Afterimage (Chris Sinclair) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Jay Brandon (Author) "Some days justice nods off..." (more)
Key Phrases: forensic science center, spectator seats, rebuttal witnesses, Raleigh Pentell, Lowell Burke, District Attorney (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
District Attorney Chris Sinclair is stunned by the resemblance between the forensically reconstructed face of a 14-year-old murder victim and the college sweetheart he hasn't seen for almost two decades. Although the girl was gone from home for three months before her body was found in a shallow grave on the outskirts of San Antonio, she'd never been reported missing. And when Chris finds her mother, Jean, he discovers two more equally shocking facts: Kristen, the murdered teenager, has an older sister, Clarissa, who is Chris's own daughter; and Clarissa is missing too.

Sinclair's troubled feelings compel his very personal interest in saving the child he's never met, and in tracking down the presumed perpetrator of both crimes--a shadowy Fagin-like businessman named Raleigh Pentell who controls a gang of young thieves and supplies them and their classmates with illegal drugs as well. Managing to rescue Clarissa from her captivity, Chris assembles a difficult and circumstantial case against Pentell. But in the process of bringing him to justice, Chris discovers that Jean, who lived a little outside the law when they were lovers, may have been involved in her daughters' murder and abduction.

While the denouement is a bit long in coming, the growing relationships between Chris and his daughter and between Clarissa and adolescent psychologist Anne Greenwald, Chris's fiancée, are enough to sustain one's interest until the end; Brandon is an accomplished writer with atypical insight into his characters' emotional lives, which are movingly explicated. Jean remains an enigma and not as fully explored as she might have been. Although not an entirely sympathetic figure, she lingers in the reader's mind after the other characters have faded away. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Although Brandon's latest isn't quite up to the high standards of his Edgar-nominated Fade to Heat, it's still an engrossing legal thriller, dominated by three complex and original female characters. San Antonio District Attorney Chris Sinclair is understandably startled when he sees the head of a murder victim modeled by a forensic artist: it bears a striking resemblance to his wild college lover, Jean, who dumped him 16 years ago. But Jean would be 35, Sinclair's age, and the murdered girl found buried in a shallow roadside grave was just 14. Chris and his investigator quickly locate Jean, the mother not only of the dead girl, Kristen, but also of a 16-year-old, Clarissa, who is probably Sinclair's child. All three are somehow involved in the dangerous world of local businessman Raleigh Pentell, who sells drugs to teenagers; during Pentell's trial for Kirsten's murder, Jean's image changes from a caring mother supporting two children by working for an insurance company to a conniving drug dealer using her children for profit. Sinclair sometimes comes across as a bit too thick to have survived as either Jean's lover or a major urban prosecutor, but the dangerously ambiguous Jean, the deceptively fragile Clarissa and Chris's current love interest--Dr. Anne Greenwald, a psychiatrist determined to have a child--are strong enough characters to keep readers interested. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (December 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812540441
• ISBN-13: 978-0812540444
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,388,634 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW, March 9, 2000

By	R. D. Harden (Kerrville, Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Afterimage (Chris Sinclair) (Hardcover)

I have read all of this author's books, as well as all of the books of John Grisham (both lawyers), and can say that Mr. Brandon's works compare very favorably with Mr. Grisham's; Certainly Afterimage is MUCH BETTER than Mr. Grisham's latest (THE BRETHEN)!. This is also J.B's best in that it will keep the reader involved from the first paragraph to the last. Much sentiment, very mysterious, much love, and many touching remembrances.Congratulations to Mr. Brandon!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Creaking Plot, February 28, 2001

By	John Bowes (Oxford, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author gets a lot of his law right, but then wants us to believe that the DA does his own investigating, even doing a little b&e on the side. Too much to buy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BRANDON'S LAW, June 13, 2004

By	Michael Butts (Martinsburg, WV USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is my first Jay Brandon novel, and after reading this well-crafted thriller, I am going to try and catch up on his other works.
Brandon's plot is as thick as thieves, and he masterfully winds the reader through the involved story. Young District Attorney Chris Sinclair finds himself drawn into his past as a young girls body found in a shallow grave turns out to be the daughter of his college sweetheart. Further problems ensue when he finds out that the girl has an older sister, Clarissa, who just might be his daughter.
Sinclair digs deep to find the child's killer and rescue his supposedly kidnapped daughter. The killer is apprehended, but it's up to Sinclair with very little evidence to bring the man to justice.
There are several unexpected twists and turns and a tight, tense denouement.
There's lots of good legal writers out there, and I add Jay Brandon to the list!