Break And Enter

Successful Assistant DA Peter Scattergood finds his professional and personal integrity tested by his wife's desertion, a seductive older woman, high-level corruption in his office, and the most explosive case of his career

In this exceptionally solid debut thriller, Peter Scattergood, a promising young Philadelphia assistant DA, is handed the case of his career--the double murder of the mayor's nephew and the nephew's girlfriend--just as his marriage falls apart. Left with mounting bills when his wife moves out, an overwhelming workload and a mother ill with cancer, Scattergood, descendant of Quaker patricians, finds his morals and ethics severely tested. Though he wants to save his marriage, he becomes involved with sex-hungry bank vice-president Cassandra; his closest ally in the DA's office is succumbing to a cocaine addiction; their boss tries to speed Scattergood's murder prosecution; and the facts of the case grow increasingly contradictory, suggesting implication of the mayor. Harrison knows the details of criminal prosecution and the Philadelphia ambience, and the dual threads of his plot--crumbling marriage, crumbling career--are ingeniously complementary. Although Harrison's occasionally overwrought prose can take on a dizzying, almost hallucinogenic effect, he really knows how to spin a tale, and his novel is intelligent, absorbing and satisfying.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Written in the tradition of Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent ( LJ 6/1/87), Harrison's intelligent, relentlessy gripping first novel relates the struggles of an honest man awash in a sea of deceit and corruption. Already experiencing enormous psychological stress, assistant district attorney Peter Scattergood is assigned a high-profile double-murder case involving the mayor's nephew. As personal and professional strain increases, so does Peter's suspicion that the mayor is orchestrating a massive cover-up. Harrison's sharp plot mechanics exhibit none of the teething problems normally associated with debut suspense novels, and his ingenious use of a powerful, recurring subtext referred to in the book's title will please even the most discriminating reader. Vastly superior to Robert Ferrigno's recent The Horse Latitudes ( LJ 2/1/90). Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/89.
- Mark Annichiarico, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.