Cover of FUGITIVE
courtesy of HarperCollins
FUGITIVE by Phillip Margolin

Phillip Margolin shows a new side of his writing with his new novel FUGITIVE. This book is a little grittier, a little steamier, and a little bit more profane than his previous works. Still all of these new features are appropriate for this story of a man on the run from a crazed dictator in an African country. Margolin lays his groundwork and then turns up the tension as the story unfolds.

Charlie Martin is the “fugitive” of the story. He is an ex-con and an ex-con man who is living in Batanga. He has fled the United States to avoid prosecution on a murder charge. He ended up in Batanga because of their non-extradition status. However, as the story starts he is beginning to regret his flight there.

Charlie has a checkered past. He has been a con artist who eventually ended up in prison. By a strange set of circumstances he left prison a hero and became a celebrity of sorts. He wrote some very successful books and lived the good life until his involvement with a Senator’s wife exploded with her husband’s murder. Charlie was accused and fled.

Now, several years later, he wants to go back and take his chances at trial. He employs Amanda Jaffe, an attorney whose father defended the Senator’s wife in that murder case. Amanda knows she has her work cut out for her. Plus there is a man from Batanga stalking Charlie and another person wanting him dead for personal reasons. Amanda has to prepare his defense and keep him alive long enough o stand trial.

Margolin moves his story at a good pace but he does make one misstep. There is a prolonged flashback in the middle of the book that takes the reader out of the present for too long. This interrupts the linear enjoyment of the story. Margolin is able to get it all back on track in time for a surprising ending that most will not see coming.

Margolin is a consistently good writer who turns out one best seller after another. A former attorney he knows the courtroom setting and uses that knowledge to make his stories believable and enjoyable.

Margolin lets his imagination run wild in creating the fascinating characters in this book. He counters the mysterious Charlie with the grounded Amanda and this gives the book an evenness that it needs. Overall FUGITIVE is a very readable book that will provide a few hours of enjoyment this summer.

FUGITIVE is published by HarperCollins. It contains 345 pages and sells for $26.99.
 

 

 

 

 

©2009 Jackie K. Cooper

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