Download Wrongful Death: A Novel by Robert Dugoni (2024)

New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni tackles hot-button issues in this riveting legal thriller featuring attorney David Sloane. When a widow asks Sloane to take her case against the military, Sloane knows it's a lost cause but can't turn her down, even if it puts his own life--and the lives of his family--in dire jeopardy.

Just minutes after winning a $1.6 million wrongful-death verdict, attorney David Sloane confronts the one case that threatens to blemish his unbeaten record in the courtroom. Beverly Ford wants Sloane to sue the United States government and military in the mysterious death of her husband, James, a national guardsman killed in Iraq. While a decades-old military doctrine might make Ford's case impossible to win, Sloane, a former soldier himself, is compelled to find justice for the widow and her four children in what is certain to become the biggest challenge of his career.

With little hard evidence to go on, Sloane calls on his friend, reclusive former CIA agent turned private investigator Charles Jenkins, to track down the other men serving with Ford the night he died. Alarmingly, two of the four who returned ...

I put WRONGFUL DEATH on my reading list as a result of a recommendation on a discussion list I belong to. It will probably appeal most to people who like Grisham-type legal thrillers or someone who is looking for a crime fiction title related to America's recent war efforts in Iraq.It is the second title in his David Sloan series1. The Jury Master (2006)2. Wrongful Death (2009)3. Bodily Harm (2010)and seems loosely based on those news stories we've all heard about American contractors supplying the Iraq government with the ability to make war, and then on profiteering happening during the war and the reconstruction efforts.The tension in WRONGFUL DEATH builds nicely as David Sloan and Charles Jenkins search for the remnant of the team who were companions of the dead Guardsman James Ford. Two of the men are killed just before Sloan and Jenkins locate them and the race is on to locate the third.What seems to be a simple wrongful death case hinges on technicalities and takes a surprising twist when the US government offers a compensation package. There were times in the book when I wished I had read the earlier title THE JURY MASTER if only for the background on Sloan whom I really liked as the leading character.

This is the second book in the David Sloane series. David is a wrongful death attorney with an incredible records of wins. When Beverly Ford approaches him with a request to take on her case, he's intrigued but can't give her much hope. Beverly's husband, John, was killed in Iraq during an operation, and soldiers are exempt from suing the government if they are killed during a wartime battle.David, a Marine veteran, feels like he can at least look into Ford's death to make sure there are no options. Almost immediately he discovers things might not be right. Statements from the other soldiers in the unit look like they are all identical. When he goes to interview the witnesses he discovers at least two have died under suspicious circ*mstances.Overall, Wrongful Death is an exciting, fast moving story of deceit and lies. The author did a great job of taking the reader through the intricacies of how the military legal system works. This book can easily be read as a standalone, but it does use several of the same characters we met in Book 1, Jury Master. I'm definitely planning to continue this engrossing series, and probably start series Dugoni writes, featuring homicide detective, Tracy Crosswhite.

Wrongful Death pits the jury master, David Sloane--now a plaintiff's lawyer in Seattle--against no less than the United States military. Sloane is hired by the widow of a National Guardsman killed in Iraq. Her claim that his death could have been prevented seems destined to fail, particularly in light of the Feres doctrine, which protects the military against wrongful death suits. Sloane grudgingly agrees to take a look at her case, but quickly comes to see that there's more to it than meets the eye. He uncovers lies and deceit of all sorts, up to the top levels. There's corruption in the government, there's corruption in big business...are Sloane and his team the only good guys left in the country? Well, not quite, but still...Dugoni writes a pretty deft thriller, twisty and turny, with a satisfying bang! at the end. If his writing is choppy and not particularly original, well, we've read worse. And since his publisher is working hard to set him up as the next book-a-year bestseller, he'll have plenty of opportunity to smooth out his rough edges.Recommended as a quick, juicy read.