Customer Reviews

Desperate Measures (Barbara Holloway Novels)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Oregon defense attorney Barbara Holloway finds herself at odds with her mentor father, Frank, when the murder of a mean-spirited religious zealot and family despot lands each with a client. Frank's client, the high school principal and an old friend, has a married lover and Gus Marchand, the murdered man, had threatened to expose her. But Barbara's client, young Alex Feldman, despite scant evidence, is the prime suspect.

Born with a hideous facial deformity, he was denounced by Marchand, his neighbor, as the devil's spawn and a sexual predator. Alex's adolescent history of violent outbursts doesn't help. The son of shallow, beautiful people whose idea of sympathy was to hide him in his room, Alex is rescued after a teenage suicide attempt by Dr. Graham Minick, who takes him to live in rural Oregon. Now, 14 years later, (still with Minick) Alex is the successful author/artist of a pseudonymous satirical cartoon strip, a career which would be threatened if his identity was revealed.

Wilhelm frames a thoughtful, moderately suspenseful story of detection and legal maneuvering around a core of repression in the name of religion, bigotry, and instinctual aversion. Born with, basically, half a face, Alex inspires visceral hostility in everyone who sets eyes on him, a reaction Barbara, along with her co-workers and father, must overcome. With time and familiarity, the man emerges from behind the deformity. A sensitive "Beauty and the Beast" story, exploring the roots of violence in alienation and one man's lucky escape from a blighted life, Wilhelm's novel strikes a resonant chord. A credible plot, a smart, engaging protagonist and well-rounded secondary characters in this sixth Holloway novel add up to another success for the award-winning Wilhelm, author of the science fiction classic, "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang" and "The Good Children."

is crafted by Kate Wilhelm in the 6th legal thriller in this series.

Alex Feldman, victim of an unfortunate birth, still manages to live a rich and full life with the help of his doctor-mentor, Graham Minick. There is no question in the reader's mind that Alex did not murder his neighbor, Gus Marchand, a man who hides his bigotry and small-mindedness behind the cloak of his religion. Because of Alex's strange appearance and history, however, the law enforcement agency and the townspeople of Opal Creek, Oregon persecute and prosecute him for the crime.

Barbara Holloway and her father Frank find themselves in an adversarial position on the crime. Barbara's secret client is Alex, and Frank is trying to protect an old friend, who is subsequently murdered in the second of two mysteries, from being accused of the crime.

The events and conflict leading up to the courtroom confrontation are merely a canvas for the excellent and crisp writing that Wilhelm uses to portray the courtroom battle. Before it is over, Kate and Frank have joined forces, and the ending is much more satisfactory than a not guilty verdict would have been.

Wilhelm commands and holds your interest, without gratuitous sex or violence in her novels. Her main character, Barbara Holloway, is a gutsy, intelligent, and articulate attorney. Wilhelm never fails to surround her with an equally interesting cast.

Desperate Measures is an excellent read that keeps you guessing and successfully weaves a double mystery plot. Enjoy!

Oregon Criminal defense attorney, Barbara Holloway, always likes the challenge of a tough case, but this time she's definitely in for the fight of her life. It seems Gus Marchand, an overbearing and tyrannical religious zealot was found dead in his kitchen, slammed in the head with a hammer. All suspicion falls on Alex Feldman, a horribly disfigured recluse and neighbor of the victim whom Marchand had tormented for years, calling him the devil freak or devil spawn. The evidence, what little there is, is all circumstantial. But because of bigotry and fear in this rural community, Alex, an easy target, is arrested and charged with the murder. Now it's up to Barbara, her father and mentor, Frank, and the rest of her defense team to find the truth and set Alex free..... Kate Wilhelm has written a tight, compelling legal thriller full of twists, turns and surprises that will keep readers turning pages to the end. Her crisp, tense writing is suspenseful with vivid and riveting scenes and her characters are well drawn "real" people. Ms Wilhelm's indepth knowledge of the workings of the law and legal procedures adds real credibility to the story and her courtroom scenes really come alive on the page. Add to that clever secondary plot lines to flesh out and enhance the story, a stunning climax and very satisifying ending that ties up all the loose ends, and you have the makings of a thriller that shouldn't be miss. Desperate Measures is a winner!

