Veritas [Audio Cassette]

William Lashner (Author), Ken Howard (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1997

Attorney Victor Carl, the tough-talking star of the best-selling Hostile Witness travels from the streets of Philadelphia to the jungles of Belize to unearth the secrets of a powerful dynasty. Simultaneous.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Bitter Truth (previously published Veritas), William Lashner's hero, Victor Carl (last seen in Hostile Witness), is a Philadelphia lawyer who loves money as much as justice and has contacts with people of the mob persuasion. Victor's ancestors include Elmore Leonard and John Grisham. What makes him such an engaging companion is how he manages to turn all his character flaws into assets, as he looks into the murder of a very rich, very social woman and finds that there are all kinds of secret truths buried on the grounds of an old family mansion called Veritas. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

You can see the dollar signs light up in the eyes of Victor Carl, Lashner's money-hungry Philadelphia lawyer (first seen in Hostile Witness), when he learns that his new client, Caroline Shaw, is one of the filthy rich Reddmans. Caroline wants Victor to use his mob connections to get to the bottom of her sister Jacqueline's death. The police think it was suicide, but Caroline is convinced that it was murder and had a lot to do with all the money her brother Eddie owes a loan shark. There are bigger skeletons than gambling debts, however, in the family closets of Veritas, the Reddmans' exquisitely misnamed mansion. Victor soon discovers that the history of the Shaws and the Reddmans provides ample proof of the old saying that at the source of every fortune is a crime. He also gets trapped within the storm clouds of a brewing gang war that may hold the answers to the Reddman mystery, if only he survives long enough to find them. Energized by crisp and delightfully venal first-person narration, this guided tour through the lifestyles of the rich and nasty teems with clever plot twists and (literally) buried secrets, with greed and revenge running neck and neck as the winning motive of a patient murderer. Think Danny DeVito in the Victor Carl role, and Lashner on the hot list of up-and-coming legal thriller writers. 75,000 first printing; $125,000 ad/promo; simultaneous Harper audio; foreign rights sold in Germany and the U.K.; translation rights: HarperCollins; first serial rights: Ray Lincoln; dramatic rights: ReganBooks.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Harper Audio (February 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0694517895
• ISBN-13: 978-0694517893
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,918,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Lashner is the New York Times Bestselling author of A KILLER'S KISS, MARKED MAN, FALLS THE SHADOW, PAST DUE, FATAL FLAW, BITTER TRUTH, and HOSTILE WITNESS. His thrillers have been translated into more than a dozen foreign languages and have been sold all across the globe. He also recently published a small existential novel called KOCKROACH under the pseudonym Tyler Knox. Before becoming a novelist, he was a prosecutor with the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. A graduate of the New York University School of Law, as well as the Iowa Writers Workshop, he lives with his wife, his three children, and his dog, Chase Muttley, in Philadelphia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strong Follow-up to Hostile Witness!, August 22, 2005

By 

bobbewig (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Veritas (Hardcover)

In Veritas, Lashner's second novel featuring Victor Carl and company, he proves that Hostile Witness, was no fluke. Lashner's characters are multidimensional and memorable. His plot is well-developed with interesting sub-plots and his narrative style keeps the flow of the book moving along at a nice pace. Veritas is well-worth reading but it is not without some flaws. Lashner uses so many characters that it is hard at times to keep track of who's who to whom without a scorecard, so to speak. Further, it took a bit too long to tie together the complex main plot and sub-plots, and some of the decriptive passages went on too long. A little more editing would have made Veritas even more enjoyable for me. Nonetheless, Lashner is one of the better writers in his genre today and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of his books.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An original sequel, June 9, 1999

By 

Alexander Gitlits (Moscow, Russia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Veritas (Mass Market Paperback)

First things first-"Veritas" is different from "Hostile Witness",i.e. it's NOT a courtroom drama. Say what you want,but this is a brave move for the author(can you remember another series with novels belonging to different sub-genres?)."Veritas" is Victor Carl playing Philp Marlowe.It's a really good novel with lots of interesting characters(including Beth,who is back working with Victor).The only drawback is that Victors mind isn't as sharp as Marlowes,so it sometimes takes him forever to come to raver obvious conclusions.I liked "Hostile Witness" better,but this one is still good.I admire Lashner for writing noir novel instead of another courtroom drama,but,to be honest, I hope the next one will be the latter.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's an Excellent Read!, January 21, 2002

By 

"wcanglin" (Longview, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Veritas (Hardcover)

I read Veritas 1st, then read his first novel, Hostile Witness. I would advise reading Hostile Witness before Veritas since the novels devleop Victor Carl's personality. Both books are excellent reading!
Wm. Lashner is a great writer. He creates an exciting story and also caused me to think about how I would react in the same situation.
I am looking forward to his future books!