The Final Judgment by Richard North Patterson

Ultimately, The Final Judgement is a tale of the deep and twisted history of a New England family, but it is told in a captivating style that is-despite Patterson's reservations about the rubric-'thrilling.' -Patrick O'Kelley

And by returning home, she must inevitably face the accumulated memories and resentments of the New Hampshire crowd, including Caroline's high-school boyfriend who is the prosecuting attorney. By taking the case, Caroline clearly jeopardizes her chances for the Court of Appeals appointment. The perils that face Caroline multiply quickly. The family wants Caroline to return to New Hampshire to defend the girl. The college-age Brett Allen was found naked, passed out from drugs and alcohol, with a knife in her hand, and covered in her boyfriend's blood. Her niece has just been named the primary suspect in the murder of her boyfriend. Court of Appeals, when, instead, her long-distant father gives her a call. In the opening of the novel, Caroline is waiting for a message from the White House appointing her to the U.S. Forty-five-year-old Caroline Masters, a minor figure in Degree of Guilt and Eyes of a Child is the narrative center, and much of the suspense in the novel derives from the slow unwrapping of her past-the death of her mother and estrangement from her father. The only sound Brett heard was the rise and fall of James's breathing.') and filled with a cast of quirky small-town New Englanders, the novel ultimately succeeds through Patterson's talents as a writer, not just as a plotter.Īs in many of Patterson's best novels, The Final Judgement draws on flashback sequences to ground the story and establish key characters. A cleverly assembled murder mystery told with rich prose ('Moonlight refracted on the still, obsidian waters of the lake and traced the pines and birches and elms surrounding it. Richard North Patterson frequently rejects the label 'legal thriller' for his novels, and The Final Judgement works hard to transcend this limiting category.

The Final Judgment by Richard North Patterson