Bleedout

by Joan Brady

Book Overview

"Watch your back most carefully when someone you trust steps behind you." Even after Hugh Freyl lost his sight he was invincible. But late one night, in the library of the elite law firm that bears his name, he was beaten to death. The obvious suspect is David Marion, a convicted killer from the inner city. Hugh, the scion of the richest and most influential family in Springfield, Illinois, had orchestrated David's release from prison and outraged...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743270088
• ISBN13: 9780743270083
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Touchstone Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Loved it - couldn't put it down

Loved the book, loved the characters - interesting, flawed, real - Hugh, his mother, his assistant, and especially David Marion. I would recommend this anyone who likes mysteries. Seriously. I'm going to look for more books by Joan Brady.

A New Anti-Hero

There are two authors named Joan Brady, so watch out. It you want intelligent, creative, compelling writing, this is the Joan Brady to read. I have been hooked on this Joan Brady ever since I read her Whitbread Award winner, "Theory of War" and eagerly await each new novel. "Bleedout", which is categorized as a "thriller" (a total departure for Brady) has been worth the wait, even if, like me, you do not usually gravitate toward thrillers. The book consists of two cleverly interwoven narratives, one, quite convincingly, from beyond the grave. That narrative is blind (and murdered) lawyer Hugh Freyl's. The other is David Marion's, a young convicted double-murderer Freyl had befriended. "Ah!," you say, "I can see it coming." Don't be too sure. As the novel develops, David becomes one of the great anti-heros in recent memory. It is not just the main characters, Hugh and David, who are well crafted. So are most of the secondary ones. My favourite is Hugh's imperious, yet strangely endearing, mother, Becky. Perhaps it is because I have known two Beckys in my life, and Brady seems to have captured both of them in one. With her usual meticulous research and passion, Joan Brady has taken on the prison system, corporate fraud and the American legal system. Also, it would seem, the city of Springfield, Illinois. This however, may be more of a love-hate relationship than is immediately evident. But then, nothing is as it seems in "Bleedout".

The Grim Tale in Springfield

Rarely have I finished a book and thought: I shall never visit that town. However, that is how the colourful description of Springfield, Illinois contained in Bleedout effected me. It is not only the people in Bleedout who provide a fascinating study in evil, but also the town in which it is set. I have read all of Joan Brady's previous books and was waiting with great anticipation for this latest demonstration of her talents. While certainly a deviation from Theory of War, Death of Peter Pan and Emigre, it nevertheless demonstrates Brady's talent as a story teller and an observer of human nature. Not only is the book well structured and well written, the research into various factual and scientific matters shows the author's wide range of interests and knowledge. The study of the characters of David Marion and Hugh Freyl are believable and realistic. As so often in life, I had varying reactions to these characters throughout the book. From a starting point of finding Marion quite repulsive, I grew to liking and grudging admiration. The presentation of the characters and their interaction from two points (Marion is alive and Freyl speaks from the grave) is clever and it works. The book's conclusion is not one I would have expected. In that I was held to the end, wanting to know who had killed Freyl and hoping that it would not be Marion. I do not want to comment further on the conclusion as part of the pleasure of this read is the author's ability to keep the reader in suspense. I would happily recommend this book to friends and family. No doubt it would make a good thriller movie.

fabulous who-done-it with a deep message

In Springfield, Illinois, someone murders blind lawyer Hugh Freyl in his firm's law library. The police suspect former con David Marion as the killer though motive seems elusive except for his having been convicted for killing his abusive foster-father and foster brother as a teen; Hugh got David freed from incarceration. In fact adulation would be more apropos; besides with the help of his assistant Stephanie Willis getting the inner city young man freed, he mentored David over the objections of his socially conscious upper crust family led by the apt conducting of his mother. However, David has an iron clad alibi that proves he could not have killed his teacher though the victim's mother harangues the police and local politicians to arrest him as her son's killer. Knowing that the cops still will not look much beyond him, David and Stephanie begin to investigate Hugh's brutal murder starting with some seemingly financial wrongdoings at the law firm. Suspects with motives appear all over the city, but who would turn to murder remains difficult to solve. The insightful description of David's time in prison starting at fifteen will have even compassionate conservatives screaming for reform as Joan Brady makes no pretensions on where she stands on the subject. David and Stephanie are fabulous lead protagonists; through them and the victim's mom a complete picure though sharp differences rise of Hugh comes into focus. Though much of Springfield to include the shrilling mommy dearest, the police, and the scions of society seem one dimensional, the amateur sleuth investigation conducted by two strong characters into the life of another well drawn player provide a fabulous who-done-it with a deep message. Harriet Klausner

Justice is Not Always Blind

This book begins with a bit of wisdom that says: "you must watch your back most crefully when someone you trust steps behind you." And that gives you a pretty good introduction to this novel. Bleedout is told from the standpoint of two characters. The first is Hugh Freyl, a blind lawyer who has just been murdered. The authorities "know" who did it, and that's the second main character a young convicted killer who had become Hugh's protege. The third "character" in the book is the system: the police, courts, press, Hugh's family, etc. Innocent until proven guilty is not a viable option when you're an ex-con and the victum is high in the social standings. This is not one of the standard formula mysteries where you know the leading character will make justice triumph, it's a free standing book and justice just may not win.