Mike Daley doesn't go to confession much since he left the priesthood twenty years ago and became a lawyer, but that doesn't stop his old friend Father Ramon Aguirre from trying to get him there. "It wouldn't kill you to go to church once in a while," he says. But it does kill someone.
For several months, a ruinous sexual harassment suit has been building against the San Francisco Catholic archdiocese, and when the plaintiff's lawyer is found dead, an apparent suicide, an almost audible sigh of relief is heard in certain quarters. But that is before the police find evidence of murder. Even worse - the evidence points to Aguirre.
Mike and his ex-wife law partner, Rosie, jump in to take his case, but what started out as difficult quickly becomes impossible, as forensics, witnesses, secrets in Aguirre's past all incriminate their client. Soon Mike's and Rosie's wits are the only things keeping him from a life sentence or worse, and that simply may not be enough, unless they can conjure up a miracle of their own.
Lawyer and ex-priest Mike Daley is back again in Siegel's fifth legal thriller (Final Verdict, etc.), this time going to bat for Father Ramon Aguirre, his longtime friend and beloved local priest in San Francisco's Mission District. Aguirre is accused of murdering his parishioner Maria Concepcion, a fiercely competitive lawyer who became something of a celebrity after instigating and successfully settling several abuse cases against the Roman Catholic Church. Her latest suit alleging sexual impropriety by a prominent priest has come to an abrupt halt with her death, and the prosecutor is claiming that Ramon, whose fingerprints are found on the murder weapon and her naked body, is guilty. Daley believes in Ramon's innocence and agrees to help him pro bono despite the archdiocese's suspicious insistence that they be his sole representation in the case. Incriminating evidence against Ramon continues to appear, including the possibility that the priest has fathered Maria's unborn child. As Daley moves from the drug and prostitution-ridden underbelly of San Francisco, where auto parts and offers of legal aid are exchanged for cooperation, to the tension-filled courtroom and the hushed offices of the church, it gradually becomes apparent that Ramon isn't the only character with a lot at stake in this intelligent, timely thriller.
Another year, another entry in the always-engaging procedural series starring the legal team of Michael Daley and Rosie Fernandez, whose partnership as lawyers, friends, and even lovers is stronger than the marriage they once had together. The ex-priest and his ex-wife face their most challenging case yet: defending longtime friend Father Ramon Aguirre in the murder of parishioner Maria Concepcion. Maria had been a lawyer, too, and was about to begin jury selection in a civil case against the San Francisco archdiocese regarding a now-dead priest's illicit sexual relationships with female parishioners. Maria was known as a competent lawyer, and although one would think she was conflicted about suing the archdiocese--she was, after all, a faithful churchgoer--Maria faulted the people at the helm rather than the faith. Father Aguirre, for his part, is considered a rogue, antiestablishment priest who never supported the archdiocese's arcane, patriarchal ways. Why, then, would they think he killed Maria? Mike and Rosie employ their stellar discovery and courtroom talents to get to the bottom of the twisted situation involving the movers and shakers of the San Francisco Catholic community. Once again, Mike and Rosie prove to be a duo that's fun to root for.
Mary Frances Wilkens
Sheldon Siegel has been in private practice in San Francisco for twenty years.
