TJ Devlin - a recovering alcoholic and ex-convict who dropped out of college - is the ne'er-do-well of the Devlin family. Nevertheless, when TJ gets out of prison he's hired to be the 'investigator' for Devlin & Devlin, the family's Philadelphia law firm.
All the Devlins, except for TJ, are attorneys at the family enterprise.
‣ Paul (the patriarch), is the head of the law firm and represents white collar firms and big businesses.
‣ Marie (the matriarch) practices family law, mostly divorces.
‣ John (TJ's brother) follows in his father's footsteps, and also represents businesses. John is very ambitious, and plans to take over the firm when his dad retires.
‣ Gabby (TJ's sister) is civic minded, and takes pro-nono cases.
As the story opens, the Devlin family is assembling for papa Paul's big birthday dinner when an agitated John shows up and draws TJ away. John quietly confides that he accidentally killed someone and needs TJ's help. The brothers leave the birthday party, much to the surprise (and consternation) of the rest of the family.
John's story goes as follows: He's the attorney for Rustan Electronics, which is being acquired by another company. John's due diligence revealed irregularities in Rustan's accounting, so John arranged a meeting with Neil Lemaire, Rustan's sole accountant.
Lemaire confessed to skimming $100,000, and offered to pay John off. When John refused, Lemaire pulled a gun. In self-defense, John threw a rock that hit Lemaire in the head and killed him.
When TJ and John arrive at the 'crime scene', there's no body, but there's blood on the ground. The brothers entertain two possibilities: Lemaire was just knocked out, and got up and left; or Lemaire had a partner in crime who took the body away. In any case, John ABSOLUTELY WON'T CALL THE POLICE, because a scandal would derail Rustan's acquisition, and John expects the deal to net him tens of millions of dollars.
Later, a very annoyed Paul asks why TJ and John skipped out on his birthday celebration. John - who's determined to keep things quiet until he gets his millions - lies and says he was helping TJ, who's drinking again. TJ, who's been sober for two years, is furious about John maligning him, but keeps his mouth shut.
In any case, as the firm's investigator, TJ decides to look into the Lemaire situation, hoping to find the accountant alive and well. This doesn't happen, and in fact Lemaire is later found in his car, shot to death. This opens an investigation into Rustan Electronics, and to save the acquisition, John (the world's biggest snake in the grass) tries to pin Lemaire's murder on TJ. A huge brouhaha ensues, which exposes wrongdoing in the corporate world, and roils Devlin & Devlin.
Meanwhile, pro-bono lawyer (and do-gooder) Gabby Devlin is representing several African-American men who were used for medical experiments decades ago.
At that time, pharmaceutical researchers were allowed to test medications without informed consent, and drug companies used prisoners as test subjects. Most of the victims were Black men, who suffered terrible and painful long term effects, even death.
Gabby is trying to get a settlement from the drug companies, and threatening to sue if they don't cooperate. Gabby askes TJ to be her investigator, and he splits his time between the Rustan situation and Gabby's case.
Most of the story is related from TJ's POV, and it's clear he's very remorseful for his past mistakes: the drinking; the incident that sent him to jail; not getting a college degree; losing the love of his life; disappointing his parents; and so on. To get back on track, TJ diligently goes to AA; has a side career flipping luxury cars; adopts a diabetic cat in need; and even tries to get back into the dating game.
Unfortunately, TJ's family don't believe he's mended his ways, especially in the face of John's mendacity and duplicity. Everyone keeps insisting TJ needs to go back to rehab, though TJ insists he's sober. TJ is determined to prove he's a good man now, and we root for him to succeed.
As the book approaches a conclusion the story threads come together in a surprising fashion that I didn't find quite credible. Still, this is a well-written, suspenseful thriller that would appeal to fans of the genre.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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