Chat
by Archer Mayor
Published by Grand Central Publishing
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Reviewed by Patricia E. Reid
It is a picture perfect night when Leo Gunther and his mother leave the movies and head home after a brief ride around the green. Leo, a butcher, lives at home with his mother. However, home is not on the agenda for those two on this night. Leo suddenly loses control and the car goes down an embankment.
At the time of Leo’s accident, his brother Joe is a police officer, working for the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, investigating a possible murder. When Joe learns of his brother’s accident, he rushes to the hospital to find both his brother and his mother in critical condition. Joe cannot understand what caused the accident and when he begins checking into the facts, he finds that it might be more than just an accident.
The local police agree to help Joe in discovering what really happened to the car and who might have caused the wreck.
This book is several stories in one that are all tied together. Joe has gone his own way while Leo has stayed at home with their mother who is in a wheelchair. Now Joe has to step in and take a stronger role in the family. Joe’s ex-girlfriend appears on the scene to be with the family in this emergency but she has moved on and her life is going in a different direction and away from Joe. A new woman suddenly makes an appearance in Joe’s life and he has to decide if he is ready for another commitment.
The body that Joe was checking out when his brother’s wreck happened is still an open case, yet another body has now been found, and clues indicate the two murders might be connected.
The investigation into Leo’s accident uncovers a scheme that might be in part drugs and in another part Internet porn. How can all of these things be connected? It just does not seem possible, but the author manages to draw all the lines together and keep the reader guessing from start to finish.
Chat is a great book that I enjoyed very much.
Armchair Interviews says: The characters were realistic and the story believable.
Author’s Web site: http://ArcherMayor.com