Sudden Death

Starred review from March 7, 2005
Edgar-finalist Rosenfelt scores another touchdown with his fourth Andy Carpenter novel (after 2004's Bury the Lead
) and proves he's in the game to stay. Andy's first-person wit seizes the reader's attention on the opening page: "I'm in Los Angeles. I'm not sure why I've never been here before. I certainly haven't had any preconceived notions about the place, other than the fact that the people here are insincere, draft-dodging, drug-taking, money-grubbing, breast-implanting, out-of-touch, pâté-eating, pompous, Lakers-loving, let's do-lunching, elitist scumbags." Rosenfelt then switches expectations for a Hollywood hoe-down by calling lawyer Andy back to his New Jersey stomping grounds, straight into a high-stakes crime scene. Troy Preston is one very dead Jets wide receiver, and Kenny Schilling, a gun-toting New York Giants running back, is holed up in his Upper Saddle River house with Preston's body. After Schilling is arrested for Preston's murder, Andy reluctantly agrees to defend the athlete as a favor to a friend, but soon his investigation turns up other suspects, putting his own life in jeopardy. Satirical in some places, oddly grim in others, this wise-cracking legal thriller with its angst-ridden everyman hero manages to be sweet and humane. Agent, Robin Rue. 4-city author tour.

October 3, 2005
Abridging a mystery is always a tricky task—cut too much and the reader is either in the dark or wondering about dangling plot threads. But this abridgement is superbly done, reducing the length while maintaining the novel's essence and without sacrificing clarity. Lawyer Andy Carpenter finds himself roped into defending a New York Giants star running back who police find holed up in his house with a gun, and the dead body of a New York Jets receiver. Getting his unwanted client off won't be easy, especially when drug lords become involved, putting Andy's life—and the lives of those he cares about—on the line. Gardner's voice isn't what one would call resonant or even particularly pleasant, but he's undeniably compelling, and here he portrays the wisecracking and insecure Carpenter exactly right—a mix of neo-noirish gumshoe and hot-shot city lawyer. Gardner is one of the stars of audiobook narration—he's recorded more than 450 audiobooks and AudioFile
magazine named him one of the "best voices of the century"—and he reinforces that reputation here. Gardner takes this otherwise mildly entertaining potboiler and turns it into a must-hear murder mystery. Simultaneous release with the Mysterious Press hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 7).