Buy or borrow this book! Support your local independent bookseller
Find it in a WorldCat library
Compare prices at major online bookstores
|
|
Criminal defense lawyer Richard Parrish, acclaimed author of three legal suspense novels, has written a new thriller about a justice system twisted by privilege and influence that leaves a defenseless woman with only one way out: revenge.
Kate O'Dwyer thinks she is starting a new life by escaping a very bad marriage and moving with three-year-old Jennifer to Phoenix. She gets a teaching job, volunteers at a youth shelter, and falls in love with young, struggling attorney Mike Fallon. She also adopts sixteen-year-old Donna Alvarez, a refugee from poverty and delinquency.
But Kate's serenity is shattered when young Donna's volatile past catches up with them all. When Kate is out one night, both Donna and little Jennifer are visciously molested by Philip Wilkott, the sociopathic son of one of Arizona's most powerful citizens. As if this violation is not unspeakable enough, it quickly becomes apparent to Kate and Mike that Wilkott is no stranger to the corrupt use of legal loopholes that eventually set him free.
Driven to desperation, Kate turns to the oldest form of justice -- retribution -- to stop this savage criminal who has made her worst nightmare come true. But in an unexpected and shocking turn of events, she finds herself on trial for murder. Stacked up against Kate is not only the assembled might of the Tuscon district attorney's office but the full vindictive force of Wilkott's powerful family. In her defense all she has is Mike Fallon -- and the truth.
Abandoned Heart is a tour de force of domestic drama and legal suspense -- a richly imagined novel about a woman who refuses to be a victim.
©1996, ProMotion, inc.