Chain of Evidence

Starred review from October 2, 1995
Someone is apparently staging fake suicides in Hartford, Conn. The dead are lowlifes (a child molester, a wife beater, etc.), and, to HPD Detective Joe Dartelli, their fates are eerily reminiscent of a ``suicide'' he treated strictly by the book three years back in order to protect his mentor, forensic specialist Walter Zeller, who probably staged the death of the serial rapist who killed his wife. Though Zeller is retired and presumably out West, the cases mount, and Dartelli finds himself closing in on his old friend. Just as Dartelli tracks down his prey, however, Pearson's (No Witnesses) new novel takes a dizzying turn that sends it careening into Robin Cook territory. But believable plotting has never been Pearson's strongest suit. Wild plot turns are a predictable hallmark of his work, as are his generic, if appealing, characters, of whom Dartelli is typical: an angst-ridden cop brooding about urban and personal troubles (though his tentative affair with another middle-aged cop adds an appealing note). What Pearson does better than any other current thriller writer is forensic detail, and the plot line here is strewn with forensic clues and puzzles that are as fascinating as any he has created since his classic Undercurrents, with the latest in computer forensic analysis offering added flourish. Featuring bright local color, sound pacing, warm-blooded, if familiar, characters and those fabulous forensic deductions, this stands as one of the best novels yet by this author, the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler Fulbright at Oxford University. $250,000 ad/promo; author tour.

September 15, 1995
Police Lieutenant Joe "Dart" Bartelli is called to one suicide after another of various psychopaths (a vicious child molester, a hard-core pornographer) in the Hartford, Connecticut, area. The deaths seem more like murders to Dart, who was well trained in police investigation by his mentor, former police sergeant Walter Zeller. Dart carefully, plausibly tracks down the killer with the help of former love, Ginny, fellow lieutenant Abby Lang, and various three-dimensional characters who add believably to his painstaking search. Bad guys, burnouts, and screwups-all the characters are well delineated. The careful crafting of the plot with its well-woven subplots is thriller writing at its best. From the author of No Witnesses (LJ 9/1/94), this fast-paced novel is absolutely essential for all libraries.-Alice DiNizo, Raritan P.L., N.J.

September 1, 1995
The science of forensics has always been at the heart of Pearson's wonderfully complex, tautly plotted thrillers, and Seattle police detective Lou Boldt has usually been the man sorting the evidence and following the inevitable if often nearly invisible trail. This time the action shifts from West to East Coast, but Connecticut detective Joe Dartelli proves every bit Boldt's equal at reading a crime scene. The problem here is that the crime scenes Dartelli reads turn out to be fiction, meticulously designed constructs created by a retired cop turned vigilante. Dartelli knows early on that he is tangling with his former mentor, Walter Zeller, and the psychological edge that knowledge brings only serves to twist the tension even tighter. What distinguishes Pearson's brand of gut-wrenching, page-turning drama is that he generates it without relying totally on action, at least in the Sly Stallone or Bruce Willis sense of the term. In a Pearson novel, banging on a computer keyboard in search of a missing piece of information can create more real excitement than banging heads does in, say, "Die Hard." Some procedurals stress forensic detail, while others emphasize the multidimensional humanity of the cops. Pearson does both, and the combination continues to be unbeatable. ((Reviewed Sept. 1, 1995))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1995, American Library Association.)