Krishna
This is a new author for me. It is a thriller with the tension kept throughout.
In Prolog, a hitherto nameless man has a pistol hidden and joins the protest against an abortion clinic. He has a much more efficient method of protest, he tells himself. His target specifically was Dr Richard Bryant, ‘the child killer’. He is foiled by the pregnant woman who the killer knew as a patient.
Meanwhile Brody and Larrigan are meeting clandestinely in Boston. Brody tells Larrigan that the current President knows that a Supreme Court judge will resign after the current elections and the President is keen that he, Larrigan, is his favourite candidate. (Even though he has to announce a field of candidates from all races and states etc as a matter of fair play). Brody had come to see if Larrigan, a leading lawyer and a District Attorney, is interested.
Pat Brody goes back impressed but privately Larrigan remembers some ‘skeletons’ when he was a drunk (a long time, that) and was in South East Asia. He is confident, though, that these will never make an appearance and were well buried.
Carol Ann Chang is really Janet Church. She is not pregnant and was in the police force. Het undercover operation landed a large drug lord in jail and so her life was in danger. So she quit, moved far away and started life with a new name in a private security company. With the saving of the life of the life of the abortion doctor, her new name and a photo was splashed across major newspapers, letting all who were searching for her clues as to where she is now and what her new assumed name is!
Larrigan calls Eddie Moran and asks him to ‘take care of the skeleton’ in the cupboard and he travels all the way to Florida. He tracks his target, Bunny, down and manages to ‘accidentally meet her’ in a bar. They go to her house and have glorious sex as in the old days. She still has a great body.
Moran looks at the pictures of the bygone age after she leaves and decides to leave it in place. However, when the news leaks that he is a leading contender for the Supreme Court judge role, she guesses that meeting Moran was not an accident and sends a letter implying that she may get 500 thousand dollars if the photos with her are ‘leaked to the press’. So Moran is sent back to Florida to ensure that she does not blab.
He finds that she quit her work. But he tracks her down through the debit card payments she made and finds her in a motel. When she proves rebellious, he kills her and searches the hotel room thoroughly, but is unable to find the pictures.
The strands start coming together as Bunny sends the pictures (posted them a few days earlier) to Janet Church’s mother, called Simone. They knew each other. Meanwhile Carol notes a man clumsily waiting in front of his house. She lures him to a trail and kills him silently. But she knows that her past will not let her be safe anymore.
Simone writes to the person who she believes is her daughter. Meanwhile Janet decides to leave the house ‘as if she is going on vacation’ to fool the drug lord but really elope to her mother who lives in a secluded spot. Simone, realizing that time is not on her side, reaches out to her publisher who puts a journalist Mac to write her story. What a story it is! She grew up in Vietnam as Li An and when she lost her house, she had to live in a brothel until an American soldier Thomas decides to reserve her for himself. It is none other than Thomas Larrigan, who is now trying to be the Judge in the Supreme Court. Eddie Moron used to work with him and they were all in Vietnam! Eddie’s girlfriend was an American girl called Bunny.
Meanwhile Moran figures out that Simone is the one who has the pictures now from Bunny. Meanwhile, Blackhole, a detective knows that Larrigan is meeting a shady guy like Moran in secret and wonders why.
Simone has given all the pictures to Mac, who has taken it all with him. The story moves and moves fast! She is recording her story to tell an agent whom she trusts. He is called Luc.
The story of Li Ann or Simone is horrific. Thomas forces himself on Bunny in presence of both Li Ann and Moran and he goes completely crazy when told to stop, first by Bunny and then by Li Ann. He hits Li Ann for the first time and then it becomes a habit. Meanwhile Li Ann gets pregnant and gives birth to a baby girl. Thomas is disappointed that it is a girl.
When the war does not go according to his plan, he gets crazier and crazier and then he once hits Li Ann unconscious with the butt of the rifle. And leaves her for dead. But she does not die. She wakes up to find all of them – Thomas, Moran, Bunny – gone.
She goes back to the brothel owner who was like a mother to her. It is that owner that sent Li Ann exclusively to Thomas.
She learns later that her baby was given away as an orphan by Thomas while she was unconscious and was adopted by an unknown French couple
Now she becomes a prostitute for a second time and again is exclusively sold later to a French army man. She moves to France with him. And after doing some porn movies – nude in those days was a sensation – then she got a break as a supporting actress in Hollywood and moved to USA.
Ironically, Moran reaches Simone’s villa first and sets up a watching spot. He sees both Luc and Kelly, his daughter, arrive and then leave with a shopping bag. (He does not know that the tapes are in there) and decides that he would kill Li Ann when her caretaker leaves the house – alone or with Simone, does not matter. Ironically Janet Church aka May Ann is also travelling towards the same house at this time!
Her main purpose is to take another identity and hide out at the secluded spot of Simone, who, after seeing her picture on the newspaper, realizes that she could be her May and writes her a letter inviting her over. Janet has no special affection for her supposed birth mother but decides to use this invitation to hide out.
Meanwhile Eddie Moran steals the photo in Simone’s bedroom and also the tape. When he goes to a motel in the night, two people (unknown to him) overpower him and put tape over his eyes – he has not seen them. They then ask him to “spill everything” and he does. They take the photos and his camera too and disappear.
He releases himself as per their instructions, goes back and shoots Jill. Simone is shocked and he points his gun next to her chest.
When the guy who handles the lawn does not hear them, he goes to investigate and finds both of them dead. The police suspect a murder suicide first.
We learn that the two guys who waylaid Mac – one was Brody himself. He decides that exposing Larrigan was not feasible as it was “too late” and so he also tries to suppress evidence. He realizes that Mac is the ghostwriter and he wants to close all loose threads – Mac and Moran.
And possibly the daughter Jenny. Then the President is safe and Larrigan may get what he does not deserve, but so what?
However, there is a last assignment that Mr Black (or Brody) has for Moran is diabolical. And solves the Larrigan problem.
And Jessie manages to wrangle from Mr Black a solution to her problem too.
All in all, a tightly knit plot, told well. The story just does not let go.
Pretty good yarn, even if a few things feel contrived. Enjoyed reading it.
8/10
— Krishna