The Disappearance

Grisham stand aside! This is a legal thriller and murder mystery/police procedural rolled into one taut, tidy and well written novel. J.F. Freedman has crafted another finely wrought mystery and courtroom drama that never falters for a minute. While this was my first book by the author since reading AGAINST THE WIND five or six years ago, all of the reasons I liked that book came back to me with this one. Freedman's main character is Luke Garrison, the former up & coming DA for Santa Barbara County, CA. But after sending an innocent man to San Quentin's gas chamber (and later finding out the man was wrongly executed) he leaves his home town for a subsistence level law practice in northern California where he brilliantly defends the kinds of creeps he used to prosecute. An old friend, a retired judge from a historic California family approaches him and asks him to take what appears to be an open and shut kidnapping murder case. Luke at first says no and then relents and investigates his future client.The man facing another death sentence is a popular and handsome local news anchor who is on his way up in the TV news business. Unfortunately, the heinous nature of the crime and the fact that the dead 14 year old is the daughter of his boss, a wealthy and powerful media magnate makes the case against Joe Allison all the more damning.Luke investigates and begins to prepare his case. Along the way, his opponents vilify him, try to buy him off and even kill him. But just like the Energizer bunny, he just keeps going and going. While Joe Allison is less than an exemplary defendant and his moral character leaves a great deal to be desired, Luke presses on in an uphill battle to defend a man he believes is innocent while at the same time, finding the real killer.Mr. Freedman uses some very obvious plot gimmicks, but he uses them very, very effectively and his timing of their use is exemplary. Although some might think the gimmickry and the ultimate outcome formulaic, I thought the entire package was well balanced and neatly wrapped. The suspense level is kept high and the jeopardy faced by the defendant and his lawyer becomes increasingly more heavy. And as I said earlier in this review, all of the pieces of "Against the Wind" that made that book so enjoyable are here as well.This is a superior book in this genre and while Grisham's stories continue to run out of steam and turn flat, J.F. Freedman's are fresh and original and well worth the reader's time. Having read the two titles mentioned here, I now intend to go out and buy "House of Smoke," "Key Witness" and "Above the Law," which also reprises Luke Garrison in a sequel to The Disappearance.This book has all of the best of the best in this genre. You won't be disappointed when you finish the last page and I am glad that Mr. Freedman has chosen to keep the character alive in another installment.

Having been a fan of Mr. Freedman's since AGAINST THE WIND, this book, THE DISAPPEARANCE is easily his best. The author has learned how to keep us guessing and bring in a taut well-written thriller that is chock full of surprises and intense moments!Luke Garrison left Santa Barbara after a person he prosecuted, who was later to be found innocent, died by the State. Living in Northernmost California, he is living a secluded lifestyle...until an old friend comes up to see him. Seems a prominent family's daughter had been kidnapped and murdered over a year ago and the cops just made an arrest. The community has him convicted already and would Luke like to come back to his old city and defend the alleged??The story has a bunch of misery and family secrets throughout and Freedman releases details slowly and surely. Once you think you know what's going on...he twists something and you are off on another chase!Freedman has turned in his best book to date that is tight and easy to follow. The turns in the plot, the characters and the courtroom scenes come alive. A brilliant book! Now I'm going to read ABOVE THE LAW!

You'll need free time until you're finished, because you won't want to put it down!This is a great read, a courtroom drama and murder mystery that keeps you guessing until the final scenes unfold.The backbone of the book is the wonderfully drawn characters, especially Luke and Riva. Luke is the one-time prosecutor defending the man everyone thinks is guilty. His motivations are complex and finely drawn by an author with a gift for emotional details, the kind that make a character stand up off the page and come alive.The roller-coaster ride plot takes you behind the thin veneer of a rich Santa Barbara family, into the dark corners and locked closets of their lives...the places they want no one to see. Their beautiful, innocent 14-year old daughter has been murdered. But how innocent was she?Freedman earns high marks as a mystery maestro, a true craftsman of the genre. If you like the well-drawn characters of Richard North Patterson and the courtroom pyrotechnics of early John Grisham, you've gotta read The Disappearance!

This was my first legal thriller by J.F. Freedman and it was great. I couldn't stop reading it. I even missed my subway stop because I was so absorbed in the book. Definitely worth picking up. I can't wait to read another one of his books.

The disappearance is a thrilling book that anyone who loves mysteries should read. I have read and I own all of John Grisham's books and I must admit that I thought that no one was better than John Grisham. This book is full of secrets, a lot of bone chilling secrets. You don't find out about them til you are at the end of the book. One would think that you will never know who the real killer is but when you find out you will be absolutely shocked and you will shake your head in disbelief. If you plan to read this book you better have a lot of coffee so you be able to stay up all night. You will absolutely love this book if you love to read mysteries.