Product Description

It looks as though Vincent Cardoni is being framed for murder by his soon-to-be ex-wife, then she finds she's been set up as a killer herself. If they are both innocent, who is guilty?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #638045 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 424 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
When a killing field is unearthed in the Oregon woods, it's linked to a Portland surgeon whose increasingly aggressive behaviour and explosive temper have already drawn the attention of his colleagues. Neophyte attorney Amanda Jaffe takes second chair to her father, a successful criminal lawyer retained by Dr. Vincent Cardoni when he is charged with multiple counts of murder. The victims have one thing in common: they are missing vital organs, which were clearly harvested by an expert surgeon. In this explosive and fast-paced suspense thriller, the forensic evidence against Cardoni is so convincing that even after his acquittal on a technicality, the reader, like Amanda, is sure of his guilt. And when a similar field of mutilated bodies turns up years later, Cardoni is again the primary suspect. But Cardoni has disappeared, and this time it's his former wife, Justine Castle, who's implicated in the new crimes, and Amanda who's retained as the lead attorney in the case.

The particulars of the killings are so similar to the first set of murders that Amanda is convinced Cardoni is involved. When he is found to be working at the same hospital where he was once a promising surgeon (this time as a custodian and under an assumed name), she draws the logical conclusion. But when she finds Cardoni's severed hand at the scene of the crimes, she is forced to rethink the assumptions on which her defence of the doctor's ex-wife is based. Could Justine, in fact, be the killer? Author Phillip Margolin's newest book moves at an almost frantic pace. Bodies pile up, evidence mounts, and everything points to Cardoni's guilt until the end, a stunner that surprises Amanda as well as the reader. This chilling, deftly crafted novel will hold the reader's attention to the last page. --Jane Adams, Amazon.com

Publishers Weekly
'Pages turn fast enough to make the perfect breeze for chilling beachside escapists.'

Publishing News
'Easily challenges Grisham or Turow.'

Customer Reviews

Fast-paced thriller
There is one thing certain about this book - you will solve the mystery of the plot quite early in the plot. Then you will solve it again. And again. And again.

The book is built in a suspenseful way that is designed to bring the reader along an exciting path of deception, involvement, attachment and empathy with the books central characters.

When you reach the end and see the knitting of the story, you will appreciate the craft of the book, and of Margolins storytelling. A brilliant read that will keep you on the edge of your seat, if this book has one fault it is this: perhaps reality is stretched.

But then, this is fiction at its best.

Wild Justice by Phillip Margolin
Could not put this down, a real treat for non complicated murder mystry readers. I sussed out 3/4 way through who did it but still had to read on to find if I was right.Twists and Turns but in the old fashioned non tech way

Fiction stretched to the extreme
A fast paced thriller that you will want to finish quickly to get to the bottom of things. Not one chapter (almost all short in the James Patterson style) passes without something exciting occurs. However i felt that the author here has gone a bit too far. I mean i am perfectly aware that this is pure fiction, but there s a limit to everything in what the reader is supposed to swallow down. Also, i felt that this novel was done in a hurry and lacked the careful detail that Margolin s earlier novels are so rich of (such as Heartstone for instance which i still rate as his absolute best). The characters do not seem real, dialogue is real hasty and the plot is utterly unbelievable and confusing(probably cause Margolin wasnt so clear headed himself) beginning with harvesting of organs in the black market and ending in a completely different direction. Hope that Margolin isnt making the same decline as so many authors sadly do after they become famous and think they can get away with anything cause i think he is a great author as his most early works clearly show.