Customer Reviews

Fugitive

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Remember those popular boxes of Cracker Jack, the sweet popcorn-like snack? We bought them because we liked the taste, of course, but the big come-on was the prize inside. We were never quite sure what we were going to get but it was going to be an extra something, a surprise, a prize. That pretty much encapsulates the way I feel about Philip Margolin's books - I'm never quite know what I'm going to get but I'm pretty sure I'll like it, and so I keep reading.

If you remember Amanda Jaffe, the young whiz-bang attorney from Wild Justice and Proof Positive, you'll welcome her back as she faces even greater challenges and higher hurdles in Fugitive. The Fugitive of the title is Charlie Marsh a small time con man who manages to parlay a prison incident into big time payola - he convinced a fellow prisoner to release the warden he had taken hostage and further claimed that during that moment he was visited by the Divine and even given a new name, Gabriel Sun.

What comes next, why just what any thinking con man would come up with - a book deal, an appearance on Oprah, and an ardent following. Of course, it didn't hurt Charlie one bit that he was also GQ good looking.

While riding the tide of public acclaim Charlie becomes involved with a politician's wife whose husband is murdered and, of course, Charlie's the No. 1 suspect. He takes off for the African country of Batanga where he lives off his royalties for a comfortable dozen years and woos and wins Batanga's dictator's favorite wife. Not one to take this lightly the dictator goes after Charlie who promptly exits for the U.S.

Back on American soil he still has to account for the death of the politician, and Amanda is called upon to champion him. That's more of a chore than she ever dreamed as Batanga's secret police also want Charlie.

Leave it to Margolin to cook up a page-turner like this, rich with danger, bad guys, and excitement.

- Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

In 1997, con man Charlie Marsh is a few weeks from being released from prison when his best friend Crazy Eddie holds three visiting female librarians and the penitentiary warden as hostages. He saves a guard's life getting accidentally stabbed in the process and that of the other hostages. Eddie blows himself up. Charlie is a hero and hooks up with agent Mickey Keys as they claim "The Light Within You" guided him. However, on tour in Oregon, Charlie has a tryst with local host Sally Pope, wife of a Congressman. When the spouse Arnold Pope Jr. attacks Charlie, all hell breaks out and Arnold is killed. Charlie flees for Africa while Sally stands trial for abetting a murder; attorney Frank Jaffe gets her acquitted after some shenanigans from her father-in-law Arnold, Sr.

However after a dozen years in Batanga under the ruthless rule of Jean Claude Baptiste, Charlie needs to escape as the cruel dictator knows he had an affair with his favorite wife the tortured and now dead Bernadette. Charlie arranges for World News to fund his return to the States where death row is safer than Batanga. Frank's daughter Amanda heads the defense while Baptiste sends killer Nelson Tuazama to kill Charlie but not before he retrieves diamonds the expatriate snuck out of the country.

This thriller is clearly over the top especially the last third current day trial, but no one will care as the reader is hooked from the opening sequence in Batanga, through what happened a dozen years ago, and finally the present day legal thriller. The story line is fast-paced from the onset and the cast solid especially the title character and his lawyer. With a terrific full circle spin, fans will appreciate Phillip Margolin's exhilarating thriller.

Harriet Klausner

I go all the way back with Phillip Margolin and he has yet to disappoint me.

In this, his latest Amanda Jaffe novel, he creates a masterful whodunit

that remains unresolved, until the very interesting ending.

Congressman Arnold Pope, Jr is shot during an altercation at a posh Oregon Country Club. Two of those at the shooting are put on trial. One flees to an African country with no extradition treaty with the United States, the other is acquitted. The one who fled is Charlie Marsh, a celebrity author who has been sleeping with the wife of the Congressman who was shot. The unfaithful wife was the co-defendant.

Twelve years later, Charlie who could never resist the blandishments of the opposite sex, has made the near fatal mistake of bedding the favorite wife of the country's dictator. In a harrowing escape he returns to face trial on the murder charge and that is when things really get interesting.

That is as far as I will take you on this story line. Buy the book and let Phillip Margolin weave his special magic. He is very good at it.

I read a lot of books and this one is a winner. Real page turner with great ending.

What a great writer Phillip Margolin is!

His latest book "Fugitive" is perfectly crafted and full of surprises. It's fast-paced as well as detailed and accurate, as becomes an experienced previous criminal defense attorney with excellent knowledge of both the criminal mind and the law after having handled 30 murder cases.

Petty thief and con man Charlie Marsh becomes a national hero when he rescues the warden during a prison riot. Not long after, Charlie is wanted again, suspected for having killed a United States Congressman. After twelve years in the African country of Batanga, ruled by sadistic dictator Jean Claude Baptiste, Charlie flees for home to face his murder charge.

