Closer Look by David Ellis

Simon Dobias and Vicky Lanier Dobias are a respectable well to do Chicago couple, married nearly ten years.  Simon is a law professor applying for tenure at University of Chicago and Vicky works with victims of domestic abuse at a nonprofit.  They anticipate a large inheritance from Simon’s father’s trust at their ten year anniversary.  Simon has a brilliant mind and outwardly appears to lead a successful and happy life.  Inwardly, he despises his now deceased father and blames him and his former mistress now beautiful socialite, Lauren Betancourt for killing his mother.  He doesn’t want his father’s money but his diabolical mind is obsessed with thoughts of revenge for his loving mother.  Both Simon and Vicky have secrets but he cleverly uses these secrets to fool the police when Lauren is found dead hanging by her neck in the two story entryway to her home.  Clues are revealed so timely and often the reader soon stops guessing the outcome.  Nothing is as it seems.  The couple’s lives are rife with past grudges and missteps that facilitate numerous twists and turns. A cast of shady supporting characters with sleazy self-serving motives of their own add to the complex plot.  Who exactly is conning whom?

You’ll remember David Ellis as the house prosecutor during Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment trial.  Blagojevich is the former governor of Illinois who was convicted of selling Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat when Obama vacated it to run for President.  This minded bending life experience pales in comparison to Ellis’s genius creativity in writing fiction.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance read.

Murder House by David Ellis and James Patterson

The neglected multi-million-dollar beach front estate in the Hamptons at 7 Ocean Drive has been dubbed the Murder House due to numerous gruesome murders that have occurred there over the years.  The Dahlquist family who built the mansion is responsible for some of the murders as each generation produced a rapist and murderer always named Holden.  Finally Holden VI intends to end this family horror by not procreating and committing suicide… but the murders continue.

Jenna Rose is a NYPD cop who is forced out of her job in Manhattan and is hired by her Uncle Lang who heads the Southampton Town Police Department. As a child, Jenna’s family often visited the Hamptons but abruptly stopped their visits when she was eight years old.  She knew some violent event had happened to keep her parents away but Jenna had suppressed that memory.  Now with her parents both deceased, her uncle is her closest living relative and offers her a job to save her career as a cop.  She no sooner arrives when a Hollywood power broker and his mistress are found dead in the Murder House.  Evidence points to a local handyman, Noah Walker as the lead suspect.  As his trial begins, the police chief, Jenna’s uncle and lead witness for the prosecution is murdered.  Noah Walker is ultimately sent to prison but Jenna continues to investigate and becomes convinced Noah is innocent.  Her testimony frees Noah but the murders continue.  The new police chief bands her from the murder investigations and he fires her for disobeying his orders.  But with the killer still at large, Jenna needs to solve this case for her own peace of mind.  She finds out what really happened to her as a eight year old and who saved her and becomes convinced one more Dahlquist generation is involved.  But who is it and can she find out before he kills her?

Murder House is a very good mystery, thriller.  The plot is complex with plenty of twists and turns and offers several convincing choices for the ‘who done it.’  But I found I didn’t particularly like the protagonist, Jenna.  First, I found it odd she could not remember a traumatic event as an eight year old.  Second, I found her a little too impulsive, a little too quick to draw conclusions and act based on limited evidence at hand.  Finally, she always haled from a position of moral high ground that I never felt like she earned…. perhaps a little better character development would have helped.

Line of Vision by David Ellis

David Ellis won the 2002 Edgar Award for Best First Novel by an American Author for Line of Vision.  His lead character, Marty Kalish is a young real estate developer who hates his mother.  As a child he discovered his mother was unfaithful to his father but kept this knowledge to himself.  Now both his parents are gone and his divorced sister and her two kids are his only family.  This has left him cynical about the world and distrustful of most people, particularly women.

Marty works extremely hard for a real estate development firm and is on the fast track to a partnership.  He does some charity work only as a resume builder and most of his extracurricular activities involve guy pals.  Then he becomes involved with Rachel, the wife of the doctor who heads the charity where Marty volunteers.  Rachel tells Marty that her husband abuses her and she is in fear of her life.  Marty catches the doctor in the act, kills him, and hides the body.  A couple days later an anonymous caller tells Marty that he witnessed the murder. The police interview Marty only because he worked at the charity with the deceased.  Marty ends up confessing and is arrested.  He hires a high powered defense attorney and while waiting for trial, also hires a PI to find the anonymous caller.

At the trial, most of the evidence is circumstantial but means, motive and opportunity all stack up against Marty.  Then Rachel takes the stand and paints a picture even more damning for him.  Doesn’t seem like there is much Marty can do to save himself from life in prison or even execution… or is there?

David Ellis writes a very convincing tale in Line of Vision.  He is clearly no stranger to the courtroom.  Formerly a prosecutor, Ellis was recently appointed a justice in the Illinois Appellate Court.  While much of the legal process can be mundane, Ellis builds suspense and inserts enough twists and turns to hold the reader’s interest.  His lead character, Marty Kalish is hard to like initially but as events unfold, you find yourself rooting for him.  Nice work for a first time writer.

