fall of James's breathing.") and filled with a cast of quirky small-town New Englanders, the novel ultimately succeeds through Patterson's talents as a writer, not just as a plotter.

As in many of Patterson's best novels, The Final Judgement draws on flashback sequences to ground the story and establish key characters. Forty-five-year-old Caroline Masters, a minor figure in Degree of Guilt and Eyes of a Child is the narrative centre, and much of the suspense in the novel derives from the slow unwrapping of her past--the death of her mother and estrangement from her father. In the opening of the novel, Caroline is waiting for a message from the White House appointing her to the U.S. Court of Appeals, when, instead, her long-distant father gives her a call. Her niece has just been named the primary suspect in the murder of her boyfriend. The college-age Brett Allen was found naked, passed out from drugs and alcohol, with a knife in her hand and covered in her boyfriend's blood. The family wants Caroline to return to New Hampshire to defend the girl.

The perils that face Caroline multiply quickly. By taking the case, Caroline clearly jeopardizes her chances for the Court of Appeals appointment. And by returning home, she must inevitably face the accumulated memories and resentments of the New Hampshire crowd, including her high-school boyfriend who is the prosecuting attorney. But her niece's life is at stake. Ultimately, The Final Judgement is a tale of the deep and twisted history of a New England family, but it is told in a captivating style that is--despite Patterson's reservations about the classsification--"thrilling". --Patrick O'Kelley

Review:

"Intense courtroom drama...As startling as the bang of a gavel." --People on Silent Witness

"This generation's best writer of legal thrillers...his strongest fiction to date." --Entertainment Weekly on Silent Witness

"Patterson hits the first line at a dead run....He never slows down....Everything is marvelously plotted." --Philadelphia Inquirer on Silent Witness

"Enthralling...the denouement is powerful." --Los Angeles Times Book Review on Silent Witness

"Chilling." --The Washington Post Book World on Silent Witness

"Hypnotic...[Patterson] is at his finest when he gives the emotions of [his] characters, who are connected by a lifetime of love and resentment, full reign in the courtroom. These are the scenes that his fans will anticipate most eagerly, and they are as explosive and revealing as anyone could wish." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Silent Witness

"An absorbing read." --New York Daily News on Silent Witness

"Gripping...the intelligent reader's John Grisham." --Chicago Sun-Times on Eyes of a Child

"Masterful. Eyes of a Child dazzles...right up to the very end." --San Francisco Chronicle on Eyes of a Child

"A taut nail-biter...[that] provides the thrill of a legal hunt." --USA Today on Eyes of a Child

"Patterson grabs the reader by the scruff of the neck and holds him until the very last page...The Spire might just be his best to date." --Tucson Citizen on The Spire

"Intriguing...we can't read fast enough to reach the finale." --San Francisco Chronicle on The Spire

"Gripping...A page turner with multiple twists and a well-earned conclusion at once shocking and inevitable." --Richmond Times Dispatch on The Spire

"A page-turner." --The New York Times Book Review on Degree of Guilt

"Compulsively readable." --People on Degree of Guilt

"One intense courtroom clash after another...An intelligent and gripping thriller." --The Washington Post on Degree of Guilt

"Flamboyant and entertaining." --The Boston Globe on Degree of Guilt

"Electrifying." --The Cleveland Plain Dealer on Degree of Guilt

"One of the year's best thrillers...Superb characterizations and intense dialogue make this utterly compelling reading." --Library Journal on Degree of Guilt

"Absorbing." --Publishers Weekly on Degree of Guilt

"Passionate...exciting [and] eye-opening, page by page." --Washington Post on Eclipse

"Compelling and credible...guaranteed to rouse you to thought." --Richmond Times-Dispatch on Eclipse

"This stellar legal thriller both informs and entertains... Patterson has exerted all his considerable skill in creating a nightmare atmosphere that will cling to readers long after the last page is turned." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Eclipse

"A satisfying fable that pits a hero who deeply believes in the rule of law against a violent, lawless regime that holds all the cards." --Kirkus Reviews on Eclipse

"Nearly flawless--by the time you realize how well Patterson is writing, you are already caught up in this novel." --San Francisco Chronicle on Eclipse

"Suspenseful--pervasive danger as real as the actual reality." --New York Daily News on Eclipse

"A terrific legal thriller populated by rich, well drawn characters [Patterson] magnificently brings to life. Not to be missed." --Providence Sunday Journal on Eclipse

"Fascinating." --Booklist on Eclipse

"[A] compelling legal thriller, reminiscent of Exile. Patterson once again brings a timely, controversial subject--America's dependence on foreign oil--to the forefront in this...engrossing read." --Library Journal on Eclipse

"An electrifying page-turner." --Seattle Post-Intelligencer on The Race

"Patterson has redefined himself as a writer willing to take risks." --USA Today on The Race

"Absorbing and suspenseful." --Publishers Weekly on The Race

"Required reading." --New York Post on The Race

"With verve, intelligence, passion and humanity, Patterson tells an important story--and one that may find a place with Advise and Consent and Seven Days in May on the shelf of honored political thrillers." --Richmond Times-Dispatch on The Race

"Absorbing...timely...a gripping read." --Booklist on The Race

"Will get your blood boiling..." --Grand Rapid Press on The Race

"A timely, fast-paced political yarn....Highly recommended." --Library Journal (starred review) on The Race

"A slick new entertainment...Frank Capra idealism meets Karl Rove reality." --Entertainment Weekly on The Race

"Torn from the headlines...Exile delivers." --The New York Times Book Review on Exile

"Artful...compelling." --USA Today on Exile

"Astonishing, hugely entertaining." --Bill Clinton on Exile

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0312381638
• ISBN 13: 9780312381639
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 625