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Phillip Margolin is one of those quietly amazing authors who has been laboring in the suspense/thriller genre for some years now. Though Margolin has had his greatest success with his Frank and Amanda Jaffe thrillers, he has carefully avoided formulas, choosing instead to keep his characters --- and readers --- slightly off-balance with the unexpected. PROOF POSITIVE, Margolin's latest Jaffe novel, is yet another example of his continuing abilities to surprise and delight.
If you are a longtime fan of Margolin in general and the Jaffes in particular, please keep in mind that the father-daughter criminal defense team winds up guest starring in PROOF POSITIVE. The protagonist here is Bernard Cashman, a CSI technician who tampers with evidence. At least one of his actions has resulted in a wrongful execution, and it looks as if he is about to put two more notches on his belt. One is Jacob Cohen, a mentally ill derelict who is on probation and who, in Cashman's opinion, needs to be put away for good. The other is a mobster who, as far as Cashman is concerned, has escaped justice once too often. Cashman though is not simply a delusional do-gooder. As is revealed about halfway through PROOF POSITIVE, Cashman is far worse than any of the people he is attempting to bring to justice.
A note here: there is an extremely graphic murder committed in the book, the description of which will loosen your moorings a bit, so be forewarned. Cashman's self-justification for his actions, including murder, is in some ways even more chilling than the actions themselves. What is fascinating about PROOF POSITIVE is the cunning displayed by Cashman, and the feeling the reader gets that he really is going to get away with everything.
Margolin is first-rate here as he creates a puzzle, gives the reader the answer, and then describes how both the prosecutor and the defense team wander around the truth, sensing that something is wrong but not quite knowing what. By the time you're two-thirds of the way through, the suspense is excruciating. It appears that Cashman is not only going to get away with what he is doing, but also will keep on doing so. Even when things begin to unravel on him, Cashman remains cool, leaving the reader to wonder if he eventually will get caught or, like a West Coast Ripley, escape justice and return to commit more foul deeds.
Margolin seems to get better and better, and PROOF POSITIVE is positive proof that he is at his personal best.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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