ncrabb's review
5.0
Four months have elapsed since I last checked in with Ben Kincaid, the Tulsa lawyer who left a cushy job in corporate law to strike out on his own. It’s good to be back, if only to see how he and his flamboyant legal assistant are doing. I can’t help but hope good things for this as-yet not-a-couple couple.
Ben Kincaid is fresh off a case in which he spectacularly ruined the credibility of a crucial witness for the opposition. Flush from that victory, Ben waits for his assistant to pack up their things. While he waits, a man approaches and offers him a top-flight job for an oil and entertainment consortium. He would be part of the large legal staff of the organization, and he would have a six-figure salary if he accepted. Of course, he insisted that he bring his legal assistant along, and later that night she expresses real reluctance at the change. She worries that it won't be the right fit for Ben. She points out the areas in which he had made mistakes before regarding his career, but he insists he needs the money and even if it's not all about the money he could use whatever other benefits he accrues by accepting the offer. He signs on to the new position, and against her better judgment, she follows him.
The new job is a Vipers nest of hate and any number of sexual activities that ought not to go on in any office. Before Ben finishes his second day, he opens the door to his office, and the body of his supervisor falls on Ben. Ben’s colleague, Rob, uses his first-aid training to pronounce the supervisor dead. Ben rushes to another office to summon law-enforcement help. When he returns, the body is gone. When the cops find it, Ben is a person of interest in the case.
But the cops have a lot of things on their mind these days in Tulsa. Someone is murdering teenage prostitutes and leaving the bodies devoid of their hands and heads. That makes it harder to identify the girls, as you might understand. Ben's cop friend and ex-brother-in-law, Mike, is on that case. While he intercedes in Ben's behalf, he can't hold off the inevitable for long. If Ben can't find answers as to who killed his boss, Ben will be off to prison
I love every book in this series I have read so far. The author is an absolute grand master at creating seemingly hopeless horrible situations, and then somehow in the final few sentences of a given chapter, providing an escape for what seems to be an inescapable hopeless nightmare. It astounds me how well he builds and builds his suspense and tension, and you can't help but lean forward and embrace that as you read the book. I finished this in a single night, and I couldn't stop. There's one scene in which a young teenage girl brutally dies, and I wish the author had found some better way to write that scene, but I understand why it was necessary. The writing style is memorably compelling, and you will hyperventilate with Ben as he must escape a killer while he is some 60 feet above ground. But I grossly digress. I'm telling you too much. I'm hopeful you'll read not just this book but the entire series. It really is worth it.
Ben Kincaid is fresh off a case in which he spectacularly ruined the credibility of a crucial witness for the opposition. Flush from that victory, Ben waits for his assistant to pack up their things. While he waits, a man approaches and offers him a top-flight job for an oil and entertainment consortium. He would be part of the large legal staff of the organization, and he would have a six-figure salary if he accepted. Of course, he insisted that he bring his legal assistant along, and later that night she expresses real reluctance at the change. She worries that it won't be the right fit for Ben. She points out the areas in which he had made mistakes before regarding his career, but he insists he needs the money and even if it's not all about the money he could use whatever other benefits he accrues by accepting the offer. He signs on to the new position, and against her better judgment, she follows him.
The new job is a Vipers nest of hate and any number of sexual activities that ought not to go on in any office. Before Ben finishes his second day, he opens the door to his office, and the body of his supervisor falls on Ben. Ben’s colleague, Rob, uses his first-aid training to pronounce the supervisor dead. Ben rushes to another office to summon law-enforcement help. When he returns, the body is gone. When the cops find it, Ben is a person of interest in the case.
But the cops have a lot of things on their mind these days in Tulsa. Someone is murdering teenage prostitutes and leaving the bodies devoid of their hands and heads. That makes it harder to identify the girls, as you might understand. Ben's cop friend and ex-brother-in-law, Mike, is on that case. While he intercedes in Ben's behalf, he can't hold off the inevitable for long. If Ben can't find answers as to who killed his boss, Ben will be off to prison
I love every book in this series I have read so far. The author is an absolute grand master at creating seemingly hopeless horrible situations, and then somehow in the final few sentences of a given chapter, providing an escape for what seems to be an inescapable hopeless nightmare. It astounds me how well he builds and builds his suspense and tension, and you can't help but lean forward and embrace that as you read the book. I finished this in a single night, and I couldn't stop. There's one scene in which a young teenage girl brutally dies, and I wish the author had found some better way to write that scene, but I understand why it was necessary. The writing style is memorably compelling, and you will hyperventilate with Ben as he must escape a killer while he is some 60 feet above ground. But I grossly digress. I'm telling you too much. I'm hopeful you'll read not just this book but the entire series. It really is worth it.
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