length: (cm)23.6 width:(cm)16.5
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从纯粹的娱乐性角度来看,这本书无疑是一次酣畅淋漓的体验。节奏控制得极好,起承转合之间衔接到位,让人根本无法放下书本。我几乎是连夜读完的,中间没有任何可以让我停下来去处理日常琐事的念头。它有着那种老派惊悚小说的精髓,但又加入了现代社会对信任危机、信息茧房等议题的敏锐洞察。紧张感的营造并非通过突如其来的惊吓,而是通过持续不断的情感压力和信息不对称来实现的。你看着主角一步步走向看似不可避免的困境,却又无能为力,这种代入感带来的煎熬感,正是这类作品的魅力所在。更妙的是,作者非常克制地处理了动作场面,当动作戏真正来临时,那种爆发力是经过充分铺垫的,显得真实且具有冲击力,而不是为了动作场面而动作。这本书在保持高悬念的同时,还保持了极高的文学性和思想深度,这种平衡做得非常到位,让它区别于一般的商业快餐读物。
评分这本书的叙事结构简直是教科书级别的范本,作者对时间线的把控精准得令人咋舌。那种层层递进、抽丝剥茧的感觉,让你仿佛置身于一个精心设计的迷宫之中,每当你以为自己触及真相的边缘时,又被一个巧妙的转折带入新的岔路口。我尤其欣赏作者在处理多条支线叙事时的功力,它们看似独立,实则暗流涌动,最终汇集成一股势不可挡的洪流,将所有的悬念推向高潮。角色的内心挣扎被描绘得极其细腻真实,那种在道德边缘徘徊、在责任与欲望之间撕扯的痛苦,即便隔着书页,也能强烈地感受到。它不像那些为了制造冲突而强行安排的情节,这里的每一处波折都像是角色自身性格决定的必然结果,逻辑链条无懈可击。读到后面,你会发现那些看似无关紧要的细节,其实都是作者埋下的伏笔,等到豁然开朗的那一刻,那种被智力上充分尊重的阅读快感,是很多作品无法给予的。它不仅仅是一个故事,更像是一场高智商的智力博弈,对读者的观察力和逻辑推理能力提出了不低的要求,绝对值得细细品味,反复回味其中的精妙布局。
评分这是一本需要耐心和体力的书,但绝对物超所值。它的体量不小,内容密度极高,信息量犹如海啸般袭来,要求读者时刻保持专注。然而,正是这种高密度的信息流,构建了一个无比坚实可信的世界观。作者似乎对历史、法律和心理学都有深入的研究,并将这些专业知识巧妙地融入叙事,没有一丝说教的痕迹,完全是通过事件的展现来让读者自行领悟。我尤其喜欢它对“记忆”和“自我认知”的反思。书中反复出现的主题是如何构建一个连贯的自我叙事,以及当外部证据与内部感知发生冲突时,人会如何扭曲现实来保护核心的自我结构。这种对认知偏差的探讨,非常贴合当代心理学的前沿研究。对于喜爱深度挖掘人性、偏爱复杂叙事、并且不畏惧被挑战思维模式的读者来说,这本书无疑是一次里程碑式的阅读体验,它不只是提供了一个故事,而是提供了一套看待复杂人性的新工具。
评分我不得不说,作者在语言风格上的驾驭能力达到了一个令人惊叹的高度。全篇的基调是那种沉郁而又内敛的,没有过多的华丽辞藻堆砌,但每一个用词都像经过千锤百炼的雕刻品,精准而有力。那种冷峻的笔触,尤其是在描绘特定场景时,营造出一种令人窒息的氛围感。你甚至能从文字中嗅到那种老旧建筑散发出的潮湿气味,感受到午夜时分,街灯下光影拉长的那种孤寂。这种氛围的塑造,并非仅仅依赖于环境描写,更多的是通过人物对话的节奏和选择来实现的。角色的对话往往简短、充满张力,言外之意远比字面意思丰富,充满了德州或某个特定地域特有的那种含蓄而又坚韧的生命力。这本书最吸引我的地方在于,它成功地捕捉并放大了人性中那种难以言喻的灰色地带——不是简单的黑白对立,而是对“为什么会这样”的深刻探究。读完合上书本时,脑海中久久回荡的不是情节的跌宕起伏,而是那些富有哲理性的句子,它们像冰冷的石头一样,沉甸甸地压在心上,引发长久的思索。
评分这本书的社会观察维度令人印象深刻。它巧妙地将个人命运的悲剧性,嵌入到了一个更大的社会结构和历史背景之下。通过对几个核心家庭的细致描摹,作者不动声色地揭示了某些群体在特定制度或文化下所承受的无形枷锁。我特别欣赏作者处理阶级和身份差异的方式,它不是居高临下的批判,而是以一种近乎冷静的记录者的口吻,展现了不同阶层在面对相似困境时,资源、信息和选择权上的巨大鸿沟。这种对“结构性困境”的刻画,使得故事的悲剧性超越了单纯的个人恩怨,上升到了对社会病灶的探讨。读到关于社区互动和邻里关系的部分,我甚至联想到了我自己的成长环境,那些被忽视的角落和心照不宣的潜规则,被作者用一种近乎残忍的清晰度展现了出来。它迫使你跳出舒适区,去思考我们所处环境的复杂性和潜在的共谋性,读完后,对身边世界的看法都会有微妙的改变。
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