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Overview
Bodily Harm opens with a big win for David Sloane and his new partner, Tom Pendergrass, in a malpractice case centered on the death of a young child. But on the heels of this seeming victory, an unlikely character—toy designer Kyle Horgan— comes forward to tell Sloane that he’s gotten it all wrong: Horgan’s the one who’s truly responsible for the little boy’s death and possibly others—not the pediatrician Sloane has just proven guilty.
Ordinarily, Sloane might have dismissed such a person as a crackpot, but something about this case has always troubled him—something that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. When Sloane tries to follow up with Horgan, he finds the man’s apartment a shambles— ransacked by unknown perpetrators. Horgan has vanished without a trace. Together with his longtime investigative partner Charles Jenkins, Sloane reexamines his clients’ son’s death and digs deeper into Horgan’s claims, forcing him to enter the billion-dollar, cutthroat toy industry. As Sloane gets closer to the truth, he trips a wire that leads to a shocking chain of events that nearly destroys him.
To get to the bottom of it all and find justice for the families harmed, Sloane must keep in check his overwhelming desire for revenge. Full of nail-bitingly tense action scenes as well as edge-of-your-seat courtroom drama, Bodily Harm finds Robert Dugoni at the very top of his game.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781416592983 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Pocket Books |
| Publication date: | 03/29/2011 |
| Series: | David Sloane Series , #3 |
| Pages: | 480 |
| Sales rank: | 151,901 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.54(w) x 4.18(h) x 1.03(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
GUANGZHOU, CHINA
It hurt to blink.
The light stabbed at his eyes, shooting daggers of pain to the back of his skull. When he shut them an aurora of black and white spots lingered.
Albert Payne had never been one to partake liberally in alcohol; not that he was a complete teetotaler either. He’d been hungover a handful of times during his fifty-six years, but those few occasions had been the result of unintended excess, never a deliberate intent to get drunk. So although he had little experience with which to compare it, his pounding head seemed a clear indicator that he had indeed drunk to excess. He’d have to accept that as so, because he could remember little about the prior evening. Each factory owner, along with the local officials in China’s Guangdong Province, had insisted on a reception for Payne and the delegation, no doubt believing their hospitality would ensure a favorable report. Payne recalled sipping white wine, but after three weeks the receptions had blurred together, and he could not separate one from the other.
Coffee.
The thought popped into his head and he seemed to recall that caffeine eased a hangover. Maybe so, but locating the magic elixir would require that he stand, dress, leave his hotel room, and ride the elevator to the lobby. At the moment, just lifting his head felt as if it would require a crane.
Forcing his eyelids open, he followed floating dust motes in a stream of light to an ornate ceiling of crisscrossing wooden beams and squares of decorative wallpaper. He blinked, pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked again, but the view had not changed. A cold sweat enveloped him. The ceiling in his room at the Shenzhen Hotel had no beams or wallpaper; he’d awakened the previous three mornings to a flat white ceiling.
He shifted his gaze. Cheap wood paneling and a dingy, burnt-orange carpet: this was not his hotel room and, by simple deduction, this could not be his bed.
He slid his hand along the sheet, fingertips brushing fabric until encountering something distinctly different, soft and warm. His heart thumped hard in his chest. He turned his head. Dark hair flowed over alabaster shoulders blemished by two small moles. The woman lay on her side, the sheet draped across the gentle slope of her rounded hip.
Starting to hyperventilate, Payne forced deep breaths from his diaphragm. Now was not the time to panic. Besides, rushing from the room was not an option, not in his present condition, and not without his clothes. Think! The woman had not yet stirred, and judging by her heavy breathing she remained deep asleep, perhaps as hungover as he, perhaps enough that if he didn’t panic, Payne might be able to sneak out without waking her, if he could somehow manage to sit up.
He forced his head from the pillow and scanned along the wall to the foot of the bed, spotted a shoe, and felt a moment of great relief that just as quickly became greater alarm. The shoe was not his brown Oxford loafer but a square-toed boot.
Payne bolted upright, causing the room to spin and tilt off-kilter, bringing fleeting, blurred images like a ride on a merry-go-round. The images did not clear until the spinning slowed.
“Good morning, Mr. Payne.” The man sat in an armless, slatted wood chair. “You appear to be having a difficult start to your day.” Eyes as dark as a crow, the man wore his hair parted in the middle and pulled back off his forehead in a ponytail that extended beyond the collar of his black leather coat.
“Would you care for some water?”
Not waiting for a response, the man stood. At a small round table in the corner of the room he filled a glass from a pitcher, offering it to Payne. If this were a bad dream, it was very real. Payne hesitated, no longer certain that his hangover was alcohol induced.
The man motioned with the glass and arched heavy eyebrows that accentuated the bridge of a strong forehead. Dark stubble shaded his face. “Please. I assure you it’s clean, relatively speaking.”
