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Summary
Summary
William Diehl stunned readers withPrimal FearandShow of Evil, the national bestsellers featuring Chicago lawyer Martin Vail. Now, in his gripping new novel of suspense, Diehl enters uncharted territory, pushing Vail and the legal system he represents to the brink of destruction. The nation is seized by fear. A terrorist attack on a military convoy leaves scores of soldiers dead as truckloads of highly volatile weapons fall into the hands of an ultra right-wing militia. A fanatic, snake-handling preacher known only as Brother Transgressor joins forces with this radical group, adding fuel to the fire. No one knows who this mysterious figure is or where he came from, but few can resist his ardent convictions--or see that his persuasive ways conceal his own dark secrets and sinister agenda. Having just won a landmark conviction, Martin Vail--now Illinois attorney general--has risen to national prominence. His bravado and cunning reputation catch the attention of the Oval Office. The President demands swift legal action against the militia and turns to Vail, naming him an assistant attorney general of the United States. His job: nail the terrorists in their tracks. Still hungry as ever to make up for the fatal mistakes he made years ago, Vail plunges into his new, near-impossible mission, one that soon explodes into a personal nightmare, as his most chilling adversary, Aaron Stampler, returns--seemingly from the dead--to enact a vengeance that might bring Vail to his knees.
Author Notes
William Francis Diehl was born in Jamaica, New York on December 4, 1924. During World War II, he served as a ball turret gunner on a B-24 Liberator where he flew 24 missions over Germany. He was the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, and Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. He received a B.A. in creative writing and history from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1949.
He began his writing career in 1949 at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he served as a writer, photojournalist and editor. Additionally, he worked as a freelance photographer and an actor. His articles have appeared in Esquire, Life, Look, and New York.
He started writing his first novel, Sharky's Machine, while serving as a juror. The novel was published in 1978 and was later made into a movie. His other works include Chameleon, Hooligans, The Horse, Show of Evil, Reign in Hell, and Eureka. His novel, Primal Fear, also became a movie. He died of aortic embolism on November 24, 2006. His last work, Seven Ways to Die, was completed by Kenneth Atchity and published in 2012.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
There's scarcely a courtroom in sight in Diehl's boisterous third Martin Vail novel (Primal Fear; Show of Evil). But the hotshot attorney is still fighting for justice, this time as a U.S. assistant attorney general appointed by the president to establish a RICO case against a violent right-wing militia. This premise allows Diehl to emphasize muscular action over legal shenanigans (there's an armored-car robbery by the militia; bombings, shootings and stalkings by a militia-hired assassin; a climactic FBI-led assault on the militia's mountain stronghold). It also allows him to smarten the scenes between the rough stuff with dramatic glitz: visits to the oval office; flights on a high-tech air mobile operations center; confrontations with the politically powerful. Vail disappears for long stretches of narrative, but he isn't missed since Diehl's take on White House machinations is appealingly cynical and his presentation of militia ways and mindsets is brutally believable. Vail is beginning to appear more superhero than human (it's almost a relief when, at one point, he takes a bullet), and Diehl's resurrection of Vail's crew of legal assistants and his wealthy lover seems more obligatory than inspired. Worse, this generally robust novel suffers from a virulent flaw that almost kills it. For some reason, Diehl chooses to resurrect his best-known villain, who's posing as a fraudulent fire-and-brimstone preacher with a penchant for young girls. Diehl even rigs a ludicrously unlikely final confrontation between this villain and Vail on the militia's mountain. It's too much, as bogus as a $3 bill. Diehl wrote a lot of fine, non-Vail thrillers before Primal Fear; a new one may be in order now. Literary Guild main selection, Doubleday Book Club and Mystery Guild selections; major ad/promo; author tour. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Veteran thriller writer Diehl pits scrappy Chicago lawyer Martin Vail against Bible-thumping militia maniacs and Vail's old adversary, psychokiller Aaron Stampler, in a mindless plotboiler that never fails to please. Having succeeded fabulously as a defense attorney (Primal Fear, 1993) and then as a district attorney (Show of Evil, 1995), crusading, street-smart Vail is now promoted to the lofty, politically turbulent office of Illinois State Attorney General. Between passionate trysts with his previous courtroom opponent, Jane Venable, Vail can't keep his paws (speaking of same) off corrupt politicians. Having committed his too-good-to-be-billable talents to the public weal, he effortlessly sends a pack of scalawags to jail using the RICO statute. He then finds himself tapped by US Attorney General Margaret Castaigne to draw up a RICO indictment against General Joshua Engstrom, a right-wing militia commander whose wacko religious order, the Sanctuary, may have been behind a terrorist attack on an Army convoy in Montana. Vail rapidly learns of Engstrom's hatred for his former Army buddy Lawrence Pennington, now President of the United States. Before you can say Ruby Ridge all over again, Diehl tosses in Arnold Stampler, Vail's homicidal former client and nemesis, as a fundamentalist preacher who feigns blindness and spouts marginally comprehensible hate sermons on Engstrom's radio station. From here on, Diehl's forced and foolish story hurtles on at full throttle, never stopping to question itself or the preposterousness of its plot. Vail staggers from one contrived cliffhanger to another until almost everyone is blown up except Stampler and Vail himself, who takes a bullet through his heart but has enough chutzpa to insult the President and thumb his nose at a federal judgeship. What a guy! Fizzy male wish-fulfillment that bulges with Clancyesque histrionics, frothing fundamentalist foment, and more than you want to know about hate groups and RICO indictments. (Literary Guild main selection/Mystery Guild selection; author tour)
Booklist Review
In the third novel starring attorney Martin Vail, Diehl has finally hit his stride in this fine blend of legal, political, and psychological thrillers. Even stronger than the plot itself, however, are the detailed descriptions of the events, which show admirably thorough research on the part of the author. Martin Vail's impressive credentials, first as an excellent defense attorney then as the winningest D.A. Illinois has ever seen, seem to make him the perfect candidate for a top-secret federal case the president is interested in bringing against a hostile militia called the Sanctuary. Having just convicted several top-level state government officials for corruption and racketeering, Vail, now an authority on the RICO statute, is the attorney general's top recommendation to the White House. Vail reluctantly accepts the assignment, naively expecting that politics will not play a part in his investigation. As he begins his research, Vail uncovers a host of unnerving facts about the Sanctuary, which poses as a Christian organization but is really a group of guerrilla warfare^-trained anarchists. What Vail discovers about the actual happenings behind Oval Office doors, however, is even more disturbing than learning that his nemesis is involved with the Sanctuary. This is a top-notch, suspenseful thriller. Expect demand. --Mary Frances Wilkens
Library Journal Review
Attorney Martin Vail engages in a winner-take-all battle with the serial killer he fought in Primal Fear (Villard, 1993) and Show of Evil (LJ 4/15/95). (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.