Fruit of a Poisonous Tree

by Norm Harris

Book Overview

A female lawyer must prove a war hero's innocence. Navy SEALs hijack a Russian warship to stop a North Korean missile crisis. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1588209636
• ISBN13: 9781588209634
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: 1st Book Library
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Patrick Robinson fans will LOVE this!

One of the best escapes in any novel is to be taken on a journey by an author who knows his stuff. Norm Harris makes you feel like you've enlisted in the Navy and skipped boot camp. This story is complex and well crafted, and you'll immediately invest your emotions in these vivid characters. The dialogue is some of the freshest I've encountered in some time. Can't wait for the next Norm Harris thriller. As a reader, and as a novelist myself, and now as a fan, my hat goes off to this guy. A wonderful debut.

Fruit of A Poisonous Tree Destined to be a Bestseller...

JAG lawyer, Lt. Commander Faydra Green, is assigned to investigate the death of Navy Seal, Paul Charma -- her very first murder case. The more she uncovers the truth, that this murder may be part of a military cover-up, the more surprises and danger she encounters. At one point, her investigation even leads her to North Korea which proves almost deadly. Her quest expands from a need to not only solve the murder but help keep the peace between three nations verging on the brink of war.Strong multi-layered characterization, extensive military knowledge, personal experience with the setting, and a well-developed plot make this a truly enjoyable and believable read. Faydra, who happens to be the daughter of a former President, is not the only character to exhibit real depth and it was refreshing to discover that each character is far more than they first appear. Fruit of a Poisonous Tree is an outstanding suspenseful story full of intrigue and surprises. I highly recommend it and if you liked the television series, J.A.G., you'll love this book. I wait in anticipation for the next book by Norm Harris... I wouldn't even be surprised if a movie version of Fruit of a Poisonous Tree was in development since it contains all the elements of a future blockbuster!

Stop the book, I want to get off!

Fruit of a Poisonous Tree fully lives up to its pre-publication press, delivering fast, just this side of out-of-control exploits, and characters at once believable and sympathetic. Norm Harris's acclaimed thriller is a sensation in his native USA and is fast catching on here on the other side of The Big Pond. His approach is irreverent and stylish with a high-octane sense of furious action. It's violent, moving, political, well researched and will take you gleefully in one gulp.Commander Faydra Green is investigating a murder. Accused is Captain Egan Fletcher - innocent, but a pawn in a massive cover-up. Their meeting launches them on an action-packed voyage that takes them halfway around the world. At stake, a catastrophic biological war.As an avid reader, I found Harris's style refreshingly stripped of superfluous adjectives and adverbs. He tells it like it is - straight to the point - and this gives his story a sense of urgency that is missing in other writers. As the plot thickens and the suspense builds, the pace quickens until the powerful climactic scenes that leave you gripping the pages.This book's a must for lovers of action thrillers.

Great Plot, Great Writing

Filled with suspense, intrigue, and memorable descriptions of the sea's beauty, and her treachery, Norm Harris's 'Fruit of a Poisonous Tree' launches US Navy surface Captain Egan Fletcher and JAG lawyer Commander Faydra Green on their individual star-crossed careers in an outstanding nautical yarn. This is a book with a great premise and a book with all the tension of a really good suspense novel. It's one of those on-the-run stories that features both appealing officers and lower-echelon military personnel for whom God, duty, honour, and country are not just words but credos.The plot is complex but tightly knit and well controlled, with devastating subplots erupting in, of all places, a quaint (?) little third world nation know as Chosun (actually North Korea -today's powder keg). Naturally, the book bristles like a raging sea battle with intricate military hardware, from ghost ships to top-secret spy planes - like the Aurora, which the US Air Force still denies exists. Trailing in the wake is a whole bundle of intrigue and even a touch of romance that floats just below the surface, like a submarine waiting to rise when the moment is right. And when it did finally break out it happened with such suddenness and with such tenderness that I found myself reaching for a tissue (metaphorically, of course! I'm a doctor - I'm used to these things!) Don't go away with the impression that this is a Clancy lookalike (though it's difficult to avoid the similarities in a novel of such depth and accuracy). In 'Fruit of a Poisonous Tree' author Harris sets his own course and spins his own tale of piracy, deception, high treason, and murder - though maybe Clancy will be forced to step aside soon and make way for some younger blood.A great story with a great plot. You shouldn't miss it.

An amazing debut

Fruit of a Poisonous Tree is Norm Harris's debut novel, and he's made a darn good job of it. Though it is written in Harris's own unique style, it's as well researched and as well crafted as any Clancy novel. In a tightly controlled plot, Harris relates the story of a naval Captain (Egan Fletcher) who is accused of murder. His JAG lawyer, Faydra Green, is drawn in to defend him - her first murder defense. The obstacles that beset her in her search for the truth mount as the story progresses and it becomes clear that she's looking at a cover-up. But how to get to the truth?Classic line (and I see one of the other reviewers has picked up on it)... "We have three dead servicemen, a sunk naval vessel, a crashed spy plane, an intelligence black budget two-billion-dollars light, and two crashed airliners. Not to mention several hundred dead airline passengers. Did I leave anything out?" That tells you more about this novel than I ever could.With a trail of missing bodies, missing records, non-existent people, Harris's book will keep you reading to the last page (what my Mom always used to call a `lick-yer-finger' book - she used to lick her finger as she turned the pages). You'll be glad you bought it. Well done, author Harris.