When two men meet in the Virginia state penitentiary in a maximum security visitation room on May 5, 1968, they have only one thing in common: they both want their lives back. On one side of a glass divider sits Kenneth Deatherage, who was sentenced to death for the brutal rape and murder of a young woman. The jury agreed with the prosecutor’s closing argument: that all evidence points to Deatherage as the killer. But Deatherage says the evidence was fabricated. He claims that the judge and his own lawyer rigged the trial against him.
On the other side of the divider sits Nate Abbitt, who was a successful prosecutor until he tried to drink his way through a midlife crisis. When he finally sobered up, he had lost his career, his marriage of thirty years, and his self-respect. He turned to criminal defense because it was the only work he could get.
When the court appoints Nate to represent Deatherage on appeal, Nate doesn’t believe there’s a grand conspiracy to send Deatherage to the electric chair. But when his investigation uncovers hints of corruption in the county justice system, he finds himself accused of murder by the same forces that convicted his client. To save himself, Nate risks his life and the lives of others, and in the process, discovers that he and Deatherage have much more in common than he wants to admit.
Genre: FICTION / ThrillersForeword Reviews INDIEFAB Book of the Year: 2014 Finalist
IPPY Awards: 2015 Bronze Medalist
Amazon Best-Selling Legal Thriller: July 2014 and May 2015
A prison guard ushered Nate Abbitt into a room marked Visit A – Max Sec and closed the door. The room was divided by soundproof glass, with desks snug to the pane and telephones bolted to the walls on each side. Nate sat at the desk and withdrew documents from his briefcase. He heard the crackle of lightning and felt the rumble of thunder as it passed under the cell block and subsided in the distance. He closed his eyes and ran his hand over his close- cropped gray hair.
The barred door on the other side of the divider rolled open and Kenneth Deatherage entered the room. Dressed in a khaki prison jumpsuit, he was in his mid-twenties, average height, with a round florid face and oily red hair that fell to his shoulders. Manacles were chained to his ankles and his wrists were cuffed behind his back. A guard closed and locked the door. Deatherage backed up to it, stuck his hands through the bars, and stared at Nate while the guard uncuffed him. Deatherage’s pale blue eyes betrayed no hint of the crimes he was accused of—assault, rape, murder. The guard walked away, and Deatherage sat in the chair and grabbed the phone. Nate picked up the phone on his side.
“Who are you?” Deatherage said.
“Nate Abbitt.”
“What do you want?”
“Did you receive my letter of introduction?”
“I won’t sign for the mail. They won’t give it to me without me signin for it.”
“I’m a lawyer. The court asked me to represent you.”
“What happened to Swiller?”
“Randolph Swiller died of a heart attack last month.” Deatherage paused.
“Did he file the appeal before he died?”
“No.”
“Have they set a new execution date?”
“No. Your execution date was postponed indefinitely."
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Italian
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Already translated.
Translated by Monica R. Pelà and ChiaraCrisci
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Author review: Monica & Chiara were great to work with. Professional, accurate, on time, and extremely helpful in understanding nuances of the Italian market. |
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Portuguese
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Already translated.
Translated by Fabio Petrassem de Sousa
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Gloria Cifuentes Dowling
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