Book Review: The Hallows, by Victor Methos
A big city defense attorney goes back to his small hometown to switch sides and chase his childhood sweetheart.
Thomas & Mercer, 2019, 350 pages
Ruthless defense attorney Tatum Graham has been living large in Miami, but when his recently acquitted client claims another victim, Tatum has a crisis of conscience. Disillusioned, he heads to his small Utah hometown for a simpler life...but that’s not what he finds.
Soon after he arrives, Tatum’s childhood crush offers him a job at the county attorney’s office and assigns him a murder case. The victim is a teenage girl not unlike the victim in the last case he tried. Now a prosecutor, Tatum sees a chance for redemption, but politics, corruption, and a killer defense threaten to thwart justice.
To complicate matters, Tatum’s estranged father has terminal cancer, and the time to reconcile is running out. Tatum moved to Utah to find clarity, but his thoughts swirl with old feelings and present dangers. As the case heats up, so does the risk, threatening to adjourn Tatum’s new life before it begins.
I guess I'm kind of a Victor Methos fan now, though he writes about two books a year and I only read one every few years. I have found that he has a pretty reliable formula, which means I always know what to expect. The main character is a lawyer with some issues. There will be a horrific murder, a lot of dirt to dig up in the lives of the victim and the suspects, an unsympathetic defendant goes to trial, the story will switch to courtroom procedural, and then there will be some shocking plot twist(s) at the end.
It works. It's not original and Methos's writing is very workmanlike and his characters are kind of flat and same-y. He writes punchy dialog with one-note characters and I thought The Hallows seemed particularly rushed. But I liked it. It's kind of a comfort read if you like the occasional legal thriller.
This time, his main character is Tatum Graham, a small-town kid who made it big in Miami. He's got everything: partnership in a high-end law firm, an unbroken string of victories in the courtroom, mansions and hot girlfriends, basically living the life of a big name lawyer. Then one of his clients he just got off for killing a young woman kills another, and he snaps, decks the guy, and bails on Miami and his firm.
This sudden existential crisis was the plot device to get him to the small Utah town where he grew up. I must admit I never bought it; he's been a defense lawyer for years, he's had scummy clients before. He even gets asked by other people why this one made him turn his back on everything. We eventually learn it's connected to events in his childhood, but the connection never seemed convincing to me.
Back in his hometown, his old flame from high school is now the DA, and she's trying to prosecute an ugly case while fighting a hard battle for reelection. The victim was a teenage girl, the suspects are the asshole sons of the town's richest families. Tatum agrees to join the DA's office and take lead prosecution. Now that he's batting for the other team, he goes head to head with another big city shyster brought in to defend the most likely perpetrator. Tatum chews a lot of ass as he works over the small-time DAs and the local cops who did a shitty investigation, and conducts some detective work on his own. None of this seems terribly likely or realistic, but it keeps the case humming as Tatum fights legal battles in the courtroom while uncovering one twist after another outside of it.
The ending, like several of Methos's other books, seemed to pull a twist out of his ass. These aren't mysteries where you can figure out what really happened if you pay attention to the clues. They're thrillers where you just ride along to see what happens.
Despite my criticisms of the writing quality, I will say that The Hallows came when I kind of needed a palate-cleanser that is just lowbrow page-turning entertainment. Methos has a formula, and it's fine for what it is.
Also by Victor Methos: My reviews of The Neon Lawyer, A Killer's Wife, Crimson Lake Road, and An Unreliable Truth.
My complete list of book reviews.
Thomas & Mercer, 2019, 350 pages
Ruthless defense attorney Tatum Graham has been living large in Miami, but when his recently acquitted client claims another victim, Tatum has a crisis of conscience. Disillusioned, he heads to his small Utah hometown for a simpler life...but that’s not what he finds.
Soon after he arrives, Tatum’s childhood crush offers him a job at the county attorney’s office and assigns him a murder case. The victim is a teenage girl not unlike the victim in the last case he tried. Now a prosecutor, Tatum sees a chance for redemption, but politics, corruption, and a killer defense threaten to thwart justice.
To complicate matters, Tatum’s estranged father has terminal cancer, and the time to reconcile is running out. Tatum moved to Utah to find clarity, but his thoughts swirl with old feelings and present dangers. As the case heats up, so does the risk, threatening to adjourn Tatum’s new life before it begins.
I guess I'm kind of a Victor Methos fan now, though he writes about two books a year and I only read one every few years. I have found that he has a pretty reliable formula, which means I always know what to expect. The main character is a lawyer with some issues. There will be a horrific murder, a lot of dirt to dig up in the lives of the victim and the suspects, an unsympathetic defendant goes to trial, the story will switch to courtroom procedural, and then there will be some shocking plot twist(s) at the end.
It works. It's not original and Methos's writing is very workmanlike and his characters are kind of flat and same-y. He writes punchy dialog with one-note characters and I thought The Hallows seemed particularly rushed. But I liked it. It's kind of a comfort read if you like the occasional legal thriller.
This time, his main character is Tatum Graham, a small-town kid who made it big in Miami. He's got everything: partnership in a high-end law firm, an unbroken string of victories in the courtroom, mansions and hot girlfriends, basically living the life of a big name lawyer. Then one of his clients he just got off for killing a young woman kills another, and he snaps, decks the guy, and bails on Miami and his firm.
This sudden existential crisis was the plot device to get him to the small Utah town where he grew up. I must admit I never bought it; he's been a defense lawyer for years, he's had scummy clients before. He even gets asked by other people why this one made him turn his back on everything. We eventually learn it's connected to events in his childhood, but the connection never seemed convincing to me.
Back in his hometown, his old flame from high school is now the DA, and she's trying to prosecute an ugly case while fighting a hard battle for reelection. The victim was a teenage girl, the suspects are the asshole sons of the town's richest families. Tatum agrees to join the DA's office and take lead prosecution. Now that he's batting for the other team, he goes head to head with another big city shyster brought in to defend the most likely perpetrator. Tatum chews a lot of ass as he works over the small-time DAs and the local cops who did a shitty investigation, and conducts some detective work on his own. None of this seems terribly likely or realistic, but it keeps the case humming as Tatum fights legal battles in the courtroom while uncovering one twist after another outside of it.
The ending, like several of Methos's other books, seemed to pull a twist out of his ass. These aren't mysteries where you can figure out what really happened if you pay attention to the clues. They're thrillers where you just ride along to see what happens.
Despite my criticisms of the writing quality, I will say that The Hallows came when I kind of needed a palate-cleanser that is just lowbrow page-turning entertainment. Methos has a formula, and it's fine for what it is.
Also by Victor Methos: My reviews of The Neon Lawyer, A Killer's Wife, Crimson Lake Road, and An Unreliable Truth.
My complete list of book reviews.