.com Review When a killing field is unearthed in the Oregon woods, it's linked to a Portland surgeon whose increasingly aggressive behavior and explosive temper have already drawn the attention of his colleagues. Neophyte attorney Amanda Jaffe takes second chair to her father, a successful criminal lawyer retained by Dr. Vincent Cardoni when he is charged with multiple counts of murder. The victims have one thing in common: they are missing vital organs, which were clearly harvested by an expert surgeon. In this explosive and fast-paced suspense thriller, the forensic evidence against Cardoni is so convincing that even after his acquittal on a technicality, the reader, like Amanda, is sure of his guilt. And when a similar field of mutilated bodies turns up years later, Cardoni is again the primary suspect. But Cardoni has disappeared, and this time it's his former wife, Justine Castle, who's implicated in the new crimes, and Amanda who's retained as the lead attorney in the case. The particulars of the killings are so similar to the first set of murders that Amanda is convinced Cardoni is involved. When he is found to be working at the same hospital where he was once a promising surgeon (this time as a custodian and under an assumed name), she draws the logical conclusion. But when she finds Cardoni's severed hand at the scene of the crimes, she is forced to rethink the assumptions on which her defense of the doctor's ex-wife is based. Could Justine, in fact, be the killer? Author Phillip Margolin's newest book moves at an almost frantic pace. Bodies pile up, evidence mounts, and everything points to Cardoni's guilt until the end, a stunner that surprises Amanda as well as the reader. This chilling, deftly crafted novel will hold the reader's attention to the last page. --Jane Adams Read more From Publishers Weekly Devious doctors test the ethics of ambitious attorneys in Margolin's (The Undertaker's Widow) latest speed-read, and give a plot already adrenalized by drug deals, serial murders and organized crime an added jolt of grisly medical mayhem. Novice criminal lawyer Amanda Jaffe helps her legal eagle father Frank defend Portland surgeon Vincent Cardoni against charges that the doctor conspired to sell illicitly harvested organs to support his coke habit and maintained a private torture chamber for his victims in a mountain cabin outside the city limits. Cardoni is freed on a technicalityDand presumed murdered by the mob shortly afterward when his disappearance coincides with the discovery of his severed hand. Four years later, Amanda is asked to lead the defense of doctor Justine Castle, Vincent's ex-wife, when her fingerprints turn up all over another cabin slaughterhouse. Amanda worries that Justine, whose first two husbands also died suspiciously, set up Vincent, but Justine has another theory: psychopathic Vincent is still alive and doing his best to frame her. En route to a breathtaking finale in which Amanda plays bait to the true killer at yet another bloodstained hideout, Margolin buffets the reader with an endless stream of pulpy plot twists: a shamed cop's reformation, rampaging Russian hit men, creative surgery and astonishingly acrobatic feats of pursuit and escape by ordinary people. Only the hysterical pace of the adventures will prevent readers from dwelling too long on their implausibility; meanwhile, pages will turn fast enough to make the perfect breeze for chilling beachside escapists. 250,000 first printing; $250,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, Mystery Guild and BOMC selections; 12-city author tour. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more From Library Journal Quelle horreur! The pace of Margolin's (Gone, but Not Forgotten) seventh thriller is breathtakingly fast but not so fast that the engrossed (or grossed-out) reader would fail to experience the awfulness of heads in freezers, hearts in coolers, and victims in the double digits. Mayhem rules when a lunatic surgeon (but which one of three in the story?) preys on the peaceful folk of Portland, OR. A young lawyer finally gets enough of the puzzle pieces in place to guess the grim truth. The book is a selection of the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, Mystery Guild, and BOMC, so there will be lots of publicity and long wait lists. It's a stunner, a chiller, and a tour de force from an author at the top of his form. For all popular collections.-DBarbara Conaty, Library of Congress Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more From Booklist Margolin's seventh novel is at least as good as his remarkable early books, including The Last Innocent Man (1995) or Heartstone (1995); it may even be better. His previous novel, The Undertaker's Widow (1998), felt like he was trying to imitate John Grisham, but Margolin is a far superior writer, and here he returns to the complex, intelligent storytelling his fans have come to expect. The plot is straightforward enough: a serial killer is torturing and murdering people seemingly at random, and investigators scramble to stop the psychopath. But, as readers familiar with his novels know, Margolin likes to play variations on a theme, and here he offers not one but two prime suspects--Dr. Vincent Cardoni, a prominent surgeon, and Dr. Justine Castle, Cardoni's estranged wife. Each accuses the other of a frame-up, and Amanda Jaffe, a rather inexperienced young attorney, has to figure out which of her clients may be a murderer. A very clever thriller indeed, and a delight for Margolin's many fans. David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Read more From Kirkus Reviews "The combination of mass murder, black-market organ sales, torture and a handsome physician . . . dubbed Dr. Death by the tabloids" fuels Margolin's fifth transcendently commercial two-act thriller (The Undertaker's Widow, 1998, etc.).Act One kicks off when Bobby Vasquez, a Portland vice cop acting on a tip that St. Francis Hospital surgeon Vincent Cardoni has just purchased two kilos of cocaine from notorious drug supplier (and organ purchaser) Martin Breach, peeks into the fridge in Dr. Cardoni's isolated cabin and discovers two severed heads. After the cops dig up nine tortured bodies on the property, Cardoni is imprisoned without bail, even though he charmlessly insists that he's innocent and that his estranged wife, St. Francis surgical resident Justine Castle, must be framing him. Veteran criminal attorney Frank Jaffe and his latest associate, his daughter Amanda, get evidence that allows them, much