Kirkus
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Miami lawyer Jack Swyteck’s latest client refuses to take the Fifth despite the advice of his counsel—and then takes it to a perilous extreme. When retired FBI agent Owen Pollard, a partner in VanPoll firearms disposal, is shot dead in his home, Patricia Dubrow, the attorney who represents the company and Cornelius J. Vandermeer, Owen’s eccentric and anarchic partner, recommends that Elliott Stafford, a member of VanPoll’s finance team who’s been subpoenaed by a grand jury, retain Jack. The reason why is unsettling: Patricia has agreed to represent Owen’s widow, Helena Pollard, and fears a potential conflict of interest may arise if she accepts Elliott as a client. The connection between Elliott and the Pollards turns out to be rooted in the couple’s attempt years ago to adopt the newborn son of Elle Carpenter, a teenager who’d agreed to turn the son she was expecting over to the Pollards if they covered her expenses and then, according to her mother, Serena Carpenter, refused to give them the newborn unless they added a huge additional payment. The more details Jack hears about the case, the more he urges Elliott to assert his right to remain silent when questioned, but Elliott refuses—until the moment when, overcome with the weight of the legal forces his testimony has unleashed against him, Elliott shuts down completely and refuses to say a word to Jack or anyone else. Jack finds that defending a client who won’t talk is even harder than defending a client who talks too much, and Grippando makes the most of every complication that emerges from Jack’s dilemma. To say more would spoil the surprises the author has planted. But there are lots of them, and they land with explosive power. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.