I requested this paperback book after reading Gore's A Criminal Defense which I enjoyed. I wasn't disappointed at all. Gore is a former private investigator and that shows in his plots. His hero is Harlan Donnally, a good man trying to make up for what he sees as the errors of his father's ways. Dad is a legendary Hollywood movie maker, famous particularly for a movie about Vietnam that Donnally believes got his brother killed in action.

In this story Donnally's friend Mauricio Aguilera confesses on his deathbed to having lived a lie. His name isn't even his real name. Aguilera tells his good friend that he killed his father when he was a boy because he came home to find his father molesting his little sister. Then he took her to a sort of commune where he felt they would take care of her and not go to the police. He has lived ever since wondering if she is all right and whether the police are looking for him to charge him with murder. He hands Donnally a letter and begs him to deliver it to his sister.

That sets our hero off on a search that leads him into ever more fascinating stories. There is a mentally ill man who was charged with murdering Mauricio's sister. The system has abandoned the man and his life has been hell. The people from the commune also have an interesting story and a sad one. They are also hiding from the world. Then Donnally picks up a thread in his investigation that will lead him to an organization of men who molest boys. Donnally's world is a cruel one. However, the local deputy where he lives is a bumbling fool determined to find evidence against him on anything and that provides a few smiles. We need those light moments, and we also need the closeness Donnally finds with his Vietnamese girlfriend as an escape from the sadness.

Don't let that sadness keep you from reading this excellent mystery though. I was glued to the book and yet didn't want it to end. The varied characters are beautifully drawn and seem real, and Donnally's reasons for every move are realistic though of course heroic. The evil people in this story are truly evil; you'll hate them with a vengeance. Please do read Steven Gore's books.

Highly recommended
Source: HarperCollins ( )

Harlan Donnally was a former San Francisco Police Dept. detective who was retired on a disability after being shot on the job.

He promises a dying friend to find his friend's younger sister who was placed in a home when she was five. Tragically, he learns that the girl, Anna, was murdered and her killer was never brought to justice due to being found incompetent.

As Donnally searches for more information, he brings the alleged killer to court only to have someone hire an expensive attorney and claim that the man is really the victim. This makes Donnally wonder if someone is hinding behing the incompetent man's craziness.

Donnelly's search takes him to places that neither he nor the reader could forsee. This is well described and so realistic it's as if it were taken from the daily newspaper.

Donnally is the type of investigator who doesn't give up and employs some creative methods to get answers. He's very sympathetic and a character who the reader will enjoy.

Well written and recommended. ( )

This is the third book in Steven Gore's Harlan Donnally series but the first I've read. Perhaps my unfamiliarity with the characters altered my perspective. But here is what I liked:

The plot is intricate and full of mystery and suspense. The story starts out slowly, gradually building until all the pieces eventually tumble together. The subject is current and handled incredibly well.

What I didn't like: I found it difficult to relate to Harlan's character. I couldn't quite grasp his motivation for putting his life, and the lives of people he loved, in such danger. The characters' relationships were a little abstract. I would have liked more detail in order to better understand what drove each of them. With the main and recurring characters, this might be found in the two previous books, so I would suggest starting with the first in this series. ( )