The Nomination: A Novel of Suspense

by William G. Tapply

Overview

When Vietnam War hero and Massachusetts Judge Thomas Larrigan is picked by his friend the president to fill the upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court, the nomination seems obvious. Larrigan is a family man with an uncontroversial judicial record and the president needs a sure bet. Larrigan will do anything to win a spot on the Supreme Court, but as the old skeletons rattling around in his closet begin to haunt him, Larrigan calls on his old Marine buddy, now a hit man, to sweep the closet clean. What Larrigan doesn't count on are the few skeletons that are still alive…

The Nomination is a fast-paced action and suspense thriller that brings events from the final days of the Vietnam War into direct conflict with contemporary American politics. Tapply ropes in readers with his skillfully woven intersecting paths of deception, desperation, revelation, death, and, ultimately, redemption.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616085551
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	02/01/2012
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

William G. Tapply was the author of dozens of books, including more than two dozen New England–based mystery novels and nearly a thousand magazine articles, mostly about fly fishing and the outdoors. Tapply died in July 2009 after a battle with leukemia. He lived and wrote in Hancock, New Hampshire.

Editorial Reviews

The suspense is real, and the outcome will jolt the most jaded thriller fan.

Don Crinklaw - Booklist (starred review)

Mr. Tapply has left as his legacy a suspense story so skillfully welded together and so close to reality that it is hard to put down.

Muriel Doobin - Washington Times

A nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court will stop at nothing to hide a dirty secret in this finely crafted thriller from Tapply (1940–2009). While serving in Vietnam, where he won a Bronze Star and lost an eye, future Massachusetts judge Thomas Larrigan fathered a daughter, then abandoned her and her mother, Li An. Instead of withdrawing from the nomination process, Larrigan engages the services of a hit man to eliminate those who know of his past, including the child's mother. Now dying of multiple sclerosis after a successful movie career, Li An, who became the actress Simone Bonet, wants to clear the air by writing a memoir. Shifting between San Francisco and Boston, the action culminates in a nail-biting finale in upstate New York. Tapply, best known for his Brady Coyne mystery series (Outwitting Trolls, etc.), displays the plot discipline and character savvy that distinguished his writing career and his many fans are going to miss. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

With Tapply's death in 2009, this compelling suspense thriller of broken lives, forgotten memories, and crushed fortunes is a worthy coda to an illustrious publishing career. When the president nominates Thomas Larrigan, a decorated Vietnam veteran and Boston-based federal judge, to serve on the Supreme Court, the FBI's background check uncovers controversial scandals, including spousal abuse, teenage pregnancy, divorce, and desertion. Unknown to Larrigan, the child he fathered in Vietnam has grown up to become a ruthless detective, and his Vietnamese wife is now a Hollywood icon who hires ghostwriter Mac Cassidy to write her memoirs. Larrigan gets Eddie Moran, a Vietnam vet and longtime friend, to conceal these events. Tapply's intricate plot relates the veiled attempts taken by Moran and the feds to remove the damaging evidence.Verdict Known for his perceptive characters and flowing style, Tapply (Outwitting Trolls) caps his career with a brilliant and intriguing story. For comprehensive collections of contemporary American fiction.—Jerry P. Miller, Cambridge, MA

Library Journal