Marked Man

by William Lashner

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Editorial Reviews
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It must have been a hell of a night. One of those long, dangerous nights where the world shifts and doors open. A night of bad judgment and wrong turns, of weariness and hilarity and a hard sexual charge that both frightens and compels. A night where your life changes irrevocably, for better or for worse, but who the hell cares, so long as it changes.

It must have been a night just like that, yeah, if only I could remember it.

All Victor Carl knows is that he’s just woken up with his suit in tatters, his socks missing, and a stinging pain in his chest thanks to a new tattoo he doesn’t remember getting: a heart inscribed with the name Chantal Adair.

My apartment is trashed, my partnership is cracking up, I’m drinking too much, flirting with reporters, sleeping with Realtors. Frankly, I’m in desperate need of something hard and clean in my life, and finding Chantal is all I have.

Is Chantal Adair the love of Victor’s life or a terrible drunken mistake? Victor intends to find out, but right now he’s got bigger concerns. His client, a wanted man, needs to come in out of the cold, and he’s got a stolen painting for Victor to use as leverage.

But someone is not happy that the painting has surfaced. Or that the client is threatening to tell all. Or that Victor is sniffing around for information about Chantal Adair. The closer Victor comes to figuring it all out, the deeper into danger he falls, as the ghosts of the past return to claim what’s theirs.

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars

This is a great book., 2008-06-14
There are only two writers who can make me get up and lock all the doors and laugh out loud all in the same page. Nelson Demille and William Lashner. Only Lashner does it better. This book is fabulous, as are all of his novels. The characters are so real you can almost touch them. After reading all of Lashner's books I find myself wondering aimlessly through book stores in search of a writer just as talented. I'm always disappointed.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars

A return to the top, 2008-01-12

After a couple disappointing efforts, William Lashner seems to be at the top of his game in Marked Man. Lashner exhibits shades of Ross MacDonald as he expertly "unties the knot" in a complex mystery. The book has an intricate plot and is well paced. The story line never lags and the questions Victor Carl faces are compelling. This book was my reward for sticking with Lashner.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

3 out of 5 stars

It takes a while but...., 2007-12-08
This is the first William Lashner book I've read and I found it slow going during the first third as the author seemed to take a very long time to repeat the mystery of the tattoo and to set the scene. By the second half, it moved and the last quarter had all the denouments, yes, that is plural, that a reader could possibly want.
I liked the way the author used what was really happening in Philadelphia at that time - the bug in the Mayor's office, the federal investigation of the pay or play schemes, the competition between city and fed prosecutors to find corruption, the proposed move of the Barnes Foundation (here thinly disguised as the Randolph Trust) - as well as actual locations such as the Melrose Diner and Fishtown. While those added to the story, I have to say that the dialogue was not particularly believable and the motivation (from Victor's sex life to Beth's house hunting) were in several cases not remotely true to life. Nevertheless, the double and triple crosses toward the end really did provide an absorbing read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars

Marked Man, 2007-10-07
Philadelphia Attorney Victor Carl wakes up one morning in the vestibule of his apartment building, his suit disheveled, socks missing, and the name Chantal Adair inscribed on his chest. Victor can't remember what happened the prior night and is on a quest to find out, along with who Chantal Adair is. But his efforts are waylaid by a stubborn Greek woman on her deathbed, demanding he bring her son Charlie Kalakos home in return for a favor Victor's father owes her. Charlie is wanted by the District Attorney's Office and the FBI for stealing a Rembrandt painting from a museum. Charlie wants to return home to tell his mother goodbye but Charlie's partners-in-crime would prefer he stay gone. While negotiating with the authorities as well as considering a shady offer by an art dealer/mercenary named Lavender Hill, Victor hires his own investigator to find Chantal Adair. To his surprise, a young girl with the same name disappeared the night Charlie and his gang stole the Rembrandt. Could the two crimes be connected?

Each outing with self-deprecating Victor Carl is a treat for readers who like a good mystery with wacky characters and a narrative voice that entertains throughout. A flawed man who thinks worse of himself than he actually is, Victor is tempted by fame and money with an internal monitoring system that allows him to step outside the bounds of law, but just barely. Victor, who seems to remain in a self-identity crisis, is joined this time by his partner, Beth Derringer, the moral gauge of their partnership. Lashner's excellent style offers plenty of humor enmeshed within a good story and characters that just can't be matched. This series is a hard one to top.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars

Another winner!!, 2007-09-23
When you read a William Lashner, it really comes down to whether its great or super-great. I've read 4 of them and each one is of a very high calibre. Smooth easy writing style, fun and interesting characters, and a twisting mysterious plot. Marked Man is right up there with the rest of his. Loved it.

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