Executive Privilege » (Bargain)

While his love for Perry Mason novels inspired him to spend 25 years as a criminal defense attorney, Phillip Margolin eventually left the courtroom to pen his own authoritative, twist-laden legal thrillers, including Gone but Not Forgotten and Ties That Bind.

New York Times bestselling author Phillip Margolin is back, this time with a powerful tale of murder that snakes its way through Washington, D.C.'s halls of power, leading straight to the White House and the most powerful office on earth.

When private detective Dana Cutler is hired by an attorney with powerful political connections, the assignment seems simple enough: follow a pretty college student named Charlotte Walsh and report on where she goes and whom she sees. But then the unexpected happens. One night, Cutler follows Walsh to a secret meeting with Christopher Farrington, the president of the United States. The following morning, Walsh's dead body shows up and Cutler has to run for her life.

In Oregon, Brad Miller, a junior associate in a huge law firm is working on the appeal of a convicted serial killer. Clarence Little, now on death row, claims he was framed for the murder of a teenager who, at the time of her death, worked for the then governor, Christopher Farrington. Suddenly, a small-time private eye and a fledgling lawyer find themselves in possession of evidence that suggests that someone in the White House is a murderer. Their only problem? Staying alive long enough to prove it.

Executive Privilege, with its nonstop action, unforgettable characters, and edge-of-your-seat suspense, proves once again that Phillip Margolin—whose work has been hailed as "frighteningly plausible" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) and "twisted and brilliant" (Chicago Tribune)—belongs in the top echelon of thriller writers.

Publishers Weekly

What a concept: the President of the United States as a possible serial killer. And ace suspense writer Margolin pulls it off beautifully, with the help of narrator Jonathan Davis, who is the perfect choice to cool off a hot concept and make it human (as he did with Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash). Davis' fine third-person narration is matched by his performance as Dana Cutler, a beautiful and sharp D.C. private detective who is hired to follow a young college student who ends up dead after a secret meeting with president Charles Farrington. Davis also excels as an Oregon lawyer who is working on the Death Row appeal of a convicted killer. The inmate says he was framed for the murder of a teenager who, at the time of her death, worked for then-governor Farrington. A Harper hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 7).
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