Forcing Amaryllis
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
From “a wonderful new voice” comes a haunting thriller that “combines grit, guts, tension, compassion, and wry humor to make a gripping story” (Gillian Roberts, author of the Amanda Pepper Mysteries).
When it comes to picking jurors, Calla Gentry is one of the best. She can discern the right people to serve, steering trials towards acquittals or convictions before they even begin. It’s both an art and a science, knowing people better than they know themselves. And Calla plays the system like a master.
Her newest case seems open and shut: get the wealthy son of a rancher acquitted of rape and murder. But as Calla investigates, she discovers evidence that plunges her back into a horrific event from the past—a trauma from which her sister has never recovered. Now Calla fears she must help defend the very man who inflicted that horror. Or perhaps she finally has the chance to take revenge for her sister . . . and put a monster behind bars for good.
Brilliantly capturing the heat and culture of the southwest, this dizzying thriller “offers a surprisingly tender tale of sisterly vengeance” (Publishers Weekly).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Despite a clunky and obvious plot, Ure's first novel offers a surprisingly tender tale of sisterly vengeance. Trial consultant Calla Gentry must help ensure that Raymond Cates, the son of a wealthy Tucson, Ariz., rancher, is acquitted of the brutal rape and murder of a young woman he met at a bar. Unfortunately, Calla suspects that not only is Cates guilty but he may also be the perpetrator of a never-reported assault on Calla's sister, Amy (aka Amaryllis), seven years earlier. While Amy lies in a coma brought on by a suicide attempt following the near-fatal attack, Calla remains haunted by the specter of the unknown assailant who may or may not be her new client. Rather than refusing the case, she decides to seize the opportunity to lay her demons to rest. With the help of a few old friends and a romantically promising private detective, Calla turns sleuth, hoping to discover and bring to justice the man responsible for destroying her sister's life. While some readers may find the climax in which Calla walks into peril a tad unlikely, the exciting action should carry most through to the tidy conclusion.