Damage Control [Hardcover]

Robert Dugoni (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 14, 2007

Trouble comes in threes, beginning when Dana's brother is murdered apparently during an attempted burglary. As she seeks the truth Dana must cope with a diagnosis of breast cancer & a cheating husband, and as she begins to make progress in her investigation people connected to her brother's death begin to turn up dead themselves.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Well-connected Seattle attorney Dana Hill has everything going for her in this undemanding page-turner from bestseller Dugoni (The Jury Master) until, in the span of a few days, she's diagnosed with breast cancer, she catches her husband in an extramarital affair, and her beloved twin brother, James, is murdered during an apparently botched robbery. An exotic lost earring left at the scene of James's killing leads Dana to suspect there's more to his death than meets the eye, and sure enough, as she begins tracing the earring's obscure origin, people who could supply information are assassinated right and left. Dana's determination to collar her brother's killer draws her into a showdown with a villain who will stop at nothing to eliminate the threat she poses. While most of the supporting characters are one-dimensional servants to the fast-moving plot, a few twists will surprise even seasoned thriller readers. (Feb.)
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Review

Reminiscent of the early John Grisham and should easily find its way onto the bestseller lists LIBRARY JOURNAL All of Dugoni's characters have a fresh and believable edge ... Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 406 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books (February 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446578703
• ISBN-13: 978-0446578707
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #786,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A writer turned lawyer turned writer.
Robert Dugoni was born in Pocatello, Idaho and raised in Burlingame, California. Growing up the middle child in a family of ten siblings, Dugoni jokes that he didn't get much of a chance to talk, so he wrote. By the seventh grade he knew he wanted to be a writer.

Dugoni wrote his way to Stanford University, receiving writing awards along the way, and majored in communications/journalism and creative writing while working as a reporter for the Stanford Daily. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and worked briefly as a reporter in the Metro Office and the San Gabriel Valley Office of the Los Angeles Times.

Dugoni attended the UCLA law school and practiced law for 13 years in San Francisco. His longing to return to writing never wavered, however, and in 1999 he awoke one morning and made the decision to quit law and write novels. On the 4-year anniversary of his wedding day, he drove a u-haul trailer across the Oregon-Washington border and settled in Seattle to pursue his dreams.

For the next three years, Dugoni worked daily in an 8 foot by 8 foot windowless office in Pioneer Square to complete three novels, winning the 1999 and 2000 Pacific Northwest Writer's Conference Literary Contests.

Dugoni's first novel, The Jury Master, followed and became a New York Times bestseller. Deadly Pleasures mystery magazine chose The Jury Master as one of three "Best of the Best" debut novels of 2006 and the Seattle Times likened Dugoni to a young John Grisham, calling The Jury Master, "A riveting tale of murder, skullduggery and treachery at the highest level."

Dugoni's second novel, Damage Control, reached number 8 on several national independent bookseller's lists. Publisher's Weekly and Library Journal called Damage Control "a page turner" with "a fast moving plot and a few twists that will surprise even seasoned thriller readers."

Wrongful Death, Dugoni's second novel featuring Dugoni's popular protagonist, David Sloan, received critical acclaim. Kirkus called it, "An entertaining thriller about a hotshot lawyer with good guys to like, villains to hiss, and windmills to attack.." And Booklist wrote, "Mixing the suspense of a Grisham legal thriller with the political angle of a Baldacci. Dugoni is knocking on the A-list thriller door."

June 2010, Dugoni released his third in the David Sloane series, Bodily Harm, which the Providence Rhode Island Journal wrote branded Dugoni as "The undisputed king of the Legal Thriller."

Dugoni's fourth in the series, Murder One, will be released June 2011 and Publisher's Weekly has called it "the best yet in the series." Others are calling it a cross between Presumed Innocent and Basic Instinct.

In addition to writing novels, Dugoni teaches the craft of writing throughout the United States and has been a keynote speaker at many conferences and for many companies. For more on Dugoni and his novels, visit his website at www.robertdugonni.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Murder in the Northwest, April 22, 2008

By 

Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Damage Control (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an extremely well-written novel that moves along quite rapidly. The chapters are fairly short, so that the reader can put the book down (if he or she findss that possible) after just several pages, and continue reading later. I couldn't do that: I was hooked from the initial murder, and read my way all the way through it until the (expected, by me) ending. The characters well fairly well drawn, and the author creates quite a bit of sympathy for the female protagonist. If you want to spend some hours being captivated by a tremendous thriller, you will do well to pick up this book!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Plots and Subplots Thicken at Every Turn, April 23, 2007

By 

Charlean Souligne (Port St. Lucie, Fl. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Damage Control (Hardcover)

This is a fast-paced convoluted twist of a thriller. We have our main character, lawyer Dana Hill, whose brother James is killed in an apparent blundered robbery attempt. But when she is cleaning out her brother's house, Dana finds a rare, custom-made earring that leads her to suspect there was more going on than just a bungled robbery.

She teams up with the detective in charge of the investigation, Michael Logan. Together they try to track down what really happened, who did what and most importantly, why.

The investigation leads Dana to Hawaii, and into the world of politics and high society in the Washington State area.

There are too many bodies cropping up to lead to the misconception that this was a random act.

The writing is relevant and believable, leading one to keep reading to see where the plot goes next.

Along with the main plot there are subplots, Dana's issues with breast cancer, a failed marriage, her conflicts with her employer and of course the relationship between her and Detective Logan.

The background scenery makes one want to visit Seattle, if nothing more than to see the landscape and experience the majesty of the area revealed in the text.

This is a good book to curl up with on a rainy afternoon and just keep reading until the end.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling Concept that Mildly Disappoints, February 24, 2007

By 

Wantz Upon A Time Reviews (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Damage Control (Hardcover)

They say "bad news comes in threes." Dana Hill is experiencing it firsthand. Her fatal trifecta? Breast cancer, her twin brother's murder, and a cheating dog of a husband. For a woman with a promising career and young family, things can't look much darker. Or can they?

Dana is convinced her brother's murder was more than a burglary gone wrong. Between disturbing clues and a man impersonating a detective, things aren't making sense. As an attorney and grieving sister, Dana is determined to get to the truth--even if she has to put off lifesaving cancer treatment.

In his new thriller, Robert Dugoni invites readers on an emotional journey ripe with the promise of danger. Believable characters and Seattle's lush, if soggy, location anchor the story with a great setting. The plot, however, falls just short of its potential.

Dugoni took a risk in throwing three major life challenges in Dana's direction. When presenting so many issues, an author risks shattering the reader's "suspension of disbelief," the willingness to accept the situation at face value. It's hard to believe that all these things could happen to one person within the space of week. Even though Dugoni wove these situations together in a fairly smooth manner, many readers will find it's too much of a stretch.

The other aspect that detracted from the overall feel of a thriller was that Dugoni pulled some important punches. He could have raised the stakes a great deal higher by having the villain pursue additional, personal targets. I kept expecting the bad guy to "go there" in order to terrify Dana, but I was disappointed.

Overall, this is a decent read. Because of the overreaching arc and missed terror potential, however, I can only give this novel an average rating.