Criminal lawyer Amanda Jaffe is getting the chance of her career trying to keep Charlie off death row as well as protect him from Baptiste's deadly secret police.

The story keeps the reader on her/his toes, as well as awake until the wee hours. One may have ones suspicions, in fact many, as the pieces of this brilliantly created puzzle are slowly put together. But it is not until the very last pages that "who did it" is finally being revealed. An elegant solution/twist in true Margolin style.

Philip Margolin has worked as a full time writer since 1996 and is today known as one of the world's foremost masters in his field. Well deserved.

Lean back and enjoy!

Margolin's Fugitive is a tale of justice delayed, but eventually served. Charlie Marsh is a complex guy with multiple things to hate and love about him at the same time. After 12 years in Africa hiding out from a murder charge, he elects to face the music, rather than face a certain death in his adopted home. In addition to his previous criminal activities that had landed him in jail earlier in his life, he has also perpetuated a scam operation based on his one famous selfish and selfless act in prison.

Now Charlie is facing a murder charge (the one crime he hasn't committed) with a lawyer whose dad represented Charlie's alleged co-conspirator 12 years earlier and got her acquitted. The pacing is fast and tight with multiple twists and turns. Ironically, only his lawyer emerges from this complex story with the ability to keep her head held high and even she needs to bend the rules a bit to ensure that justice is served.

The surprise at the very end was unexpected, but does conform to the movie formula of identifying the real killer by who receives the least attention throughout the story.

One of the reasons I like reading Phillip Margolin is that his crime novels take place here in Portland, Oregon. It's nice being able to exactly picture what is happening where. In Fugitive, there's a bit less Portland and a bit more exotic locales, but it didn't stop me from enjoying the book. Margolin brings back Amanda Jaffe and gives her a chance to reach the same level of recognition that her father did in an earlier episode...

In Fugitive, the story revolves around one Charlie Marsh, a con man turned hero turned guru turned accused murder. He was in prison and was able to prevent a warden from being killed during a hostage standoff. He used this episode to start espousing a New Age philosophy which turned into big bucks (and lots of women) for Marsh. This was going well until a confrontation with the high-powered spouse of a woman he was bedding. The spouse was shot, and both her and Marsh were accused of the murder. She was able to get off with the help of Amanda Jaffe's father, also an attorney. Marsh fled the country and ended up in Africa in the dictatorship of Batanga. But due to his inability to leave certain women alone, his life is about to end when the dictator finds out he's been seeing one of his wives. Marsh arranges to be smuggled out of the country back to the US to stand trial, but only if Jaffe defends him. In addition, Jaffe has to accept a reporter as part of the "team" so that Marsh's story can become part of a book deal. And since the person paying the legal bills is the head of a major publishing company, there *will* be a book deal here. Unfortunately, various parts of Marsh's past follow him to the trial, and Jaffe has her hands full trying to keep both of them alive, as well as trying to mount a legal defense.

Overall, Fugitive is enjoyable. The local setting *does* play a part in my enjoyment of the book, as certain scenes come to life very well. I also like Jaffe's character, so that helped too. There did seem to be a bit of "larger than life"-ness with the escape from Batanga and the elements of who was pulling the strings behind the scenes. But, if you suspend a bit of belief and just go with it, Fugitive does well.

Charlie Marsh is a fugitive, all around. He is wanted for a murder of a USA congressman when he flees to Africa. Yet, years later, he returns back to America, this time fleeing from the African president. As the book continues, we find out that even more people are after him. Beloved criminal lawyer, Amanda Jaffe, has her work cut out for her as she tries to prove Marsh's innocence in the congressman's murder, as well as trying to keep him alive from a number of different past associates.

I thought this was another page turner by Margolin, and it is always nice to have a familiar (and likable) character, as Amanda Jaffe. The story keeps moving and never slows. The twists keep coming. I also liked how Frank Jaffe (Amanda's father) also had a larger part of the story and we learn more about him.

If you like crime novels, especially legal ones, you will like this book and I highly recommend it.

Overall a great read. Kept me engaged and I didn't know where each chapter would lead. However, the conspirator of the crime was predictable, but the one who actually pulled the trigger was a big surprise. It was literally the last chapter when the trigger man was revealed. I've read three Margolin books and each one has been terrific. Looking forward to reading more.

Margolin is an excellent writer--I have read all of his books. This one is among the best and most intricately plotted. The unexpected ending was outstanding without being "hokey". A very enjoyable read and I recommend it to anyone who likes suspense fiction.