Hell Bent

August 11, 2008
After two dozen adventures (One-Way Ticket
, etc.), Tapply’s Brady Coyne, a refreshingly decent lawyer, remains a pleasure to see at work. After a seven-year absence from Brady’s life, Alexandria Shaw, a former lover, walks into his Boston office and asks him to handle her brother’s divorce case. Gus Shaw, an independent photojournalist who lost his right hand in Iraq and is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, promises to be a difficult client, but soon after Brady and Gus talk, Gus is found dead, an apparent suicide. Though no evidence suggests murder, Alexandria is convinced her brother didn’t kill himself; Brady agrees to probe, with predictable results. While Brady tends to telegraph important aspects of the case, his investigation reveals a lot of the hidden collateral damage of the Iraq war: bereaved families, physically or psychologically wounded vets and the people who try to help those who have suffered.

September 1, 2008
Intrepid Boston lawyer Brady Coyne ("Nervous Water; Muscle Memory") is asked by his ex-girlfriend to represent her brother, Gus Sinclair, in his divorce. Gus, a well-known photojournalist, has returned from Iraq, where he lost his right hand in a bombing. Then the case takes a sinister turn when Gus is found dead from an apparent suicide, and his photos are missing. At the same time, Coyne is trying to bring peace of mind to an elderly couple whose furniture was damaged by movers. At the top of the legal thriller genre, Tapply brings refreshing solutions to these cases. Sure to appeal to fans of Lisa Scottoline and Jeremiah Healy. Recommended.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.