What I liked is the meticulous attention to detail characteristic of Barbara Holloway's investigation. Some may say the book is too long with too little action, but it illustrates how an attorney must function. Pursuing each detail, many of which lead nowhere. The story isn't perfect. While some discrepancies of evidence are discussed in great detail, there were quite a few revealed in the finale that had not been previously mentioned. But an obvious puzzle is not even mentioned let alone resolved until the end, even though it is a dead giveaway. And the conclusion is a little too neat.

I don't agree with comments that the book carries an anti-Christian bias or a political message.

As a mystery writer with my debut novel in its initial release, I admire Kate Wilhelm's clever reworking of The Beauty and the Beast. In DESPERATE MEASURES, Barbara Holloway finds herself at first in opposition to her father, Frank. Gus Marchand is murdered, and there are two suspects. Frank's client dies mysteriously, yet Frank does not want the blame for the Marchand homicide to be placed on his client. Barbara's client, for awhile, remains nameless. She is highly protective of the man who turns out to be Alex Feldman, a horribly disfigured man who had been previously accused of stalking the murdered man's teenaged daughter. The plot grows complicated, and Alex is obviously carrying secrets. Shelley, an associate of Barbara's, sees beyond Alex's disfigurement and into his heart. Yet the murder must still be solved. Great book. One of Wilhelm's best.

Simply put, this is an absolutely outstanding novel. It was my first exposure to Kate Wilhelm and I was quite impressed. The story is interesting and retained my interest to the end, so much so that I have already ordered other Barbara Holloway novels. Wilhelm's describes her characters well, and her writing never intrudes. We immediately take a dislike to the bigoted primary victim. Our sympathy for the accused, a badly disfigured, but highly talented editorial artist, builds as the story develops. The legal machinations are intriguing and the plot unfolds in a believable way. The resolution of the mystery may surprise many readers, and if you become fully immersed in the story, the novel's post denouement conclusion may bring empathetic tears of happiness.

One Note: The number of important characters is probably slightly more than one might expect, e.g., in a cozy mystery, and the reader may need to make a few brief notes to keep all of them clearly in mind if completing the novel will extend over more than just a few days.

Barbara Holloway takes on yet another difficult, unusual case. But this time her father is on the same case. Different suspect. Can they sort out their relationship enough to remain father and daughter? Or will the lawyer in them both make life unbearable as each tries to make their case for their client?

Fantastic character development and descriptions.

I concur with the reviewer who noted Wilhelm's one-demensional treatment of Christian characters, as opposed to the depth with which she treats characters who either espouse no religion or are not identified as belonging to a particular religious sect. It smacks of intellectual laziness to take the easy route and ridicule those whose deeply held religious beliefs placed them at odds with (in this case) the education establishment. While it's true that nobody is perfect, and it would be just as unfortunate if Wilhelm had attributed perfection to these characters, the story would have been far better had the Marchand parents and other Christian characters been painted with more than one color.

Those considering the unabridged audio version of this book might want to make another selection. I'm not sure whether Marguerite Gavin always narrates like this, or whether she was just having a bad day, but her work is alternately jarring, grating, and outright bad when it comes to her (mis)pronounciation of well-known Pacific Northwest geography. One such example is her pronounciation of "Willamette," which will drive anyone familiar with the Northwest, the Willamette River, or Willamette University up the proverbial wall.

In this mystery,Kate Wilhelm uses a disfigured man as the main suspect for a murder and as the story unfolds she makes us aware of how much importance society places on looks.I thought this was an unusual premise for a murder mystery.As always her books are suspenseful,surprising and this story also has a happy ending.I highly recommend this author especially if you love the Pacific Northwest.

Loved it, but I had 2 choices for the who done it and it turned out they both played a key part in the suspence. Made you want to read on and find out how the other trials turned out, plus Shelley's futute plans. Love these court room dramas. Do all lawyers solve the crimes for their wrongly accused clients, or only in the mystery authors' minds?