THE BIG EXIT by David Carnoy

I really loved this book.  This is Carnoy's second thriller but the first I've read and I'm hooked.  He is an executive editor at CNET and regularly interviewed on television as a tech expert.  With that background you might think his novels would appeal only to techies but you would be wrong.  This is a complex plot, masterfully told, that pulled me in and held me firmly until the end.  I'm sort of the opposite of a techie but I understood and followed everything.

The characters either just get to you, like hero Richie Forman, or you are fascinated because you can't figure out which side they're on, like for instance his ex-fiance and sudden widow Beth McGregor.  Forman is an ex-con and the reason he served time is the necessary background to the whole story.  It involves a traffic accident in which a woman was killed.  At the time Forman was engaged to Beth but when he went to prison on the basis of Mark McGregor's testimony that Forman was driving, Beth married McGregor.  You can see there are all kinds of emotions involved here, and a mystery.  Just who was actually driving?

Now Forman is out and understandably having a tough time finding a job.  He is a great Frank Sinatra impersonator so he's eking out a living in a night club.  Then he scores a job at an organization that works pro bono for people who have been wrongly convicted of crimes.  He's on a trial basis when McGregor is found beaten to death and Forman is arrested for murder.

That's all I can tell you without giving away too much but I wanted to get you into the story enough that you would want to find out what happens because I don't want you to miss this book.  Sorry for the gushing.  I'm just impressed with this author and his writing style and his characters.

Highly recommended reading
Source:  The Overlook Press through Partners in Crime Tours