Fugitive

I read a lot of books and this one is a winner. Real page turner with great ending.

What a great writer Phillip Margolin is! His latest book "Fugitive" is perfectly crafted and full of surprises. It's fast-paced as well as detailed and accurate, as becomes an experienced previous criminal defense attorney with excellent knowledge of both the criminal mind and the law after having handled 30 murder cases. Petty thief and con man Charlie Marsh becomes a national hero when he rescues the warden during a prison riot. Not long after, Charlie is wanted again, suspected for having killed a United States Congressman. After twelve years in the African country of Batanga, ruled by sadistic dictator Jean Claude Baptiste, Charlie flees for home to face his murder charge. Criminal lawyer Amanda Jaffe is getting the chance of her career trying to keep Charlie off death row as well as protect him from Baptiste's deadly secret police. The story keeps the reader on her/his toes, as well as awake until the wee hours. One may have ones suspicions, in fact many, as the pieces of this brilliantly created puzzle are slowly put together. But it is not until the very last pages that "who did it" is finally being revealed. An elegant solution/twist in true Margolin style. Philip Margolin has worked as a full time writer since 1996 and is today known as one of the world's foremost masters in his field. Well deserved. Lean back and enjoy!

Charlie Marsh is a fugitive, all around. He is wanted for a murder of a USA congressman when he flees to Africa. Yet, years later, he returns back to America, this time fleeing from the African president. As the book continues, we find out that even more people are after him. Beloved criminal lawyer, Amanda Jaffe, has her work cut out for her as she tries to prove Marsh's innocence in the congressman's murder, as well as trying to keep him alive from a number of different past associates. I thought this was another page turner by Margolin, and it is always nice to have a familiar (and likable) character, as Amanda Jaffe. The story keeps moving and never slows. The twists keep coming. I also liked how Frank Jaffe (Amanda's father) also had a larger part of the story and we learn more about him. If you like crime novels, especially legal ones, you will like this book and I highly recommend it.

I go all the way back with Phillip Margolin and he has yet to disappoint me. In this, his latest Amanda Jaffe novel, he creates a masterful whodunit that remains unresolved, until the very interesting ending. Congressman Arnold Pope, Jr is shot during an altercation at a posh Oregon Country Club. Two of those at the shooting are put on trial. One flees to an African country with no extradition treaty with the United States, the other is acquitted. The one who fled is Charlie Marsh, a celebrity author who has been sleeping with the wife of the Congressman who was shot. The unfaithful wife was the co-defendant. Twelve years later, Charlie who could never resist the blandishments of the opposite sex, has made the near fatal mistake of bedding the favorite wife of the country's dictator. In a harrowing escape he returns to face trial on the murder charge and that is when things really get interesting. That is as far as I will take you on this story line. Buy the book and let Phillip Margolin weave his special magic. He is very good at it.

Reviewed by Narayan Radhakrishnan for RebeccasReads (5/09) Last year with "Executive Privilege," Phillip Margolin presented a chilling scenario in which the US President proves to be a serial killer. Though I enjoyed the said work, for me Phillip Margolin will always be associated with the Amanda Jaffe novels. And so, it's with great thrill and relief that I began reading "Fugitive." Attorney Jaffe, the heroine of "Wild Justice", and "Ties That Bind," returns in stupendous form with "Fugitive." Charlie Marsh is a media hero. Accused and sentenced to jail for a crime, he attained hero status when he rescued the prison warden from the clutches of an insane prisoner. Charlie sure capitalizes on his newfound status, and before you know it, he is a New Age Spiritual Guru, which is an avatar the ex-conman carries on with glee. But fate turns enemy and once again Charlie has to flee from the law. That was in 1997 and Amanda Jaffe and her father Frank were at the helm of the defense. Now the action shifts to 2009. Charlie is now a close confidant of a despotic African ruler, President Jean Claude Baptiste of Batanga. He is even more a confidant to one of the President's wives. Things turn sour when the President hears about Charlie's misdemeanors and soon Charlie is on the run back to America. And now Jaffe has her client back. Jaffe has a big case on her hands and she has to protect her client from the gallows, and to protect him from Baptiste and certain others who are hell-bent on seeing Charlie dead. Margolin sticks close to his winning formula with this one, and packs a knockout punch with "Fugitive." Recommended, highly, highly recommended.