Innocence

May 14, 2007
I
n Hosp's strong third novel (after 2006's disappointing The Betrayed
), Boston lawyer Scott Finn, the hero of Hosp's debut, Dark Harbor
(2005), has resigned from his white-shoe law firm and gone into practice for himself, along with cop-turned-PI Tom Kozlowski and legal intern Lissa Krantz. Finn gets roped into the case of Vincente Salazar, an illegal El Salvador immigrant with gang ties who was convicted of shooting a policewoman. Salazar has spent 15 years in prison, but new DNA evidence might exonerate him. Finn bitches and moans about pro bono cases, but readers know that underneath his cynical shell lies an honest straight shooter who loves the law and will go to his grave defending it—which he nearly does as a host of bad guys set out to convince Finn it's unhealthy to reopen the Salazar case. Clever banter, interesting legalities and compelling characters put Hosp, an attorney who has worked on New England's Innocence Project, back in the running for a top spot in the Boston legal thriller stakes.

June 15, 2007
In Hosp's third legal thriller (after "Dark Harbor" and "The Betrayed"), attorney Scott Finn has been contacted by a junior lawyer at his old law firm to take on some pro bono work in the case of El Salvadoran illegal immigrant Vincente Salazar, who was sent to prison for shooting a police officer 15 years ago. The case is being revisited on the basis of DNA evidence that was never mentioned at the original trial and may prove Salazar's innocence. Although Finn agrees to represent Salazar in a hearing to get the DNA evidence examined, he isn't convinced of the man's innocenceuntil the junior lawyer on the case is carved up with a machete and left for dead. To prove Salazar's innocence, Finn must find out why he was set up in the first place, which puts him at odds with both the Boston Police Department and a vicious South American gang. A riveting book that is hard to put down and will keep you hooked until the very end; recommended. [This book was inspired by Hosp's own experience as an attorney working with the New England Innocence Project.Ed.]Lisa O'Hara, Univ. of Manitoba Libs., Winnipeg

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