Product Description

One by one, cops are being hunted and killed while on patrol. Agent Dominick Falconetti thinks the victims have more in common than a badge. His lover, C. J. Townsend, has her own theory--because now, she's among the hunted.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #307548 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 326 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Truth and justice collide in former prosecutor Hoffman's sequel to Retribution. Miami Assistant State Attorney C.J. Townsend finds herself living a nightmare, beginning with a call to go to the homicide scene of Victor Chavez, a cop who helped her convict serial killer William Bantling. Chavez's body has been mutilated, his tongue twisted into what a former DEA officer calls the "Colombian necktie." Early clues to this and subsequent, equally brutal, murders point to Florida's drug underworld, but Townsend's fiancé, Special Agent Dominick Falconetti, and his team track the case back to Bantling. Falconetti is arrested for assaulting the ever-taunting Bantling, but even with the lead detective off the investigation, troubling facts emerge, while Townsend, haunted by her role in Bantling's trial (she withheld evidence to put the man who raped her on death row), tries to distance herself. Instead, she must confront her torturer in court, putting her career, her relationship and eventually her life at risk. Reminders of fictional predecessors (Bantling in Hannibal Lecter restraints, Townsend's Dirty Harriet heroics) and occasional uninspired romantic passages are Hoffman's weakness; procedural detail and methodical depiction of the horrific are her strength. She combines the gruesome precision of Patricia Cornwell, the courtroom savvy of Linda Fairstein and the Miami setting of Edna Buchanan to produce an unsettling tale that, unlike most detective fiction, is not neatly tied up at the end. Agent, Luke Janklow. Foreign rights sold in 10 countries. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Nothing makes cops madder than the death of one of their own. When a spate of excessively violent cop killings befalls the Miami area, Special Agent Dominick Falconetti (himself a former cop), and his fiancee, C. J. Townsend, an assistant DA, team up to try to find the killer. Dominick's specialty is getting different factions to cooperate on a special task force, but in this case, all the participants--from federal, county, and city jurisdictions--are too busy marking their territories to do much crime fighting. The revelation that the victims were all "bad" cops of one kind or another doesn't do much to stop the infighting, despite mutual agreement that the slaughter needs to end. Meanwhile, C. J. fears a secret of her own (relating to the events in Hoffman's first novel Retribution, 2003) may relate to the murderer's motive. Not for the faint of heart, this chilling account combines all the ingredients of the high-concept thriller: violence, action, romance, political intrigue, and even a touch of humor. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Hoffman writes thrilling suspense; her insider knowledge of the criminal justice system is dazzling. -- Linda Fairstein, New York Times bestselling author of Entombed

Jilliane Hoffman is, without a doubt, one of the best legal thriller writers in the country. -- Nelson DeMille

Customer Reviews

An excellent read
To enjoy this book to its utmost, you first must read its prequel, Retribution. In the first book, State Attorney CJ Townsend sends a totally vile mass murderer and torturer, William Bantling, to prison to await his proscribed death sentence. Unfortunately for her, Bantling's arrest was dependent on a not completely lawful car search, and even though there is no doubt that he is guilty, the unlawful stopping of his car could wreck the prosecutions defence. In this follow up book, CJ is having trouble reconciling her conscience with the knowledge that the search was illegal, and with not being able to confide her fears to her lover. The only other people who had first hand knowledge of the unlawful capture of this dangerous murderer are the police involved and when, over a short period, each of them is killed in a sickening fashion, she realises that she is probably next on the list, even though Bantling is still safely behind bars. It's a book that you CANNOT put down, so be prepared to read into the small hours.

Taut Plotting with Deeply Conflicted Characters
If you haven't read Retribution, I strongly encourage you to do so before reading this book. You will enjoy that novel, and you will enjoy this one even more.

Seldom has a sequel taken a fine first book to such exciting heights of story-telling. Even if you haven't read Retribution, you will be able to fill yourself in on the plot because Ms. Hoffman does such a good job of filling in the back story.

C.J. Townsend survived prosecuting the Cupid killer in Retribution . . . but just barely. In Last Witness, she faces up the unpleasant consequences of that case . . . in which she railroaded an apparently guilty man, William Bantling, towards Death Row through perjured testimony to "fix" an illegal stop and search. She's haunted by the memory of having put the ends over the means . . . and the memory of Bantling's rape of her many years earlier.

Soon, she has more to worry about when bent members of the Cupid investigation who know about her illegal act begin to turn up dead . . . but only after being gruesomely murdered and mutilated by an obscure drug-cartel method. Where will the killings stop? Who's the killer? It can't be Bantling. He's on Death Row.

Before the book ends, she has to face up to her worst fears, and the love of her life, Dominick Falconetti, special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, must make a difficult decision.

Both Townsend and Falconetti are deliciously complex characters whom you will get to know much better throughout the novel. Bantling is an above-average villain, and you will enjoy thinking about the problems that someone like him presents to society.

Ms. Hoffman has a great talent for building suspense . . . and terror. In this book, there's a rising crescendo of action, conflict and crisis that will leave you virtually breathless. You'll have a hard time putting this book down.

She is even more talented at putting her characters into morally ambiguous situations and making you feel like you are faced with the same choice. So you have two ways to squirm.

Enjoy!

Retribution was better
I was really anticipating Hoffman's next novel, and was excited to see that it was a sequel to Retribution, which was awesome. I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't as good as Retribution. I thought it dragged out a bit longer than necessary and the story STILL isn't over. The ending left me with the impression that Hoffman's 3rd novel will pick up where this one left off. I'd like to see her end the CJ/Bantling story and move on to another plot.