Straw Men [Paperback]

Martin J. Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2001

When her attacker is freed on new DNA evidence, a rookie policewoman turns to Christensen to pull the truth from her shattered mind-before the man who left her for dead returns to finish the job.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Teresa Harnett has been unable to remember the circumstances of the attack that left her almost dead eight years ago. With the help of her devoted husband, she's finally beginning to put her life together again. But then the man who was convicted of the crime is released from prison after DNA evidence indicates that he may not have been responsible. So who's making the frightening phone calls, repeating the phrase from the attack that only the man dubbed the Scarecrow could know? It was Teresa's testimony that put the Scarecrow behind bars, and the indefatigable efforts of his defense lawyer, Brenna Kennedy, that cleared him. But now Teresa is having second thoughts. The scary phone calls don't sound like the man who nearly killed her, and fragments of the past have begun to haunt her dreams again. The only person who can help sort out Teresa's memories, psychologist Jim Christensen, is Brenna's sweetheart, a man with doubts of his own--not just about the Scarecrow, but about the woman he loves as well.

Author Martin Smith's knowledge of the controversy behind recovered memories drives this suspenseful thriller to a powerful conclusion. Along the way, his strong narrative voice and ability to create multidimensional characters who stay with you long after the last page make Straw Men a solid page turner. This mass-market original packs enough of a wallop for most hardcover fans, so don't let the format fool you. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

Yet again, Teresa wakes up screaming, reliving the nightmare of when she was viciously attacked and left for dead eight years ago. But this time, something's different. Before now, she was absolutely positive that her attacker was Carmen DellaVecchio (aka the Scarecrow), the man who had been imprisoned for the brutal crime. Now, however, she hears a different voice. Is it the Scarecrow or not? Since DellaVecchio's sudden release from prisonAbased on new DNA evidenceATeresa and Brenna, the Scarecrow's aggressive attorney, have been receiving strange phone calls. Reluctantly, Brenna's boyfriend, Jim, a psychologist who's an expert on memory, works with Teresa to try to determine which of her memories are real and which are not. In fact, it is Jim who starts wondering whether Teresa's husband, also a cop, and some of his friends on the force are involved. As a walk through the halls of justice, forensic psychology and police procedure, this novel provides diversion. Smith (Shadow Image; Time Release) fails to create characters that emerge as real people, however, and readers will come away thinking they've read similar, albeit stronger, novels. Agent, Susan Ginsburg. (Jan. 2)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Jove (January 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 051512950X
• ISBN-13: 978-0515129502
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,915,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dazzling Good Read, April 10, 2001

By 

Sandie Herron (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straw Men (Paperback)

The most important clue from this fabulous piece of suspense was right in front of me, and I never saw it 'til I put the book down after staying up way too late to finish it.

When Teresa Harnett was savagely attacked eight years ago, one of the casualties was her memory. Painstakingly reconstructing it over the following years with the help of her husband, it all starts to come unraveled when the man convicted of that assault, DellaVecchio, is released pending a hearing based on new DNA evidence. The man's voice she hears is no longer the same as the voice whispered in her ear the night of the attack. So she approaches Jim Christensen, a psychologist who testified as an expert on memory at the original trial - and the same man who was now living with the attorney in charge of the defense for DellaVecchio.

Tensions mount as the three weeks before the hearing tick off. Clues are revealed through counseling sessions, reviews of testimony, questioning of key characters, and even present-day events. When I thought it was all figured out, there were still a few niggling details that didn't quite fit, and the attacker almost gets away with it... again.

Marty Smith pulls us along with the investigation, sometimes piecing together the puzzle only moments before the characters. The stunning climactic scenes left me turning pages faster than I could read them, only to have me turn them back to savor the mounting anticipation. A dazzling good read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good thriller, April 23, 2002

By 

Angel L. Soto (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straw Men (Paperback)

Carmen DellaVecchio has been jailed for the last eight years for the alleged rape and attempted murder of police officer Teresa Harnett. It was her testimony that fingered DellaVecchio for the crime and sentenced him to life in prison. His attorney, Brenna Kennedy, sets him free after she finds indisputable DNA evidence proving that Carmen could not have committed the crime. Harnett is shocked by the revelation and begins to question everything that she went through.

Psychologist Jim Christensen is hired by Teresa to try to find out the truth in her fractured mind. She has not fully recovered from her injuries and is still suffering from partial amnesia. She is not confident with her memories and wonders if it has been tampered. Christensen is not convinced on her recollections and believes that she is hiding what really happened eight years ago. During the sessions Harnett confesses that for the last few days she has received threatening phone calls from someone who is not DellaVecchio but who knows the most intimate details of her rape. She is scared and afraid that she will be attacked again. It is not until she finds her old journals that the truth is slowly revealed. There is a conspiracy that cannot afford for Harnett to remember what is in her confused mind. They will do whatever it takes to make sure the truth never comes out and to silence her permanently.

Smith gives his book an interesting approach. Just when you think the story involves one thing it turns out to be something unrelated to the original situation. The twists and turns will keep the reader guessing until it reaches its satisfying conclusion.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing Suspense...A Page-Turner., January 5, 2001

By 

Susan McBride (St. Louis, Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straw Men (Paperback)

The "Memory Series" by Martin Smith just gets better and better. STRAW MEN is the third in the line, and it sucks you in and absorbs you until the last page. At the core of the story is the issue of how reliable are our memories. Could the victim of an attack who suffered amnesia be fed lies so that the "memories" she regains are anything but the truth? A chilling tale that mystery and suspense fans won't want to miss.