The Silent Ones
-
-
5.0 • 2 Ratings
-
-
- £4.99
Publisher Description
'All you have to do is find out why Harry is prepared to blame an innocent man. That's the thread. Follow it. You'll reach the Silent Ones. This is your way - our way - of making a difference.'
With this challenge from Father Edmund Littlemore, Anselm returns to the Old Bailey. The man in the dock is Littlemore himself. He is charged with grave offences against Harry Brandwell who, it seems, is both a victim and a liar. But he's the only link to these others who've chosen silence over their right to justice.
Unknown to Anselm, Robert Sambourne, a journalist, has been investigating Littlemore's background. And he's a man with a troubled past, always on the move, from Boston in the USA to Freetown in Sierra Leone, finally running from a London police station rather than explain himself. More disturbingly, Robert uncovers details of a carefully planned scheme to entice Anselm back into court, exploiting his reputation for honesty to secure a shock acquittal.
Meanwhile Harry Brandwell - abused, abandoned and betrayed - has decided to take matters into his own hands.
The Silent Ones examines the one crime that Church, State and Family thought they could hide in their own best interests; Anselm's return is a compelling novel about the anatomy of silence, the courage of victims and the redemptive power of public justice.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British author Brodrick's outstanding sixth Father Anselm thriller (after The Discourtesy of Death) plunges the monk and former lawyer into a horrific child molestation case. Given the Catholic Church's notorious history of child sexual abuse by priests, Anselm would just as soon not get involved. But he's drawn in unawares at the special request of a nameless visitor to Larkwood Priory. By the time Anselm realizes what kind of monster he may be dealing with, he's already met the victim, 11-year-old Harry Brandwell, and it's too late to drop the matter. In particular, Anselm must determine why Harry is accusing an innocent man of the crime. Meanwhile, local newspaper reporter Robert Sambourne receives a cryptic letter that dangles the carrot of a London-based church scandal before the ambitious newsman's eyes. Secrets and lies by omission play out amid expertly executed plot lines and deeply thought-provoking situations. Anselm must dig his wig and gown out of mothballs and return to the Old Bailey, so he can defend a man who refuses to speak. Sophisticated prose elevates this timely, painful tale.
