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At the beginning of this book, I thought at last I’d finally found a James Patterson book that I didn’t like. The story is told by skipping from the point-of-views of seven individuals as they recount a murder story, each giving the character’s unique perspective. Each chapter skips from person to person, giving each character’s recount of events as they happened. At first, I hated this method because I was forced to constantly refer to the character guide until the characters were fully developed, almost half way through the book.
Tom Dunleavy is an attorney in the resort town of East Hampton. He’s an average attorney at best. His journey begins with a group of guys playing four-on-four basketball on Beach Road. The game gets heated and ends in a fight. One of the guys pulls a gun and threatens a member of the opposing team.
Dante, a soon-to-be NBA star, and his best friend, Michael, are accused of murdering three of the guys from the basketball game later that evening. Tom comes to the defense of Dante, and thus the story unfolds. The story takes readers through racial divides of this small community as the white attorney defends the black ball players who are accused of murdering wealthy spoiled white kids from East Hampton. As Tom and his high school sweetheart, Kate, work together to build a defense for Dante, they are taken through many difficult situations in the attempt to save Dante.
After I got used to the book’s style, I eventually found that this story has it all—drug dealers, dirty cops, love, fame, and deceit. In a surprise finish, the book leads you through a roller coaster of emotions for about 50 pages and then ends completely unexpectedly. The ending will leave you caught by surprise and astonished at the deceit that was hidden throughout the entire book almost right in front of your face.
