"A Case of Chilling Mystery"

When Joey Cheaps, a client of attorney Victor Carl's, ends up murdered just hours after confessing to Victor about a twenty-year old murder, he begins to smell a rat. Though his obligation to Joey ended with his death, Victor continues to investigate. During the process, he makes new enemies in the form of the local mafia boss, the police and a very influential Pennsylvania state Supreme Court judge.

As the mystery deepens, Victor struggles to keep his practice teetering on the verge of bankruptcy as well as keep his equilibrium as his father lies in a hospital bed, savagely predicting his own death. As he continues his profitless investigation and the dead bodies begin pile up, time and again Victor barely escapes with his life and polyester tie intact. A twenty-year old drug conspiracy awash with money, a few betrayed friendships and some love affairs form the crux of this extremely knotty mystery.

Lashner and his hapless loser lawyer of a protagonist, Victor Carl, are up to no good as usual. The wisecracking, ever down-at-luck, dubious attorney-at-law, finds himself mired in yet another seedy adventure and with drug money at its heart, it rapidly turns dangerous with Carl finding enemies at every turn. Adding luster to the story are some lovely ladies, who're deceptively simple. The pace is alternately slow and fast as the intricate plot winds a serpentine route traversing both past and present, a journey along which Victor has many revelations about the case, human nature and his own character. Lashner's writing is slick and expertly combines breathless pace of action with lyrical moments of introspection and study. The author has populates the story with superb, gritty characterizations as well as has a style of bringing a scene into life, whether a dock or a crime scene or a boudoir, which is poetic to say the least. Victor Carl is a unique protagonist for he's neither brave, nor a top-notch lawyer and he's not even great with relationships. Yet his very doggedness, his charming acceptance, and indeed proclamation, of his faults, renders him likeable to foes and readers' alike. The suspense is unabated till the end and ends with a nice twist.

In short, a searing tale of greed, lust and betrayal and with a healthy does of cynicism and cleverness, "Past Due" is guaranteed to captivate the readers and remain long in their memories.

Reviewed by Rashmi Srinivas
Posted May 10, 2004

Summary

Author of the acclaimed novels Fatal Flaw, Bitter Truth, and Hostile Witness, bestselling writer William Lashner crafts dark, witty, engrossing tales of suspense involving one of the most intriguing characters of modern popular fiction: Victor Carl. A defense attorney who lives his life in shades of gray, Victor Carl fights all the right fights for all the wrong reasons. With a failing legal practice, a dead-end love life, a pile of unpaid traffic tickets, and a talent for mixing it up in tough working-class bars and sparring with obstinate cops, Victor skates on the razor's edge of legal ethics in search of the easy buck. But the one absolute in Victor's life is loyalty, especially to a client -- even if he happens to be dead. Like Joey Cheaps, a no-account who takes a knife to the throat down on the waterfront, but not before he shares with his lawyer his part in a terrible crime. With his client murdered, Victor must search for a killer. But solving the crime means investigating the darkest spot in Joey Cheaps's misspent youth, sending Victor on a twisting journey that leads to a missing suitcase stuffed with money, photographs of a mysterious naked woman, and a Supreme Court justice with a secret to hide. And most dangerous of all, Victor steps into the crosshairs of a vengeful enemy with a past full of pain and a taste for blood. As thrilling as it is darkly evocative, Past Due is a superb tale of crime and justice that takes the intrepid Victor Carl into brilliant new territory and confirms William Lashner's place among the top suspense writers of our time.