Payne took the glass but did not immediately drink, watching as the man returned to the chair, and crossed his legs, before again pointing to the glass. This time Payne took a small sip. The glass clattered against his teeth and water trickled down his chin onto the sheet. When the man said nothing, Payne asked, “What do you want?”
“Me? I want nothing.”
“Then why are you—”
The man raised a single finger. “My employer, however, has several requests.”
“Your employer? Who is your employer?”
“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to divulge that information.”
The woman emitted a small moan before her chest resumed its rhythmic rise and fall. Payne looked back to the man, an idea occurring. “I’ve been married for more than twenty years; my wife will never believe this.”
The man responded with a blank stare. “Believe what?”
Payne gestured to the woman. “Her. It’s not going to work.”
“Ah.” The man nodded. “You believe that I am here to blackmail you with photographs or videotapes of the two of you fornicating.”
“It isn’t going to work,” Payne repeated.
“Let me first say that it is refreshing to hear in this day when more than fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce that yours remains strong. Good for you. But look around you, Mr. Payne; do you see a camera or a video recorder anywhere in the room?”
Payne did not.
“Now, as I said, my employer has several requests.” For the next several minutes the man outlined those requests. Finishing, he asked, “Do we have an understanding?”
Confused, Payne shook his head. “But you said you weren’t here to blackmail me.”
“I said I was not here to blackmail you with photographs or videotapes. And as you have already educated me, such an attempt would not be productive.”
“Then why would I do what you’re asking?”
“Another good question.” The man pinched his lower lip. His brow furrowed. “It appears I will need something more persuasive.” He paused. “Can you think of anything?”
“What?”
“Something that would make a man like you acquiesce to my employer’s demands?”
“There’s nothing,” Payne said. “This isn’t going to work. So if I could just have my clothes back.”
“Nothing?” The man seemed to give the problem greater consideration, then snapped his fingers. “I have it.”
Payne waited.
“Murder.”
The word struck Payne like a dart to the chest. “Murder? I haven’t murdered anyone.”
With the fluidity of a dancer the man stood, a gun sliding into his extended left hand from somewhere beneath his splayed black coat, and the back of the woman’s head exploded, blood splattering Payne about the face and neck.
“Now you have.”
© 2010 La Mesa Fiction, LLC
Reading Group Guide
This reading group guide for Bodily Harm includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
Celebrated trial lawyer David Sloane is at the top of his game after a victory proving a local doctor was negligent in a child’s death. But just as Sloane is settling down with his growing family, another child’s death grabs his attention. It becomes clear the two deaths are connected and that a local toy company could be involved. Soon Sloane is on the case, even after it puts his life—and the lives of those he loves most—in danger.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. What was your initial reaction to Kyle Horgan? Does he seem like someone who could be believed when he first approached Sloane? What kind of person does Horgan prove to be?
2. Sloane is called “the lawyer who does not lose.” Do you think this affects how he handles the Kendall case?
3. Malcolm Fitzgerald, the new CEO of Kendall Toys, is torn between selling the company to Galaxy Toys or taking a gamble with the new secret toy. Does he make the right decision? If you were in his position, what would you have done?
4. Though Kendall Toys rejects Galaxy’s buyout offer, who do you think the sale would have helped and who would it have hurt?
5. Were you impressed by Metamorphis, Kendall’s secret toy? Do you think it would have become the hot toy Kendall hoped it would?
6. Describe the situation Albert Payne is in at the outset of the story. If you were being blackmailed as he was, would you cover up criminal acts to protect yourself or go straight to the police?
7. Who did you initially think was behind Albert Payne’s decision to shut down Anne LeRoy’s research? Do the events of the story confirm or change your idea?
8. Kendall Toys’ employee Manny Gallegos originally accepted a settlement rather than having his family deported. How does Sloane use this information to his advantage? Does it work?
9. Does Sloane’s being an orphan affect how he handled the case? If so, how?
10. As a lawyer, Sloane is perceptive and a quick thinker, always trying to stay one step ahead. Give an example of how this helped him stay alive and solve the crime.
11. Sloane’s friend Tom Molia refers to a Bruce Springsteen song with a metaphor about a dog being beaten and spending its life covering up, but then Tom says others “get tired of getting beat and one day just bite back.” How does this relate to the events in this book?
12. Did think the corporate antagonists got what they deserved? If not, what do you think should have happened to Sebastian Kendall, Fitzgerald, and Bolelli?
13. Is Sloane’s decision to let Jake go with his biological father a selfless act? Why does he make this decision?
14. Where do you see Sloane going from here?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. The story is all about toys. Have your book group talk about their favorite toys. What kinds of toys are popular now? How have fads changed over the years?
2. Imagine the new types of toys you’d love to see on the market. Mock up designs if you can.
3. The novel constantly reminds us to appreciate what we have, since it may not always be there. Discuss what you appreciate about your family and friends and why they are so important to you.