Eye of the Beholder by David Ellis

Eye of the Beholder is a gruesome but thrilling murder mystery that tracks two sets of murder sprees in a small college town fifteen years apart.  In 1989 the bodies of six young women are found in the basement of the college’s auditorium… two are wealthy coeds and four are prostitutes.  The victims are gruesomely murdered in accordance with the lyrics of a song by a relatively unknown heavy metal band.  A professor at the college uses these lyrics in his literature class that both student victims have attended.  Terry Burgos is a maintenance worker at the college and also a part time employee of the professor.  Forensic evidence of the murders is found in Burgos’ home and he is arrested and confesses to the crimes.  Paul Riley is the fresh faced prosecutor who wins the guilty verdict against Burgos on five of the six murders.  Burgos is ultimately executed.  The sixth victim is wealthy businessman Harland Bentley’s daughter and for personal reasons, he requests his daughter’s murder not be included in the indictment of Burgos.  Riley honors that request. 

Now fifteen years later, Paul Riley has moved on to private practice.  His main client and core of his private law practice is Harland Bentley.  A young female reporter begins asking questions about the Burgos trial, calling it background information for a current story.  Suddenly, one of her sources is murdered, then the reporter herself is violently murdered.  Riley recognizes the murderer's methods as those described in verse two of the heavy metal song used in the slaughter the victims from fifteen years earlier.  Riley is invited to assist the police in the investigation of the current day murders but when they learn Harland Bentley is his client, Riley’s credibility suffers.  The police suspect he is withholding information to protect his client or even himself.  Riley harbors some suspicions of his own about his client and decides he must investigate further into the events of the 1989 murders to find the present day killer.  Meanwhile, Riley and his girl friend become targets of the killer.

David Ellis writes an intriguing ‘who done it’ with an interesting cast of characters… lawyer with a conscience, philandering rich guy, wild child teenager, schizophrenic serial killer, troubled police detective, predatory college prof, sexy girlfriend who happens to be the governor’s daughter.  The plot is fraught with complexity and enough twists and turns that the ride becomes more enjoyable than the destination.  All in all, much more enjoyable than those airplane books he writes with James Patterson.

Invisible by James Patterson and David Ellis

Invisible is one of those books written by a somewhat unknown author and branded by James Patterson to help sell it.  Sorry for the sarcasm but I’ve read several David Ellis books and find him talented in his own right.  Therefore, I find the marketing gimmick manipulative and even offensive.  I recently saw James Paterson on a morning talk show where he stated he didn’t need to do anything for the money anymore.  So I guess he thinks he’s being philanthropic by helping promising young writers but for me his arrogance over shadows his good intentions.  That said Invisible is a reasonably good thriller and obviously has the David Ellis style.  My advice is to read it and forget about how it was marketed… enough said, maybe too much.

MISTRESS by James Patterson with David Ellis

MISTRESS by James Patterson with David Ellis is one of those collaborations between a well-known author (Patterson) and an up and comer (Ellis).  The main character, Ben Casper is a geeky 20 something who owns an online newspaper in Washington, D.C.  His ADHD like mind jumps from one thought to another and tends to focus on Presidential trivia when he is most excited.  Since it’s written in first person, present tense that can be both entertaining and annoying.

Ben has a thing for his woman friend Diana Hotchkiss until she mysteriously falls to her death from her apartment’s balcony.  Diana’s death is ruled a suicide but Ben doesn’t buy it and launches an investigation of his own.  He learns Diana is in fact leading a double life and sharing neither with her family back in Wisconsin.  On the surface Diana has a fabulous job at the CIA that brings her into contact with high level government officials.  But Ben soon discovers she has more personal and secret relationships with individuals in government… and not just our government.  Some are willing to kill to remain anonymous.

People formerly close the Diana begin to die suspiciously. Ben attempts to bluff the CIA to flush out the truth but succeeds only in turning the conspirator’s focus to him.  With only hunches, no evidence and two attempts on his life, Ben appeals to the police.  They agree that Diana's death may not have been a suicide but evidence points to Ben as her murderer. With his business and his life in jeopardy, Ben takes one last risk to clear himself and reveal Diana's murderer.

MISTRESS is a good effort for the team of authors.  I’m not sure I understand why the collaboration.  Ellis does the work, Paterson and staff provide the marketing I suspect.  I’ve read and reviewed David Ellis before and see a promising future as a stand-alone author.  If that career fails he is secure in his first chosen career as a prosecutor.  He prosecuted and convicted Governor Rod Blagojevich in the impeachment trial before the Illinois Senate.  I hope he sticks with career number two.

The Wrong Man by David Ellis

The Wrong Man is David Ellis’ third book in a series of legal thrillers featuring defense attorney, Jason Kolarich.  Kolarich is a wise cracking, hard working young lawyer still overcoming the tragic loss of his wife and child in the now distant past.

Kolarich is asked to represent a homeless Iraq veteran, Tom Stoller who is accused of murdering a young paralegal.  Clearly Stoller is suffering from PTSD from his combat duty.  But when an unsympathetic judge disallows an insanity plea, Kolarich is forced to create reasonable doubt by finding alternative suspects.  As more evidence is uncovered, the attorney comes to believe in his client’s innocence.  The murder seemed too professional and Stoller too detached to have been capable of the crime.  By researching the victim’s past, the legal team discovers that the young paralegal may have stumbled onto a domestic terrorist group who hired the mob to silence her.   With insufficient proof however, Kolarich cannot adequately defend his client and finds himself in the crosshairs of the villains.  Now his task is three-fold… save his client, save himself, and save the city from a terrorist attack.

The Wrong Man is my first David Ellis novel but definitely not my last.  He creates likable characters and places them in precarious complex situations.  The plot was maybe a bit of a stretch but the clever twists and turns make for first class entertainment.  After I finished the book, I learned that Ellis is a practicing lawyer who prosecuted and convicted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in his impeachment trial.  Now I know where he gets the flair for the dramatic.