Saving Emma
A Novel
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
A lawyer's race to reveal a wrongful conviction collides with the dark shadow of a murder in his own home in this propulsive and perfectly-plotted thriller from "one of our best crime writers at the top of his game" (William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author).
When Boady Sanden first receives the case of Elijah Matthews, he’s certain there’s not much he can do. Elijah, who believes himself to be a prophet, has been locked up in a psychiatric hospital for the past four years, convicted of brutally murdering the pastor of a megachurch. But as a law professor working for the Innocence Project, Boady agrees to look into Elijah’s file. When he does, he is alarmed to find threads that lead back to the death of his colleague and friend, Ben Pruitt, a man shot to death four years earlier in Boady’s own home.
Ben’s daughter, Emma, has lived with Boady and Boady’s wife Dee ever since that awful night. Now fourteen years old, Emma has been growing distant, and soon makes a fateful choice that takes her far from the safety of her godparents. Desperate to bring her home, and to free an innocent man, Boady must do all he can to investigate Elijah’s case while fighting to save the family he has deeply come to love.
Written with energy, propulsion, and his characteristic pathos and insight, Eskens delivers another pitch-perfect legal thriller that reveals a twisted murder and explores faith, love, family, and redemption along the way.
"Ambitious, absorbing, and deeply satisfying."―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Eskens brilliantly combines legal and personal drama." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Superb . . . another Eskens novel to be savored." ―South Florida Sun-Sentinel
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This utterly absorbing mystery is full of deeply complex characters and unexpected twists. The story revolves around Boady Sanden, an attorney with a non-profit that contests death penalty convictions, who agrees to look into the case of a mentally unstable man named Elijah convicted of murdering a pastor. As Boady tries to vindicate Elijah, he must also confront how the case opens some deep wounds from his own past. Author Allen Eskens—a defence attorney by training—writes about the law knowledgeably and with exciting detail. Saving Emma is a gripping read that explores themes of life, death, and faith.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eskens (Forsaken Country) brilliantly combines legal and personal drama in this stellar standalone mystery. Minnesota law professor and Innocence Project volunteer Boady Sanden has been caring for Emma Pruitt, the daughter of his college friend, Ben, since the public defender was gunned down by police four years ago while facing charges for killing his wife. One afternoon, Ruth Matthews brings her brother Elijah's file to Boady at the Innocence Project: Elijah has been convicted of brutally murdering pastor Jalen Bale, but Ruth's certain he's innocent. She buttresses her claim with a photo, never presented in Elijah's trial, that clearly shows him at a magic show at the exact moment of Bale's murder. Then a bomb drops: Elijah was Ben's last case before he died, and—having recommended that Ben become a public defender—Boady feels responsible for clearing Elijah's name. Meanwhile, Emma's aunt convinces the teen that Boady and his wife are covering up information about the deaths of her parents and leverages that claim for custody. Eskens peppers the thorny, propulsive plot with superior turns of phrase (unreliable memories are compared to "the boards of an aging footbridge, the planks heavy with decay") and fully realized characters. Scott Turow fans will be enthralled.
