Customer Reviews

The Betrayed

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

In Washington, D.C., Sydney Chapin learns that her elder sister, a journalist, has been murdered. There are marks of torture indicating that the killer was after information.

Sydney had borrowed her sister's laptop computer. Now, Sydney is able to research her sister's most recent imput. She learns that her sister was doing a story about a mental institution for children and the abuses that occurred there prior to the 1960's.

In a well plotted story with appealing characters, the reader's interest is maintained as the story develops and questions must be answered.

What was Sydney's sister doing that caused her death?
Could the police fight through the political implications to find a killer among the wealthy and influential in Washington, D.C.?
What were the risks that Sydney would be taking in attempting to find her sister's killer, before the killer finds her?

Detective Sergeant Darius Train and Detective Jack Cassain are assigned to the case. Sydney and Cassain eventually work together and find themselves attracted to each other in the hunt for the killer in this entertaining story.

The readers should enjoy this novel and feel sympathetic toward Sydney and Cassain. As we follow the story of these two characters, it seems as though they become old friends and the reader will want to know how their story comes to a conclusion.

Having read Hosp's first book Dark Harbor and moderately enjoyed it, I figured that The Betrayed would be a decent summer's read. What a mistake!

The characters are laughable and are supposed to represent the so-called high and mighty in Washington. It makes me wonder if Hosp did any sort of research of our nation's capital other than Dupont Circle.

The dialogue was stilted. People just don't talk the way that Hosp writes. A teacher once told me that if you want to find out how people talk---listen to them and take notes.

I guess that Hosp should just write this book off as the sophomore jinx at work. The book buyer should just write this book off. Save your money.

Estranged from her wealthy family, Sydney Chapin vowed never to return home. When her sister is brutally murdered, Sydney comes back for the sake of her niece. Struggling to understand what happened to her sister, Sydney begins to uncover startling secrets that might have led to her sister's murder. With a killer on her trail, Sydney turns to Detective Jack Cassian for help.

Detectives Jack Cassian and Darius Train are under pressure from their superiors to solve this murder involving one of the city's wealthiest families. When they bring in a young junkie implicated in the crime, they are encouraged to charge him and not look further.

To complicate the case, Cassian and Sydney are both dealing with ghosts from the past as well as their attraction to one another.

Some of the character's findings are disturbing, yet thought provoking. The author has posed some questions regarding the morality of eugenics and the desire of man to take on the role of God.

Although the story lacks some depth, the premise is intriguing and well worth the time spent reading. The characters are interesting, especially the repartee between the two detectives. Their verbal sparring often made me smile.

Armchair Interviews says: The story is fast-paced and will keep your attention

When a reporter is savagely murdered in her Washington, DC, townhouse, the rooms torn apart, it is assumed that the crime is drug-related, another crack addict stealing what he needs for his habit. Only a drug-addled mind could be responsible for the amount of damage done to Elizabeth Creay's body, multiple stabbings, burns on hands and feet, a truly horrific crime scene. When the assigned detectives, Sergeant Darius Train and Jack Cassian, arrive to interview the family, they find themselves seated in the mansion of a Washington powerbroker, the Chapin's, such wealth and privilege belonging to the highest echelon of the Washington social scene. Creay's mother, the imposing Lydia Chapin, wants the case resolved quickly and efficiently, the family name kept clear of scandal. Elizabeth's daughter, Amanda, who discovered her mother's body, is sedated, still in shock, staying with her grandmother and aunt, Sydney Chapin, a law student who has returned home because of the crisis.

With ready evidence at the scene, Train and Cassian make a quick arrest, a local dealer who supplies a suspicious tale about a stranger he met on the day of the murder; when the evidence against the dealer falls apart, the detectives are forced to dig deeper into Elizabeth's recent activities and the Chapin family history. At the same time, Sydney has made it her personal mission to learn what her sister was researching, in case that information is vital to the motive for murder. Between the police investigation and Sydney's amateur sleuthing, a terrible past is revealed, secrets that someone has determined must be kept quiet at any cost, including the life of anyone who dares to interfere. What appears just another random crime is far more sinister, a massive attempt to hide a nightmare that has the potential to topple the mighty and expose the powerful, unmasking the dark side of human nature that sets itself above society.

After the initial bloodbath, the novel stalls a bit, but picks up when the more contentious issues kick in, a complicated assortment of personal vendettas, the inhumane treatment of others, the usual DC cauldron of suspicion, paranoia and the obfuscations of wealth and power. With a cast of characters that includes the drug-infested DC neighborhoods, the best efforts of two seasoned detectives, a sister determined to understand what she has found and the arrogant powerbrokers who hold themselves above the law, The Betrayed tackles a provocative theme, questioning exactly what decisions are made behind closed doors and who determines what is best for the future of society. It falls to the innocent and the dedicated to unravel the heinous crime that opens the novel, only one layer of an unimaginable betrayal. Luan Gaines/2006.

If you want to read a string of platitudes, stereotypes, and wincingly-predictable characters and situations, this is your novel. It's been awhile since I've read anything this bad. I kept waiting for something or someone interesting or surprising to appear, but gave up midstream.

