Wrong Man Running - Hardcover

Hruska, Alan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0727880276 ISBN 13: 9780727880277

Publisher: Severn House, 2011

Synopsis

A compelling new mystery from an acclaimed writer and director - Brilliant prosecutor Rick Corinth is the heir apparent to the District Attorney’s job in Manhattan. But when he is asked to handle a case involving a series of sadistic rapes, his life is changed forever. Rick soon discovers that all the victims are known to him. At first he shrugs this off as coincidence, but then the police start to treat him like a suspect. With the evidence mounting against him, Rick knows that he must find the real perpetrator before his whole world turns into a living nightmare . . .

About this title

About the Author:

Alan Hruska is a native of New York and a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School. He worked as a trial lawyer until 2002, representing both public and private clients, all the while nourishing his love of the arts. His first novel, Borrowed Time, was published by Dial Press in 1986, and he cofounded Soho Press, for which he serves as chairman of the board. In 2002 he began writing and directing movies including Nola, The Warrior Class, and Reunion. His 2005 off-Broadway revival of Waiting for Godot earned favorable reviews from the New York Times, the New York Post, and Village Voice. His own plays include New House Under Construction and Ring Twice for Miranda. Wrong Man Running is his second novel.

Review:

"It's a bad movie. Like a bad Hitchcock," New York Chief Assistant DA Rick Corinth tells one of the women he's alleged to have raped. Actually, it's like some excellent Hitchcock--The 39 Steps, North by Northwest, Frenzy--and it's pretty doggone good. It can't be happening, but it is. Rick just happens to know all but one of the women who've been assaulted in New York and nearby New Jersey, and except for the very first victim, investment banker Diane Nethersong, they all stand ready to testify that their assailant was him. The accusations from all these women, each more gorgeous than the last, are hard to take, but none harder (or harder to believe) than that of his ex-wife Ali. With his career in the toilet and his arrest only hours away despite his unexpectedly torrid friendship with Betsy Spaeth, the head detective on the case, Rick does what any red-blooded citizen would do: empties his bank account, flees the city and resolves to find the rapist who's evidently taken considerable pains to frame him. He considers in succession his friend, jurist Carter Denison; Roger Hazzard, the presiding partner of his former law firm; Betsy Spaeth, who may be seeking revenge for her own gang rape years ago; developer Bob Hayden, Ali's current squeeze; and eventually himself, the perfect suspect because he's always been prone to blackouts. Hruska (Borrowed Time, 1985) unfolds his story with efficiency and a sharp eye for the escalating misfortunes that can befall heroes under pressure. Perfect late-night reading, as long as you don't mind all the back-loaded twists that pile up toward 3 a.m. --Kirkus Reviews, Jun 1, 2011

"Beautifully written and beautifully imagined, this dark, spiraling, Kafkaesque nightmare might be the best psychological suspense you'll read this year - or this decade." --Lee Child

"The dark grabs you on the first page and just gets darker" --John Shannon, author of the Jack Liffey novels

In this erudite legal thriller (prepare for references to Keats, Trollope, Hannah Arendt, Rene Magritte), a Manhattan assistant D.A. is shocked when several victims of a serial rapist identify him as the perpetrator. Rick Corinth vigorously maintains his innocence, but the case begins to look pretty solid: he knew several of the victims, and police find physical evidence linking him to the crimes. Eventually Rick goes into hiding, fighting for his own survival. Like Scott Turow in Presumed Innocent, Hruska forces us to look very closely at Rick, who, like Turow's Rusty Sabich, narrates the book in the first person (although not in the present tense), and there are times when we wonder: Did he do it? This is a tremendously exciting book, extremely well written (the dialogue fairly sings) and extremely well constructed. In less sure hands, the story's shocking conclusion might feel rushed, but Hruska sets it up so well that it feels just right. This is only the author's second novel--the first, Borrowed Time, was published more than a quarter-century ago--and it is as good as the best offerings of Turow, Grisham, and other legal-thriller hitmakers. In a genre stuffed to bursting with good material, this one stands out. The only question is, Will Hruska be able to top it? --Starred Booklist Review, July 15, 2011

Starred Review. "In this erudite legal thriller (prepare for references to Keats, Trollope, Hannah Arendt, Rene Magritte), a Manhattan assistant D.A. is shocked when several victims of a serial rapist identify him as the perpetrator. Rick Corinth vigorously maintains his innocence, but the case begins to look pretty solid: he knew several of the victims, and police find physical evidence linking him to the crimes. Eventually Rick goes into hiding, fighting for his own survival. Like Scott Turow in Presumed Innocent, Hruska forces us to look very closely at Rick, who, like Turow's Rusty Sabich, narrates the book in the first person (although not in the present tense), and there are times when we wonder: Did he do it? This is a tremendously exciting book, extremely well written (the dialogue fairly sings) and extremely well constructed. In less sure hands, the story's shocking conclusion might feel rushed, but Hruska sets it up so well that it feels just right. This is only the author's second novel--the first, Borrowed Time, was published more than a quarter-century ago--and it is as good as the best offerings of Turow, Grisham, and other legal-thriller hitmakers. In a genre stuffed to bursting with good material, this one stands out. The only question is, Will Hruska be able to top it?" --Booklist, July 1, 2011

About this edition

• Publisher: Severn House
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0727880276
• ISBN 13: 9780727880277
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224