Fugitive: A Novel

by Phillip Margolin

Overview

“Fugitive speeds along well over the posted limit.”

—Portland Oregonian

 

“Margolin knows how to pack in the thrills.”

—Tess Gerritsen

 

In Fugitive, New York Times bestseller Phillip Margolin brings back his most popular protagonist, attorney Amanda Jaffee, star of Wild Justice, Proof Positive, and other spellbinding  thrillers. Fugitive ensnares Amanda in a dangerous web of secrets and death when she becomes professionally involved with a con man and possible murderer who’s been targeted by an insane and relentless African despot. With page after page of breathtaking excitement that never lets up, Fugitive is Phillip Margolin at his very best, featuring the trademark twists and intensity that inspired the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to proclaim him “A master of heart-pounding suspense.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061774904
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/02/2009
Series:	Amanda Jaffe Series , #4
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Phillip Margolin has written nineteen novels, many of them New York Times bestsellers, including his latest novels Woman with a Gun, Worthy Brown’s Daughter, Sleight of Hand, and the Washington trilogy. Each displays a unique, compelling insider’s view of criminal behavior, which comes from his long background as a criminal defense attorney who has handled thirty murder cases. Winner of the Distinguished Northwest Writer Award, he lives in Portland, Oregon.

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Education:

B.A. in Government, American University, 1965; New York University School of Law, 1970

Editorial Reviews

Entertaining . . . A plot set on full boil. . . . All will enjoy following the resourceful Amanda as she puts the puzzle pieces together.” — Publishers Weekly

“The pages fly in this violent, twisty tale of one man’s journey through the legal system, and legal thriller fans will snap up Margolin’s latest for their summer beach reads.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“Margolin specializes in plot . . . his new novel Fugitive speeds along well over the posted limit. . . . This is a book to take to the beach.” — Portland Oregonian

“Great pace, clever plot . . . all followed by a surprise ending. What more can you ask for?” — BookPage

“Phillip Margolin’s Fugitive is the latest in his string of reliably exciting and fast-moving legal thrillers.” — Seattle Times

“A smart and skillfully written murder mystery, with solid characters, a terrific setting and a lot of witty dialogue. . . . Fugitive is Margolin at the absolute top of his game.” — The Globe and Mail

“A clever plot and surprise ending make this a fine read.” — The Oklahoman

“Margolin smoothly moves between the plots and the time lines. . . . The novel’s characters are nicely fleshed out.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“[Margolin’s] knowledge of the criminal mind give his novels a credibility not often found in legal thrillers. . . . You’ll be captivated by Amanda Jaffe and the way she handles this case.” — Aptos Times (CA)

“[Margolin] outdoes himself in this new one. As always, his great strengths-characters of enough depth and complexity to believe in and like a lot, and creative, fast-moving plotlines-are on display, and so is his superbly clean, fluid style.” — The Sullivan County Democrat

“A sizzling international thriller.” — National Examiner

“Margolin has written believable characters you can care about, and a meticulous plot that keeps the reader guessing until the very end. This is a highly recommended read.” — Crimespree Magazine

“A lively courtroom drama to savor . . . that pays tribute to the great detective fiction of old. Phillip Margolin has written a blockbuster with more than just a healthy dash of Hammett to please has reader.” — Daily News (Michigan)

From the Publisher

Margolin smoothly moves between the plots and the time lines. . . . The novel’s characters are nicely fleshed out.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[Margolin’s] knowledge of the criminal mind give his novels a credibility not often found in legal thrillers. . . . You’ll be captivated by Amanda Jaffe and the way she handles this case.

Aptos Times (CA)

[Margolin] outdoes himself in this new one. As always, his great strengths-characters of enough depth and complexity to believe in and like a lot, and creative, fast-moving plotlines-are on display, and so is his superbly clean, fluid style.

The Sullivan County Democrat

Phillip Margolin’s Fugitive is the latest in his string of reliably exciting and fast-moving legal thrillers.

Seattle Times

A clever plot and surprise ending make this a fine read.

The Oklahoman

Great pace, clever plot . . . all followed by a surprise ending. What more can you ask for?

BookPage

Margolin specializes in plot . . . his new novel Fugitive speeds along well over the posted limit. . . . This is a book to take to the beach.