After reading Innocence and loving that, I got the audio-book of Hosp's "The Betrayed." While most novels of this genre have begun to bore me, I did enjoy The Betrayed, but it fell short of Innocence. In Betrayed, Hosp creates characters you like and care about (and ones you don't like, too). The story is well paced, moving along well. Yet there were times when investigative conversations went on and on, giving me more background than I needed or wanted. They were also clues that this topic was not a dead-end, but rather would be critical in the mystery. Also, I found myself doing the normal suspending of belief to enjoy parts of this novel. I found myself saying things like, "I can't believe they are going to let Sydney be alone after two murder attempts on her!" and "Why doesn't she just ask the woman to borrow her cell phone?" And it might make sense for a villain to kill to cover up and investigation, but there's a point where the investigation cannot be stopped, and killing will make matters worse. That doesn't stop the villain here. On the positive side, Hosp is a very good writer of crisp prose, and his characters are good ones. This mystery/thriller is better than the vast majority of ones out there. It's a fun read.

THE BETRAYED is David Hosp's second novel, and it looks like he's suffering from a bit of a sophomore jinx. I enjoyed his debut, DARK HARBOR, but I can't recommend this book.

The major problem with this thriller is the dry prose. It doesn't have much style or personality to it. All of the characters in THE BETRAYED are stereotypes or cardboard cutouts. Much of the dialogue is stilted and consists of characters summarizing the plotline for the reader. The plot is pretty predictable and plods along for the first 200 pages or so, without much suspense or tension. If you've read a lot of thrillers, you're not going to find much about this book that is either creative or original. In the end, I was more bored than thrilled with THE BETRAYED.

I think Hosp could write a very decent legal thriller, given his background as a lawyer for a large Boston firm. I hope he goes in that direction, instead of writing more subpar political thrillers like this.

Washington DC Homicide Detective Sergeant Darius Train and Detective Jack Cassian lead the investigation into the murder of thirty-six years old Washington Post reporter Elizabeth Creay. The victim had her throat slashed, but apparently the culprit carelessly left behind a cigarette lighter with a fingerprint on it. The match in the files is with drug dealer Jerome Washington.

The politicians, the brass and the media are happy with who is the prime suspect and want the sleuths to concentrate on finding more evidence on Washington. However, the two veteran cops think this seems too easy so they widen their search by looking at other possible suspects including some people who have pushed to limit the inquiry to Washington. Complicating the case is the arrival of Creay's sister Sydney Chapin who needs to know the truth and if officialdom fails to pursue it, she will. As the detectives and the amateur sleuth investigate, the case takes an odd spin into eugenics and especially secret illegal experiments at the Virginia Juvenile Institute for the Mentally Defective, followed by more homicides.

THE BETRAYED starts off as an exhilarating police procedural enhanced by an alluring amateur sleuth subplot. The spin into eugenics spotlights a social issue, but doesn't blend smoothly into the storyline although it is very interesting. Still the lead detectives are a delightful pairing of opposites struggling to do the right thing in an atmosphere in which everyone else except for the interfering sibling wants to hang Washington and cease any other inquiry.

Harriet Klausner

I couldn't put this book down. This is an excellent murder/mystery/thriller, more than just one body. There was action on every page, and plenty of twists and turns. The bantering and teasing between the two detectives assigned to solve this case added some humor to the story. There were plenty of surprises, especially at the end. If you are tempted to "read ahead" don't do it. I thought I had it figured out as to "whodunnit", but I was wrong. "Betrayed" was the perfect title for this very excellent book. Put your feet up and get comfortable, you won't want to put this book down.
I hope that Hosp keeps on writing. Move over Grisham, Patterson, Baldacci and the like, make room for David Hosp.

People too often use the word "suck" to describe something they dislike. To me, this shows a lack of expertise in utilizing much better modern day English language descriptors. I hound individuals to come up with more colorful examples, especially my teenage kids who love to insert "suck" in every descriptive passage.

But today I'm going to risk ridicule and use the term to outline my feelings about David Hosp's book, The Betrayed. Yes, it sucked. In fact, "suck" is the most appropriate transitive verb I can attach to this worthless paper-bound contraption. Not only is the plot completely transparent and mundane, but the characters are cardboard cutouts of movie stars (think Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in the "Lethal Weapon" series and you'll be right on the mark) and the author's prose is laughable (more on that in a moment).

The plot: A woman from a financially affluent family is found murdered in her home. Two detectives are called in to solve the case, Darius Train (i.e., Danny Glover) and Jack Cassian (i.e., Mel Gibson toned down a few notches). The dead woman's sister, Sydney Chapin, becomes an investigative force, trying to track down the last few hours of her sister's life, only to become entangled with high-powered politicians, old family history, a deadly private eye, and an emotional attachment to Detective Cassian. And that's about all there is. If you've read any murder mysteries or watched any movie thrillers involving government higher-ups, you already know the ending to this lame novel.

Suckiness of plot aside, sometimes an author can pull novels along simply by utilizing flowing narrative verse or lively storytelling. This is called "prose" (something Mr. Hosp needs much help with). Myself having battled with this problem, I can easily relate to items that should never have made it into this bulky book (419 pages).

Mr. Hosp's use of passive voice is consistently irritating and makes the entire story fall flat as a result (example, `As he walked...' instead of `He walked...' etc.). The other HUGE prose issue is the author's use of "eyes" to describe every emotional state his characters feel. Page 298: `Train drew his eyebrows up noncommittally (Ed. -- Whatever the hell that means!), and Venable's gaze settled on him like a heavy burden. He held the stare, returning its intensity without aggression as they sat in silence for a long moment, neither one of them backing down....' This languorous style of writing is evident on almost every page, making the story read much longer than it needed to.

So this is definitely one to bypass, or perhaps use as toilet paper -- the sucking sound of the flush will match this book perfectly.

(Side note: I wonder how in the world this novel ever got published! I've read better stories by 8th and 9th graders. I also question the current customer reviews here at Amazon.com. Could some -- or most -- of these reviews be from friends of Mr. Hosp or indirectly affiliated with the book or its author somehow?)