Gregg Hurwitz's latest novel, Trust No One, brings political intrigue into the life of
Nick Horrigan, a teenager who followed his hormones to a late night tryst, leaving his home
vulnerable to intruders, an act that eventually led to his stepfather's murder. Horrigan spent
nine years running and another eight trying to make sense of his guilt and that awful night. When
a SWAT team comes crashing through his apartment, whisking him away to a nuclear facility to meet
with an alleged terrorist who asked for him by name, Horrigan is soon pulled into a cat-and-mouse
game with the Secret Service and finds himself between two presidential candidates, and feeling
uncertainty about his own past and those he trusts.
Once again, Hurwitz serves up a complex plot and characters I really found fascinating, not
only Horrigan and his small circle of friends and family, but a homeless alcoholic he befriends,
an immigrant locksmith, and a number of agents. But as the title says, it is hard for Horrigan to
determine who to trust, even his own family. The twists and turns in this one were enough to keep
me rapidly turning pages until I sat back with a thoughtful Hmmm.
Trust No One has an echo of Hurwitz's last work, The Crime Writer (also
reviewed on Myshelf): told in the
first person (which is something new in the Hurwitz cannon), begins with a bang, and deals with a
suspect solving his own mystery. However, while The Crime Writer often commented on life in
Los Angeles and slipped into some of the most exquisite prose Hurwitz has ever written, Trust No
One is bare-bones thriller writing at its best, with enough introspection to give Horrigan depth
without having him wallow in the various dilemmas in his life—and there are plenty, especially
when he (and the reader) come to realize he isn't safe anywhere and that there really isn't anyone
to trust.
It is, however, a departure from some of Hurwitz's previous crime novels, revolving around Deputy
U.S. Marshal Tim Rackley, a series that has resulted in four novels to date. Still, each of those
prior novels had an underlying social premise. Last Shot (also
reviewed on Myshelf) took on drug
companies and research, The Program (also
reviewed on Myshelf) tackled mind-control cults, Troubleshooter (also
reviewed on Myshelf) got down with
motorcycle gangs, and
The Kill Clause examined law enforcement. Even his intricate
Do No Harm
portrayed a physician and maniacal killer from separate points of view and revealed the underbelly
of medicine. So it isn't surprising that Hurwitz decided to move into yet another realm in Trust
No One, whose premise could easily come from news headlines in the past decade and serves as an
interesting commentary on politics, no matter which side of the Red or Blues states you are on.
Trust No One is an exceptional read. Highly recommended.