January 2013

 

David Sloane comes off a big courtroom win (the 18^th in a row) and seems unstoppable in the legal arena. Then, an impossible situation is placed before him: challenge the military to acknowledge a widow’s claim that her husband died a wrongful death while fighting for his country. What should be an easy case to turn down, becomes a personal issue when a preliminary review of the paperwork indicates something stinks. But, what?

 

The case evolves into a legal grenade tossed into the world of government contracts and the big players involved. The damage is messy and unpredictable. Sloane’s family is threatened, witnesses are dying and the stakes are higher than anyone had imagined. He calls on friend and former CIA operative turned P.I., Charles Jenkins, to help find answers and arrange protection for his new wife and stepson.

 

Bestselling author and former lawyer, Robert Dugoni, has written a legal thriller that combines courtroom drama with explosive investigation in the field and flashbacks to a military convoy traveling through hostile Iraqi territory. Dugoni reveals some of the facts of the Iraqi operation through the eyes of the dead man being defended.

 

“Wrongful Death” flows seamlessly between the flashbacks and present day events and was tough to put down. Almost none of the action seems far-fetched. Dugoni has created a suspenseful story so realistic that I can imagine a lawyer and his family being thrust into these circumstances and then dealing with the fallout in just these ways – if I had two top-notch operatives as friends.

 

Kudos to Dugoni for writing the two lead women in the book (wife-Tina, bodyguard-Alex) as smart and resourceful without becoming cartoonish; relying on brains to stay alive. And the action involving Sloane that is a little over the top, is just plain fun. Who wouldn’t want a tank coming to the rescue, just when you need it?

 

I met Robert Dugoni when he was teaching a writing class at a NYC conference. “Wrongful Death,” the second in the ‘David Sloane’ strand, had just come out and Dugoni autographed the book for me. I’m especially delighted that I waited in line because this one is a keeper. An equally intelligent screenplay would make for a great movie.

 

"Wrongful Death" (2009) was followed by "Bodily Harm," (2010) "Murder One," (2011) and "The Conviction." (2012) Dugoni has written other, stand-alone novels, as well as co-authoring a non-fiction title, “The Cyanide Canary,” a true crime story.

 

For more information about Robert Dugoni and his work, visit www.robertdugoni.com