Customer Reviews

Running with the Dead (Chris Sinclair Thriller)

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

 

 

Henry Claremont was a dedicated and well-liked high school history teacher. Four years ago former defense attorney and now San Antonio District Attorney Chris Sinclair won an acquittal for defendant Henry Claremont from sexual abuse charges. Unfortunately, Henry was brutally killed just a week after his acquittal. Chris has always been haunted by the death of the sensitive high school teacher. Now Horace "Hike" Grimason is on trial for Henry's murder. Hike, the high school varsity basketball coach at the time is now a deputy superintendent of schools. Fours years ago Henry was trying to prove along with his lover, Vice-Principal Charlotte Moore, that Hike was taking bribes from the parents of basketball players. In a concurrent story, Malachi Reese a murderer that Chris put on death row is petitioning the court for a new trial. He is claiming a lookalike is responsible for the deaths of which he has been convicted. The lookalike is terrorizing Clarissa, Chris's college student daughter. Luckily Clarissa does not scare easily, and helps her father in his quest to keep a murderer behind bars.

I really enjoyed the storyline that involved the Grimason case. I felt engaged in the outcome of the case. Henry was a sympathetic and wronged character. You want justice for him. There is even romance brewing between Chris and his co-counsel. The Reese storyline was less successful because it was a backburner story. It really wasn't well-developed. Every time the plot veered toward Reese it just felt like filler material. The story involving Reese did not feel compelling though I did like Clarissa and her part in it. I'd give the Claremont storyline 5 stars and the Reese storyline 3 stars.

I enjoy reading a lot, though I have few opportunities to enjoy a novel, except maybe a chapter at a time before I go to bed. I'm not a fast reader, either, so I might've been a bit challenged with Jay Brandon's book, with unusually long chapters. He's a good writer, and I actually stuck it out, and generally enjoyed what I absorbed. Chris Sinclair is a good central character, with good intentions and a somewhat insecure assessment of himself. There are 2 distinct plotlines, and a few sub-plots which aren't given much resolution. One of the more interesting sub-plots involves Chris' ex- who is a psychologist, and sustains a subliminal character of interest. One of the main plots, involving a vicious killer named Reese, could've been more developed regarding background and motivation. The other main plot basically involved bringing a smart-ass bully to justice. This was much more interesting to me, and the entire case was well-examined, with a satisfying outcome. I refuse to blab away the whole story, since there may be some who may read this review before reading the book. (I do that often.) I enjoyed "Running with the Dead", and intend to check out more by Jay Brandon.