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A Washington, D.C.-based lawyer-turned-author, David Baldacci writes legal thrillers that are as tightly constructed as they are authoritative. Readers know his books, with their cinematic plots and colorful details, are sure to offer the sort of breathless entertainment that thrillers always promise but can t always deliver.

Twenty-five years ago, Rufus Harms was convicted of a murder he doesn't remember committing. When his memory is jogged by a letter from the army, he has a shocking realization: he never intended to kill anyone--he was coerced. From prison, Rufus files an appeal with the Supreme Court, unaware that the real killers are on to him. But the long-time convict knows he's running out of time when the Supreme Court clerk, who is the first to see Rufus' appeal, is murdered. Sprung from prison by his brother, Rufus must now elude capture long enough to expose a shocking cover-up and save his own life.

People

Lawyer-turned-novelist Baldacci cuts everyone's grass — Grisham's, Ludlum's even Patricia Cornwell's — and more than gets away with it.