to their discomfort, to get the charges dismissed, and their client promptly disappears, with every indication that he's dead. Four years later, Act Two opens when Dr. Castle is lured to another farm to discover a similar scene of sadistic torture just as the Multnomah County police arrive. Stridently proclaiming her own innocence, she tells Frank and Amanda that she's being framed by her dead husband, who must not be dead after all. Meantime, the Jaffes' investigators-including Bobby Vasquez, hungry for redemption after being kicked off the Portland force-are digging up evidence that makes both husband and wife look guilty as hell. Will Amanda, as Justine's lead attorney, figure out which of them to believe before she finds herself in the killer's torture chamber?The relentless barrage of gruesome murders and counter-accusations creates a legal thriller that's crude, grisly, horrific, and often suspenseful, though never exactly scary, except when you wonder about the citizens who are buying this stuff.First printing of 250,000; $250,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild/Book-of-the-Month Club/Mystery Guild selection -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Read more Review ""This mystery has a little bit of everything...All of it kept me glued to my cassettes." -- -Herald Sun (Durham, NC)"A pure rush from beginning to end." -- -- Detroit News "A stunner, a chiller, and a tour de force from an author at the top of his form." -- -- Library Journal "TWISTED [AND] BRILLIANT." -- --Chicago Tribune"Wild Justice is the scariest book I've read since Red Dragon. I couldn't put it down." -- -- Michael Palmer, author of The Patient"Wild Justice is what good storytelling is all about. Skillful plotting, good writing, an excellent cast of characters." -- -- Nelson DeMille, bestselling author of The Lion's Game"You'll be turning pages and keeping the lights on all the way to the end." -- -- New Orleans Times-PicayuneMargolin's lucid prose and knowledge gained as a defense attorney make this a readable, informative and scary tale. -- -- San Antonio Express-News Read more About the Author Phillip Margolin has written nineteen novels, many of them New York Times bestsellers, including his latest novels Woman with a Gun, Worthy Brown’s Daughter, Sleight of Hand, and the Washington trilogy. Each displays a unique, compelling insider’s view of criminal behavior, which comes from his long background as a criminal defense attorney who has handled thirty murder cases. Winner of the Distinguished Northwest Writer Award, he lives in Portland, Oregon. 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A**L
Not Margolin's best but worth a read
Wild Justice is the first appearance of Amanda Jaffe, a criminal defense attorney in Portland trying to emerge from the shadow of her father. The two are hired to defend Vincent Cardoni, a surgeon accused of torturing and murdering nine people in the woods of Oregon. He claims his wife framed him, and on a technicality, he is released. Soon after, he mysteriously disappears. Fast forward four years, and Amanda is wiser and more experienced but still trying to develop her own identity as a criminal defense attorney. More bodies show up that resemble the same MO as the murders four years ago, but this time, it's Cardoni's wife that is on the hot seat. But who's really guilty?I recently finished the branches of government trilogy, and this was a bit of a disappointment in comparison. Jaffe's character is shallow and a bit of a cliche. After four years as a defense attorney in a major city, it would stand to reason she would be a bit hardened and more jaded, but that never really comes across. Her character remains flat. It's an interesting premise - did the coked out doctor with the anger issue do it? Was it his ice queen wife? Was it a host of of husbands she's left dead in her wake? Was it the boyfriend? I figured out in the first quarter of the book who did it. If you think back to your junior high lessons on foreshadowing, you'll figure it out too. That took something away from it for me. I like books that keep me guessing until the very end. Margolin still manages to write a good story with a decent pace, so it's worth a read.
J**R
A Riveting Tangled Web
"Wild Justice", by Phillip Margolin, is my third read by him and I'm fascinated by his stories. He weaves a tangled web of characters and sub-plots around his main plot that is mind-boggling and keeps you guessing the outcome right to the end. This book had me suspecting who the bad guy was in this story, but I was never sure until the evidence stacked up against him. Few books I've read make me read continually to get to the end so I can learn the resolution--Margolin's does. When I finish with a book of his I can't wait to start another of his books. "Wild Justice" is a violent story and not for the tame-hearted, but for those who like police stories, court room drama, murder mysteries and thrillers, then this is a book you will find extraordinarily captivating.
A**R
A must read for Amanda Jaffe fans
I was very pleased with this book. I had read the latest Amanda Jaffe book, but this one starts at the beginning of her career when a few mistakes were made, but due only to inexperience. A good family dynamic was also established between her and her father. Most of all, the twists and turns of the story itself, the final determination of the killer after others were viewed as suspects. I could hardly put it down and was sorry to see it end. I recommend it to any lover of mystery novels with a good portion of legal proceedings well played out.
G**A
Wow! When Everyone Looks Guilty
I loved this book. Had me on the edge of my chair from the first till the last! What a strong, but vulnerable heroine is the central character. Just enjoy!
M**G
Amanda's legacy starts
Very interesting n exciting thru the first 3/4, but got a tad unbelievable at the end. Still I liked it n would recommend it.
U**5
Very Good Read
I simply love this book, it belongs in a series with the other Amanda Jaffe stories where this is the beginning story. I bought this book because I actually read the second book in this series "The Ties That Bind" first, so the story line really caught my interest. I would recommend this book and "The Ties That Bind" and "Proof Positive" which would complete the set. This book arrived on time and as described by the seller.
J**N
Great author
Awesome story
C**S
Book
Great book, arrived on time. Thanks!
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