Fair Play
Gunnar Angel Lawrence

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
July 2012/ ISBN 9781478187448
Mystery / Suspense / Thrillers /Adventure

Reviewed by Leslie C. Halpern

This intriguing suspense thriller, now available as an e-book as well as in paperback, begins with a mystery on the very first page. The Honorable Judge Bob Maxwell is murdered inside his garage. More mysteries soon follow: A defense attorney vanishes after he successfully wins a case; a blood-filled police car is found without its driver; and a known child rapist/murderer is found not guilty due to a police error, just before he disappears from a police van. Police detective Paul Friedman frantically tries to piece these mysterious events together to ensure these people are safely returned, but knows as each hour passes the chances diminish.

As the police and families await word on the missing people, a vigilante, who calls himself “Justice,” begins the slow, calculated torture of missing attorney, Doug Lipton. Strapped to a chair in a darkened room with knives attached to the sides of his head, Lipton is presented a series of choices to make, all of which have dire consequences for him or others. Justice attempts to recreate the life-or-death situations Lipton (and other defense attorneys who knowingly gain freedom for guilty clients) faces on a regular basis. This time, however, the attorney sees the immediate result of his actions. He endures extreme physical and emotional pain as Justice manipulates the game with increasingly higher stakes. Jasper Davis, the murderous pedophile Lipton worked so hard to defend, waits in a nearby room, often illuminated like a stage with the attorney as the unwilling audience.

While Lipton is forced to play the deadly games with Justice, Paul races throughout the Orlando, Florida, area in search of witnesses, evidence, and clues in the rash of disappearances. As evidence builds against his former partner, the missing cop, Paul has a new mystery to solve when the district attorney who worked on the Jasper Davis case also disappears.

The author has carefully crafted an intricate plot with many interlinking parts. The overriding theme of justice is thoroughly explored in this book. The Orlando setting, with its overlapping of true crime and crime fiction, makes an ideal location for this story. A fast pace, consistently interesting characters, and a well-plotted story combine to make Fair Play an exciting read. Some formatting problems and run-on sentences are distracting at times, but do not detract from the overall effect of this suspenseful tale.