My Review (5 stars out of 5)
While staying in a borrowed house on Malibu’s Carbon Beach, burned-out Virginia divorce lawyer Charlie Trust is all set to spend the next few months drinking beer and watching the sunset. Then a plea for help from a neighbour puts him in a difficult position. TV actor Martin Cole’s wife has gone missing, and the cops are suspicious. Marty considers Charlie to be his friend, someone he trusts, and that’s why he wants Charlie to represent him – even though Charlie knows almost nothing about criminal law. But as the police start the process of interviewing Marty and searching his house, Charlie wonders if there’s something else going on – something Marty isn’t telling him.
Set in Los Angeles, in 1992, this is the first book in a new series. Having read quite a few of Jake Needham’s books, I thought I knew what to expect but this is a bit different to his other work, almost to the point where it feels like he’s developed a different style of writing for a different kind of book. The story starts with the protagonist setting the scene, lazing his days away watching the ocean ebb and flow, where it’s not unusual to pass the time of day with crooner Dean Martin, or to see Farah Fawcett sunbathing on the patio.
And then we get the actor/neighbour who needs help, and for a while not much happens. But don’t get complacent because this is just Mr Needham’s way of lulling us into thinking we know what’s going on. The writing, as always is clever and witty, but there’s a creepy kind of tension that builds from this point onwards, as Charlie Trust tries to understand the role he’s taken on. The story becomes more complex as our hero is drawn into a plot that seems to change with every new day. I read the bulk of the novel over the last 24 hours and like all the best thrillers, couldn’t put it down. There’s a sharpness to the story that twists and turns, sucking you into thinking you know who the killer is, before the whole thing changes direction again.
As I’ve always said, Jake Needham writes a stonking good story, and this one may be his best yet. Nice one, Jake.
Colin Garrow 