In the tony resort community of East Hampton on Long
Island, Tom Dunleavy is a lawyer who's barely making it.
His clients certainly aren't the rich and famous, but are
those who work for them -- the hired help. Then Tom's good
friend, Dante Halleyville, a local basketball star set to
go big-time pro, is arrested for a brutal triple homicide
that happened behind one of the mansions, a residence where
Tom and his buddies regularly shoot hoops. Tom knows Dante
is innocent, so when Dante begs Tom to represent him in a
trial that's already getting a lot of public attention and
promises to garner even more, Tom can't refuse.
Knowing he doesn't have the chops needed for a case this
big, Tom looks up old girl-friend Kate Costello, who's now
a hot-shot attorney in Manhattan. Even though they parted
on bad terms, after she hears Tom's persistent pleas for
assistance, reviews the elements of the case and meets
Dante, Kate finally agrees to help. She makes it abundantly
clear that their past personal relationship will not be
rekindled and everything will be strictly business between
them.
Kate and Tom start an intense investigation into the case
to find out who's really responsible for the killings, for
they have complete faith in Dante's innocence. The
magnitude of what they discover is staggering -- police
corruption, cover-ups, illicit drug dealings, race
prejudice (Dante's black), revenge. Tom then takes it upon
himself to set up events he hopes will reveal the ruthless
killer's identity. As his actions turn old friends into
enemies, there's no one he can trust, except Kate. This
case has evolved into more than either of them ever
anticipated. The progression and culmination of the trial,
as well as its ramifications, is mind-blowing. And the
totally shocking final resolution of this story is nothing
short of phenomenal.
I found that I had to pay close attention to the headings
of each chapter because they tell you the name of the
person recounting their viewpoint of the story as it
progresses. The mind-set shifts from one to another
character's account of the happenings, and you'll find
their point of view may be a bit skewered. With short,
precise chapters, I found myself turning pages so fast, I
could not put it down. This has to be one of the best
suspense novels Patterson has ever written. His
collaboration with de Jonge has produced a sure-fire winner
this time. My level of recommendation is extremely high --
fans of thrilling suspense should not miss reading BEACH
ROAD.
Montauk lawyer Tom Dunleavy's client list is woefully small-
-occasional real estate closings barely keep him in paper
clips. When he is hired to defend a local man accused in a
triple murder that has the East Hampton world in an uproar,
he knows that he has found the case of his lifetime.
The crime turns the glittering playground of the super-rich
into a blazing inferno. Dunleavy's client is a local hero,
but Dunleavy knows the case rests atop a volcano of money,
deception, and forbidden desires. His client is the perfect
fall guy--unless he can find the key that unlocks the
secret rooms of the gilt-shrouded set.
When Dunleavy is joined by his former flame, the savvy and
well-connected attorney Kate Costello, he believes he has a
chance. But payback is a bitch--especially from the rich.
The violent retaliations of billionaires threatened by his
investigation exceed anything Dunleavy has ever seen. With
the entire nation's eyes on him in a new Trial of the
Century, Dunleavy orchestrates a series of revelations that
lead to a stunning outcome--only to find afterward that the
truth is wilder than anything he ever imagined.