In 'Heart of a Killer,' David Rosenfelt combines his many talents -- writing great dialogue, plots with great twists, and a wry sense of humor -- to end up with a book that is difficult to put down.
The plot is unique. A woman convicted of murdering her husband wants to die so that she can donate her heart to her daughter, who will die without a heart transplant. Jamie Wagner is the unfortunate attorney who is handed the pro-bono (free) case by his employers.
Jamie doesn't feel so unfortunate when he falls for Sheryl, the imprisoned mother, who confessed to the murder. He also realizes that there's more to the whole murder business than she admits to. Jamie comes to believe that she didn't murder her husband.
It turns out that the detective on the scene of the murder always doubted her confession. The facts just didn't add up.
At the same time, the reader is introduced to a really bad guy. His disregard for human life makes him one of the baddest guys Rosenfelt has ever written about. Of course, he is involved in the murder, and Jamie is on the scene to figure it all out.
For readers of Rosenfelt's 'Andy Carpenter' series, Jamie's character is familiar. He's very much like Andy. Jamie also does not love being a lawyer. He, like Andy, has a great, self-deprecating sense of humor (something that characters in Rosenfelt's other stand-alone thrillers did not necessarily have).
The plot is great and includes enough twists to please even the most jaded reader of thrillers. At the end, I literally went back through the book to find the clues that I had missed (or ignored) that would have led to the final scene.
However, 'Andy Carpenter' fans beware: There is no dog. Disappointing, I know, but Rosenfelt assured me (through his facebook page) that Tara will be featured prominently in the next 'Andy Carpenter' book coming out this summer.
This review is based on the final hardcover book provided by the publisher, Minotaur Books, for review purposes.
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