Above the Law

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Luke Garrison, a former D.A. who has abandoned the problematic morality of convincing juries to send criminals to the gas chamber, first appeared in The Disappearance, in which his old mentor wanted Luke to take on a sensational murder case that had the entire country abuzz. In Above the Law, J.F. Freedman continues to apply a successful formula: reluctant hero takes on a case that nobody, but nobody, wants. This time out, Nora Ray, the D.A. of Muir County, the least populated and poorest county in California--and a friend from Luke's law school days--asks Luke to help her investigate a recent police killing, which she believes may be a monumental government coverup.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has swaggered, guns blazing, into the forests near the White Horse reservation, intent on raiding the fortress-like retreat of Reynaldo Juarez, the notoriously reclusive leader of one of the biggest drug-dealing gangs in the country. Janet Reno herself has determined that he must be taken alive, so when the raid is blown, four DEA agents are killed, and Juarez himself dies after being taken into custody, questions and recriminations are par for the course. Nora and Luke must negotiate local hostility and pitched interdepartmental acrimony as they slowly unravel the tangled stories that surround the fiasco. But as he casts his investigative gaze from the poverty of the nearby reservation to the depths of the L.A. ghettos, Luke may be dangerously blind to the nearness of immediate treachery and deceit.

FROM OUR EDITORS

A fast-paced ride through the politics and hidden agendas of a remote northern California town, Above the Law is the latest novel from New York Times bestselling author J. F. Freedman. The ironic title works especially well here, covering the bases for each plot thread as it's unraveled -- from personal deceptions to those with vast ramifications for all involved. This is a finely-plotted tale of police corruption that unfolds in an expert fashion, revealing that, despite the power of money and lies, no one is above the law.

Returning to the foray is former defense attorney Luke Garrison (The Disappearance), who has become something of a media celebrity after events following a hostage crisis in which Garrison was forced to kill two criminals. He receives an invitation from his old friend Nora Ray, a D.A. in isolated Muir County, to become a special investigator in the murder of Reynaldo Juarez, an international drug lord on the FBI's ten most wanted list. Despite the attorney general's instructions to take him alive, Juarez was killed during a vicious and bungled DEA raid on Juarez's compound in Muir County.

As the investigation heats up, so does Garrison's relationship with Nora. Garrison realizes right off the bat that something isn't quite right with this case, so he plunges into a heaping pile of lies and deceptions surrounding the DEA agents who bucked the attorney general's orders for reasons unknown. Garrison also suspects that Nora may be hiding some kind of a connection linking the crime to her own somewhat mysterious past. The populace of Muir County is an equally puzzling lot, including Sheriff Miller and his deputy, Wayne Bearpaw, two officers with their own secrets who have more than enough on their hands with the local impoverished Native American population. Regardless of his personal feelings, Garrison continues his hunt for the truth no matter what he may uncover or who else may be incriminated.

Freedman skillfully weaves together the clandestine situations and the corrupt politics of the past and the present. History plays a large part in this novel, and scenes play out with an incredible energy that lends itself to the flow of the storyline. The author refuses to allow for any easy, black-and-white answers at any time. All parties involved are constantly discovering more about themselves and exactly what the cost might be for each conviction and stance taken. While our protagonists have plenty of their own moral ambiguities, they still strive to do what's right, despite the overwhelming amount of resistance they meet.

Above the Law is deceptively simplistic in its own right, working on several levels at once, while the main mystery-plot element often takes a back seat to the equally involving ones of a more personal nature. The gray areas of conflicting opinions lend a believability to the novel that isn't usually found in most crime thrillers on the market. It's the author's world view, and his understanding of conflicting human nature, that makes this novel one readers can trust to bring them to a gripping, and wholly satisfying, conclusion.

--Tom Piccirilli

FROM THE PUBLISHER

New York Times bestselling author J. F. Freedman delivers his best novel since Against the Wind

Nora Ray, a DA in northern California, has just been called upon to investigate a recent police killing, which she believes may be a government cover-up, and she calls in Special Prosecutor and old friend Luke Garrison to help her find out. The case centers around a high-profile raid conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in which one of the biggest drug-dealing gangs in the country is uncovered and its notoriously reclusive leader, Reyaldo Juarez, is shot and killed-despite direct orders from the U.S. Attorney General to take him alive at any cost and detain him as a possible witness in other drug cases. Because the DEA has stonewalled its own investigation into the Juarez killing, Nora suspects that the killer might actually be a member of its investigative task force and she wants Garrison to help her prosecute him. What Nora and Garrison couldn't have known, they soon uncover in a snakepit of intrigue, crime in high places, and lies-ending in a shocking trial and the deceit of some of Garrison's closest friends.

"Freedman exhibits the kind of raw storytelling power that keeps readers turning pages deep into the night."-Entertainment Weekly

FROM THE CRITICS

New York Post

The kind of writing that keeps pages turning.

New York Post

The kind of writing that keeps pages turning.

Publishers Weekly

Former DA Luke Garrison is back in another tricky and exciting Freedman thriller (after The Disappearance). Now a defense attorney in Santa Barbara, he gets a surprise call from an old law school friend, Nora Ray. As the DA in remote Muir County in Northern California, Ray wants him to investigate the murder of drug overlord Reynaldo Juarez, which occurred during a violent and botched DEA raid on the Juarez compound in Ray's district. Garrison finds it hard to believe that anyone cares about who murdered the drug lord. But Ray thinks the DEA is conspiring to cover up something else, especially as they had orders to capture Juarez so he could be detained as a witness in other investigations. Reluctantly, Garrison agrees to be hired as her special prosecutor. The key players in the case are a twisted and intriguing lot: mysterious, needy, possibly dangerous Ray, attracted to the attractive prosecutor; elderly local sheriff Miller, exiled to Muir County long ago by the FBI and cut out of the DEA raid; Miller's deputy, Wayne Bearpaw, the liaison to local Native Americans who are trying desperately to haul themselves out of poverty; and federal agent Sterling Jerome, arrogant leader of the drug bust. As the case unfolds, Garrison uncovers the workings of Juarez's West Coast drug enterprise, the movement of large sums of money, startling passions and connections that go deep (including a long-ago link between Jerome and Juarez). Finally, as past and present converge, it becomes clear that nearly everyone has been hiding a secret. Though in need of some editorial tightening, Freedman's complexly plotted mystery builds to a surprising and satisfying climax. (Feb.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

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