The Mongol Reply [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Benjamin M. Schutz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2005

An Edgar and Shamus Award-winning Author

Serena Tully is in trouble. Her husband, an ex-football player with an explosive temper, has accused her of cheating on him, refused to let her see her children, and locked her out with only the clothes on her back. To regain custody she's going to need some allies, and Dr. Morgan Reece, a specialist in evaluating child-parent relationships, is about to be drawn into a case unlike anything he's seen before.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Serena Tully's troubled marriage has gone over the dam. Her husband, Tom, is a volatile pro-football coach and former player with a hair-trigger temper (he was responsible for a death on the field and has no regrets). Tom's attorney, Albert Garfield, brings the same take-no-prisoners attitude to divorce proceedings. When the papers are served on an unprepared Serena, she finds herself without access to any assets, her home, or her children. The judge appoints Dr. Morgan Reece to assess the long-term parenting options, and Reece counsels Serena to replace her overmatched attorney with semiretired Lou Carlson, who quickly surmises that Tom has another source of income besides coaching but has no clue to what lengths the slash-and-burn Garfield will go to protect his client. Meanwhile, Reece finds himself questioning his life, his work, and his future, all in doubt after the death of his daughter and his own subsequent divorce. Schutz, winner of both the Shamus and Edgar awards, is the creator of the razor-sharp Leo Haggerty private-eye series from the late 1980s and early 1990s. His return to fiction is a stunning triumph, weaving his real profession as a forensic psychologist with a suspense master's sense of impending disaster. Do not miss this book; it's one of the best suspense novels of the year. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

"Do not miss this book; it's one of the best suspense novels of the year."
-- starred, Booklist (Booklist )

". . . a psychological thriller that roils the emotions from shocking start to shattering end."
-- starred, Publishers Weekly (Publisher's Weekly )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 490 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (February 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786272686
• ISBN-13: 978-0786272686
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,113,679 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A welcome return from Schutz, October 21, 2004

By 

David Montgomery "Book Critic" (davidjmontgomery.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mongol Reply (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

After nearly a decade absent from the publishing world, forensic psychologist Benjamin M. Schutz has made a welcome return with a powerful, emotionally charged work that will reintroduce his name to the minds of eager readers.

The Mongol Reply centers on a nasty custody dispute between a disturbed young woman and her allegedly violent husband, a former football star. In order to keep custody of her children, she must demonstrate her fitness to Dr. Morgan Reece, a child psychology specialist assigned to her case by the court.

Dr. Reece is an intriguing character, as are all of Schutz's creations. He is a man with a troubled and painful past that he must wade through while trying to help the poor children trapped between their warring parents.

The Mongol Reply is a fascinating exploration of just how bad a bad custody battle can be. At times it is almost painful to read, as Schutz shows how the system can devastate the lives of the meek and innocent.

Combining the elements of both a legal thriller and a psychological one, The Mongol Reply is an enthralling and challenging book that will please fans old and new.

Reviewed by David Montgomery, Chicago Sun-Times

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Return of a Master, November 5, 2004

By 

Andrew Lebby (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mongol Reply (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

In the late 1980's and early 1990's Ben Schutz wrote some of the finest examples of noir private eye fiction around. Then his voice went silent for a decade. His welcome return in this harrowing exploration of a vicious child custody battle finds Schutz far beyond where he left off. No hard-boiled shamus this time but a complex, academic, mild-mannered forensic psychologist up against some of the nastiest people to walk these mean suburban streets.

Characters are fully formed; no one, hero or villain, is spared a personal set of demons. The plot exposes the underbelly of the divorce process, from the barely legal, brutally elegant moves of the attorneys to the strained objectivity of the custody evaluator desperate to act in the best interests of the children.

Starting with a level of emotional intensity that I wrongly believed couldn't be sustained much less increased, the action builds to a fury of an ending so unexpected yet preordained that it resounds like the final crashing notes of a symphony.

It's a joy to have Schutz back.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning and brilliant triumph! Hold onto your seat., November 2, 2004

By 

Bart Evans (Bozeman, MT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mongol Reply (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

In The Mongol Reply, Ben Schutz is at the peak of his very considerable talent as a writer of gut wrenching and consummately well written fiction. The author of the outstanding Leo Haggerty series (do not miss them!) shifts gears and presents an unlikely new hero, Dr. Morgan Reece, a forensic psychologist working in child custody evaluation. Schutz's powerful and wholely believable tale illuminates the dark corners of domestic litigation as has never been done before, at the same time as he brilliantly weaves very believable and full blooded characters on a path that is timelessly tragic. As with any really good tragedy, all characters have their fatal flaws, ones that Schutz subtlely elaborates until they come careening to their shocking, though inevitable, date with evil. Nowhere in any recent literature have I read a conclusion to a novel that is so disturbing, yet so clearly makes sense and does not pander to voyeurism. Schutz's development of damaged and compelling characters is alone worth the price of admission The intense, though ultimately moral and cautionary, ending of his story will leave you on your knees, sucking for air.