'A most assured début, cleverly plotted with an unguessable ending'

'A compelling début...Juicy characterisation and a strong affinity for moral ambiguity. It marks the blooding of a major new talent with shades of George Higgins and Scott Turow'

An impressive and constantly surprising début...The main plot twist knocks you sideways and there's more to come. A marvellous, unexpected novel.

'A mixture of poignant, literary Americana and dialogue driven suspense, this impressive debut novel delivers a well-judged final shock and left me looking forward to more from Mr Landay'

'A gripping and thrilling read which has you completely hooked from its rather violent and shocking opening and he has created a police chief as memorable as James Lee Burke's Dave Robineaux'

'A first-time novelist has to bring something new to the table - something like the trumps that Landay throws down in his high stakes police procedural'

'A crackling debut that answer the question: who will be the next Grisham...Stylish writing, wickedly convoluted plotting and insider's view of inner city jurisprudence. You'll barely finish this many tentacled tale before you start clamouring for Landay's next'

'Excruciatingly suspenseful...Landay gives us an original detective creation and he also delivers an action-packed plot with a skilfully detonated final surprise'

'An inventive gripping debut...A rich, harrowing and delightful read'

The writing is lean and mean, and the climax will blow you away

Compelling