"Great police procedural thriller."

What starts out as a simple mugging and murder of a woman in front of her home soon becomes much more complex. As detectives Nye and Tafoya conduct their routine investigation, they come up with some very puzzling facts that lead them in several unexpected directions. And they have the eerie feeling that someone has been watching every step of their investigation. Then some shocking forensic evidence has them realizing that they may be involved in a case that's more than they can handle.

D.A. Cooper has prosecuted homicides for a long time, but nothing has prepared him for the intricacies of the case that Nye and Tafoya bring him. Though getting a conviction of the arrested suspect is going to be hard enough, he also finds himself butting heads with some powerful government officials who will stop at nothing to have their way in the dissolution of the high-profile case.

Wood, a former prosecutor, really shows his expertise of writing about the legal system with this spellbinding, gripping novel. After a bit of a slow start as characters are established, the plot takes hold and it's a rollercoaster ride of surprising twists and turns as some very powerful people become involved in distorting facts about the crime and the criminal. A great read!

Reviewed by Tanzey Cutter
Posted October 22, 2004