7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Long awaited sequel is best of the bunch!, October 3, 2003
This review is from: Blind Eye: A Benjamin Justice Novel (Hardcover)
Now in his mid-40's, HIV+ and single since his boyfriend moved out of the country, the Benjamin Justice we find here seems
significantly subdued from the fiery, brash investigative journalist we met in Wilson's first four books in the series, which started a dozen years earlier. Back then, Justice had managed to short-circuit a promising journalism career by fabricating some interviews for a story which won a Pulitzer Prize, and was caught. Writing assignments had been few and far between since then. In the past five years, Benjamin had not worked, living simply and frugally, but recently got an advance to write his biography, which gives him some apprehensions about reliving part of his past he'd rather not revisit. His only current link to his former profession is his best friend Alexandra Templeton, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, who is secretly engaged to columnist Joe Soto, a longtime friend as well.
In making notes on his biography, Justice faces his long-buried
feelings about having been molested at ages 12-13 by a parish priest back in Buffalo NY. To bring closure to that episode in his life, he seeks out information about the priest, and learns that he actually had been transferred to the Los Angeles archdiocese a few years after his encounters, and died in a reported hiking accident about ten years ago. Justice presses the local diocese officials for more information, whether there had been further reports of molestations or if he had indeed been "rehabilitated," and is surprised when the "sorry, that's confidential" response comes from the office of the Bishop himself. Justice smells a coverup, and talks his friend Joe Soto into doing a column about an "anonymous" reader who reported abuse by the priest, and the strange reaction
received from the diocese.
The mystery quickly grows from there, as Joe Soto is killed in a suspicious hit-and-run accident, with some evidence suggesting that the driver may have been an infamous South American hired assassin, who usually works for drug cartels. At the same time, reaction to Soto's column triggers letters from readers with additional reports of mollestations by the priest, creating more questions than answers, especially when one such reader mysteriously dies in a fall from the hospital where she worked. When the diocese offers him a million dollars to end his investigations, Justice becomes more
assured that the bishop (which had been a close friend of the priest in question) may be involved, and perhaps even the presiding Cardinal, who is under strong consideration to be the next pope.
Absolute nail-biting suspense, with passages of outright terror, make this, in my opinion, the best of the series. Realistic, street-saavy characters and scenarios, with an eye for detail that makes him one of the best.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I love this series., August 2, 2004
This review is from: Blind Eye: A Benjamin Justice Novel (Hardcover)
I was absolutely thrilled when I found out that John Morgan Wilson had written a fifth Benjamin Justice novel, because I was heartbroken when the series ended (or so I thought). I wasn't sure how Wilson could top The Limits of Justice, but he did, managing to take on vaunting ambition, the Catholic Church, institutionalized pedophilia, corrupt media, and spiritual alienation, all in one fell swoop.
Ben is, as ever, a fantastic character...a man of both nobility and carnal appetite, of deeply felt compassion and reckless bravado. He's a lost soul, struggling not to succumb to fear and darkness and despair. I adore him and his struggle, which always, inevitably, costs him something in the end. This story is no different. I actually gasped out loud at one point in the book, stricken to my very heart by the price Ben pays for contending with evil.
I would highly, highly recommend this book.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Really over the top, March 29, 2005
This latest book by John Morgan Wilson manages to be extremely timely, relevant and although, written with his usual skill, quite unbelievable. Wilson's protagonist, Benjamin Justice, is in the process of writing his memoirs and while delving into his past and searching for information about the priest who sexually abused him as a child, he starts upon a series of catastrophes and mayhem.
First, his best friend's fiancé is assassinated; though in the beginning his death is considered an accident. There is a hired assassin and skullduggery and corruption in the highest echelons of the Catholic Church. The story proceeds pell-mell to a quite unbelievable conclusion.
As always, Wilson imbues Justice with depth and humanity and compassion and his friends and neighbors are delightful and entertaining. But unfortunately, this foray by Justice is just a little too much over the top. Hopefully, his next adventure will return to some semblance of reality
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