EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE
Phillip Margolin
Harper
Political Thriller
ISBN: 9780061236211

Brad Miller isn’t having his best year. He moved the width of an entire continent, from New York to Oregon, in order to put maximum distance between himself and Bridget Malloy, yet he still thinks of her almost constantly. It was his hope that his new position as junior associate in the state’s most prestigious law firm might take his mind off Malloy and their traumatic breakup. Several months of a grueling workload, getting to know his colleagues and learning the ropes, has eased his pain somewhat.

Just when he is starting to feel better, a case is assigned to him that involves potentially appealing the conviction of Clarence Little, the most notorious serial killer Oregon has ever seen. While this may provide the sort of distraction Miller needs to help him forget Malloy, it does not provide much in the way of comfort. Little insists, though, that he has been framed for one of the murders, despite an eerily similar MO.

On the opposite side of the country, in Washington, DC, Dana Cutler is embarking on a new case too, one that will take her places she had never envisioned. An ex-cop with a host of her own bad memories, Cutler now works as a private investigator. She can usually count on high-powered DC attorney Dale Perry to throw business her way at least occasionally. The latest: A simple surveillance of a pretty young college student. Sounds easy. Of course, it isn’t. In DC, not much is as it seems. There is always a hidden agenda. And Cutler should have known. The money was just too good.

As the client instructed, Cutler follows Charlotte Walsh and ends up surviving a harrowing evening of jaw-dropping surprises and heart-racing chases. Unfortunately, Walsh does not. As it dawns on Cutler, who was pursuing her during the night, she is filled with a terrifying dread. She devises a little insurance for her safety, thinking that she might yet come out of this all right. But when she sees the news about the young woman’s death, Cutler decides to take a powder, even though the murder is being attributed to the DC Ripper, a serial killer at work in the nation’s capital.

Meanwhile, back in Oregon, Miller is reluctantly starting to believe that Little may actually be innocent as he claims, whether the MO is the same or not. Little has an airtight alibi for the time of the crime. Miller unhappily notes the direction the evidence is taking him: straight to the president of the United States.

Ex-governor of the state of Oregon, Chris Farrington was the poster boy for success and rose to the top political position in an enviably illustrious career. He is now up for re-election, and his opposition is running a strong campaign. The last thing he needs right now is a scandal. Since it can be proven that President Farrington knew Walsh, his relationship with her could be a spoiling point.

But ties to a murdered girl may be the least of the president’s problems. Some people have made a connection between Farrington and another dead girl, this one in Oregon. Could the president slip out and commit murder --- several times? It doesn’t seem possible. There are too many people around him at all times. So can he explain why his movements on the night of Walsh’s death don’t seem to coincide with the story he has told the media? Is someone trying to frame him, or is someone trying to protect him? A damaged ex-cop and an inexperienced lawyer know the answers to those questions. Now if they can only live long enough to tell someone.

EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE is chock full of harrowing chases, desperate situations and politics running rampant. Add in the corruption of power and the destructive force of lust, and you have all the ingredients for a winning thriller. Phillip Margolin’s latest proves that he hasn’t lost his talent for legal drama, and gives us another page-turning read.

    --- Reviewed by Kate Ayers

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