The Freedom Institute in Miami, Florida works to get wrongly convicted prisoners off death row. Attorney Jack Swyteck worked at The Freedom Institute for four years before he struck out on his own as a criminal defense lawyer. Ten years later Jack is back at The Freedom Institute, but only to rent office space, not for death penalty work.
Jack is alone at The Freedom Institute one morning when a woman called Debra Burgette comes in seeking help.
Debra explains that her 17-year-old daughter Sashi disappeared on her way to school three years ago.
Sashi was never found, dead or alive, but her semen-stained underpants turned up in the car of an ex-con called Dylan Reeves. Reeves was convicted of murdering Sashi, and the ex-con is now on death row in Florida State Prison, with his execution set to occur in a few weeks.
Debra Burgette contends that Reeves deserves to be prison for assaulting Sashi, but he shouldn't be executed for murder because Sashi is still alive. Debra says she gets a phone call every year on Sashi's birthday, and though no one speaks, Debra is sure it's her daughter. Ultimately, Debra's agenda is to get the police to re-open the missing persons case and re-start the search for Sashi.
Though Jack doesn't do death penalty work anymore, he agrees to help. So Jack and The Freedom Institute lawyers re-investigate Sashi's disappearance. This leads to several hearings before Judge Frederick, during which the prosecution argues to go ahead with 'the needle'. Jack, on the other hand, argues to delay delay delay, so The Freedom Institute can (attempt to) find evidence to get Reeves off death row.
Swytek's inquiries reveal that Debra and her (now divorced) husband Gavin adopted Sashi and her little brother Alexander from Russia when Sashi was a young girl.
Sashi was a problem child from the get-go, and was diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) - an inability to form an emotional bond with her caretakers. Debra's flashbacks detail the Burgette family's struggles with Sashi, which escalated over time. Nevertheless, Debra dearly loves Sashi and is desperate to find her still alive.
In the course of the story, more and more secrets emerge, and additional persons of interest come to light. The end result is that Jack believes death row resident Dylan Reeves IS a scumbag rapist, but that he didn't kill Sashi.
While all this is happening, Jack's wife Andie, an FBI agent, is pregnant. Andie has had two miscarriages, and she and Jack are anxious about the pregnancy going well this time.
There's plenty of angst for everyone involved in the story, and Dylan Reeves is on tenterhooks in his death row cell, circling around and around until his feet are rubbed raw.
In the end, the truth about everything emerges, and it's a doozie.
I'm a fan of detective stories and courtroom dramas, and this book contains elements of both. I was interested to see the regulations (or lack thereof) related to international adoptions, and it was informative to observe the legal arguments used by The Freedom Institute.
The story is engaging, and I liked the Miami ambiance, but I do have some grumbles. In my view, the 'new information' discovered by The Freedom Institute would have been found by the cops when they initially investigated Sashi's disappearance (unless they were complete incompetents). Thus I had a hard time suspending disbelief. Also, when I learned about Dylan Reeves crimes against women I would have left him on death row (murderer or not).
My final verdict: Good book. Recommended to fans of legal thrillers.
Rating: 3.5 stars
