Thursday, March 4, 2010

Frame Up

FRAME UP, John F. Dobbyn, Oceanview, $25.95, 278 pages, ISBN: 9871933515632, reviewed by Barry Hunter.

Michael Knight is joining his friend John McKedrick for dinner. As Michael is approaching the car in the parking garage, John waves and starts the car only for it to explode and put Michael in the hospital. McKedrick is an associate of a notorious mob lawyer while Michael is a partner in a prestigious criminal defense firm.

A witness comes forward and links the son of the mafia don as the driving force behind the killing. Knight and his partner, Lex Devlin, come together to represent the son and find the true killer.

Devlin and Knight are called to a meeting by Matt Ryan, a priest, to meet with Dominic Santangelo, the mafia don. Devlin, Ryan and Santangelo are childhood friends who have taken different paths and haven’t been in contact in years. Dominic hires Devlin and Knight to represent the son because he knows he is not guilty.

The son surrenders and is killed while in Police custody. From this point on Knight starts digging into the background of his fried and finds ties to a stolen Vermeer painting, the Russian mafia, international finance, and a conniving aggressive mob boss seeking to advance. The action moves from Boston to London to Amsterdam as Knight seeks clues to prove his case.

Dobbyn has written a fast moving interesting novel that shows the attorney going beyond his normal abilities in order to clear the person accused of killing his best friend. This is a splendid legal thriller that shows there is more to a lawyer's case than what happens in the courtroom.

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