Portland Oregonian

A smart and skillfully written murder mystery, with solid characters, a terrific setting and a lot of witty dialogue. . . . Fugitive is Margolin at the absolute top of his game.

The Globe and Mail

A sizzling international thriller.

National Examiner

A lively courtroom drama to savor . . . that pays tribute to the great detective fiction of old. Phillip Margolin has written a blockbuster with more than just a healthy dash of Hammett to please has reader.

Daily News (Michigan)

Margolin has written believable characters you can care about, and a meticulous plot that keeps the reader guessing until the very end. This is a highly recommended read.

Crimespree Magazine

When the editor-in-chief of World News magazine offers Amanda Jaffe a $500,000 retainer to defend Charlie Marsh, an ex-con turned bestselling spiritual guru, in bestseller Margolin's entertaining fourth thriller to feature the Portland, Ore., lawyer (after Proof Positive), Amanda can't say no. Marsh, who fled the country in 1997 after being accused of murdering Congressman Arnold Pope Jr., has spent the 12 years since in the African country of Batanga "under the protection of its benevolent ruler," Jean-Claude Baptiste, whose threat to kill Marsh for sleeping with his favorite wife has prompted Marsh to return to the U.S. to stand trial. Toss in Pope's revenge-seeking father, several homicidal maniacs and the evil head of the Batanga secret service, and you've got a plot set on full boil. While some readers will figure out the identity of Pope's real killer early on, all will enjoy following the resourceful Amanda as she puts the puzzle pieces together. (June)

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Publishers Weekly

Charlie Marsh was a former prison inmate who reinvented himself as the Guru Gabriel Sun when he saved the warden's life during a prison riot. His newfound wealth and fame soon dissipate when he is suspected of murdering a U.S. senator, whose wife was having an affair with him. To avoid trial, Charlie flees to the People's Republic of Batanga, a small African country with no extradition treaty with the United States. Unfortunately, its ruler happens to be a cannibal dictator, and Charlie makes the mistake of sleeping with his favorite wife. His days numbered, Charlie seeks help from an American tabloid, which smuggles him back to the States, where he will have to stand trial for the senator's murder. His lawyer is Amanda Jaffe (Wild Justice, Proof Positive), whose father successfully defended the senator's wife. Amanda will now defend Charlie—if Batanga's secret police don't get him first. VERDICT The pages fly in this violent, twisty tale of one man's journey through the legal system, and legal thriller fans will snap up Margolin's latest for their summer beach reads.—Stacy Alesi, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., Boca Raton, FL

—Stacy Alesi

Library Journal

Twelve years after fleeing a murder rap, "Satan's Guru" turns himself over to Portland attorney Amanda Jaffe, whose father successfully defended his alleged co-conspirator. When Charlie Marsh vanished after shooting Congressman Arnold Pope Jr., his lover Sally's husband, he was rich and famed throughout America as the self-help guru who preached the power of Inner Light™. High-profile fugitives have to go a long way to disappear, and Charlie's path took him to Batanga, a no-extradition African dictatorship evidently modeled stone by stone on the Uganda of The Last King of Scotland. Made first an honored visitor, then a celebrity pet by President for Life Jean-Claude Baptiste, Charlie inevitably struck up an affair with one of Batanga's First Ladies, considerably shortening her life. Reading in her mutilated corpse his own future, "a fate too grizzly to describe," Charlie wangles a trip back home that involves a series of exclusive interviews with callow tabloid World News reporter Dennis Levy; an agreement to smuggle diamonds for Batangan rebels; and a surrender to Portland DA Karl Burdett. Still smarting because his case against Sally Pope was dismissed with prejudice over a decade ago, Burdett greets Charlie the way a starving man greets a juicy steak. But his legal troubles may be the least of Charlie's problems. Nathan Tuazama, Baptiste's fearsome enforcer, has followed him from Batanga. Mickey Keys, the literary agent who sold Charlie out to the Feds, wants another piece of him. Formidable Arnold Pope Sr. is determined to avenge his son's death. As Charlie's leaving his bail hearing, a sniper's bullet nearly punches his ticket. Can Amanda (Proof Positive, 2006, etc.) get her clientoff the hook? And does he deserve to go free?Margolin's mishmash of plots is as messy as ever, with everybody apparently hell-bent on harming everybody else. Readers who persevere to the last chapter, however, are in for a nifty surprise.

Kirkus Reviews