The Disappearance

From Publishers Weekly After forays into the coming-of-age (The Obstacle Course) and PI (House of Smoke) genres, Freedman seems to have settled back, with last year's Key Witness and this new novel, into the sort of rambunctious legal thriller that made his reputation with his debut, Against the Wind. That book has been his high water mark, critically and commercially, and his new novel is unlikely to match it, despite a powerful premise, exciting plotting both in and out of the courtroom and Freedman's usual muscular prose. The opening here is immensely gripping: a teenage girl is apparently kidnapped from her Santa Barbara, Calif., bedroom during a slumber party, her wealthy family deals with the devastation of her disappearance, her body is found and, a year later, a hotshot TV newscaster is arrested for the killing. Freedman handles this sensitive material?obviously inspired by the real-life kidnap-slaying of Polly Klass?freshly and with appropriate gravity. He takes a turn toward the routine, however, when he introduces his hero, attorney Luke Garrison, whose very contrariness?he's a former DA who has fled to the woods in shame over a past failure, who rides a hog and sports a goatee and a ruby stud in his ear?makes him just one more dashing antihero. Luke agrees to defend the newscaster, plunging himself and his hot-blooded girlfriend/assistant into an adrenalized investigation and trial full of false leads, twists and brushes with death, all of which Freedman handles skillfully, other than pointing a blatant finger at the dead girl's father as the real culprit. So the ultimate unmasking of the killer comes as no big surprise, although Freedman's lurid handling of it is surprising?and, some might say, exploitative, as this talented writer turns what begins as a worthy re-imagining of a brutal tragedy into a histrionic page-burner. Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club and Mystery Guild selections. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Freedman (Key Witness, Dutton, 1997) has written another legal thriller, this time chronicling the disappearance and murder of the 14-year-old daughter of a wealthy Santa Barbara family. Luke Garrison is the unbelievable hero, a former district attorney who abandoned the legal system when he found himself a party to injustice. Now Luke has been persuaded to come back and defend the accused murderer. But he finds himself opposing all of his old colleagues, who have mixed emotions about his return. The case is an enigma, too. The facts don't add up, and there's evidence of child sexual abuse and adultery in this prominent family. Luke is able to demonstrate that he's still at the top of his game, and, with a little help from his friends, he solves the case. The novel reads very quickly, although it begins to feel very long and overly dramatic during the trial scenes. For larger collections. -?Katherine E.A. Sorci, IIT Research Inst., Annapolis, MD Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Well-known prosecutor Luke Garrison dropped out of sight when a man he convicted and sent to the gas chamber turned out to be innocent. Now his old mentor wants Luke to take on a sensational murder case that has the entire country abuzz. A year earlier, teenager Emma Lancaster was kidnapped and murdered. Her father, media tycoon Doug Lancaster, swore he'd find the killer no matter how long it took. A year after Emma's death, Joe Allison, an up-and-coming newscaster and a close friend of the Lancaster family, is stopped on a routine DWI. Buried in his glove compartment is Emma's key chain, and when the police search his apartment, they find evidence that directly links Allison to the crime. It looks like an open-and-shut case, except that Allison swears he's been framed. Intrigued by Allison's declaration of innocence, Garrison reluctantly agrees to take the case. The courtroom battle is vicious, the prosecutor wants the death penalty, and the jury seems certain to convict. Garrison must either prove his client innocent or find the real killer. The outcome is so shocking that even Garrison is completely unprepared. This one has all the marks of a best-seller: high-octane action, shattering suspense, tense courtroom drama, steamy sex, and a roller-coaster ride of unexpected surprises. Stock up. Emily Melton From Kirkus Reviews Routine by-the-numbers legal procedural by one of the better craftsmen of the genre. Freedman (Key Witness, 1997, etc.) applies his formula - burned-out legal eagle takes a case that no one else wants - to the luxurious California suburb of Montecito, where bubbly 14-year-old Emma Lancaster is snatched out of her bedroom by a mysterious intruder. Her father, Doug, the somewhat boorish owner of local television stations, and her slightly ditsy society mom, Glenna, are horrified - especially when Emma's rotting corpse appears in a nearby stream. The cops are mystified until the dead girl - s key chain turns up in the backseat of a Porsche belonging to Joe Allison, a womanizing local newscaster who works at one of Doug's TV stations. Only circumstantial evidence ties Allison to the crime, until the girl's friends reveal that Emma was pregnant when murdered and that Allison is the likely father. With everyone in southern California screaming for Allison's head, Luke Garrison, a former crusading Santa Barbara district attorney who lost his career to the guilt he suffered after he got an innocent man executed, reluctantly agrees to defend Allison. Garrison, with the help of Riva Montoya, his spunky girlfriend (and former drug-dealer - s moll), comes to believe that Allison just might have been framed, especially when the ex-D.A. himself begins receiving mysterious death threats. It's no surprise when Garrison rallies and successfully acquits his client. Freedman's contrived plotting, so easily forgiven in his better books, seems trite here, as the villain conveniently unhinges, stalking Garrison with a high-powered rifle, and leaving pistol-packing Riva the chance to save the day. Still, despite a jocular, clichd narrative in which ``news . . . spreads like wildfire,'' and more than one character ``goes ballistic, - Freedman on an average day is usually better than most. (Literary Guild/Mystery Guild selection) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Read more