THE SPIRE
Richard North Patterson
Henry Holt
Mystery/Psychological Suspense
ISBN: 9780805087734
Richard North Patterson established himself as a bestselling writer mostly by creating top-notch legal thrillers that put him right in step with other greats of that genre like John Grisham and Scott Turow. Over the past few years, his work has taken on more varying subjects, like a U.S. Presidential campaign in THE RACE and international politics with the 2008 hit, ECLIPSE.
His latest work, THE SPIRE, is a psychological murder mystery centered on a college campus in Ohio and deals with major crimes from both the present and the past. Mark Darrow rose to fame at Caldwell College in Wayne, Ohio, as the star quarterback for their football team. However, his memories of Caldwell are forever marred by a murder that took place at the end of his last year there. Darrow discovered the body of Angela Hall, a black female student he knew, strangled to death at the base of the Spire --- the bell tower at the center of campus. His mentor and recruiter, Lionel Farr, quickly pulled him away from campus so that his future is not permanently scarred by this tragic event. To make matters worse, his best friend and former teammate, Steve Tillman, was convicted of the crime and is spending life behind bars.
At the start of THE SPIRE, we find Darrow 20 years older and returning to his alma mater to take over the role of college president. During his absence from Caldwell, he had become a successful attorney in Boston and also leaves behind another tragedy --- the death of his wife and child due to an accident on an icy road. He finds that his former mentor is still well-established there and currently the college provost. It was Farr’s urging that brought him back to campus. The first unenviable task to which he is subjected is the investigation and ultimate prosecution of the previous college president for the embezzlement of nearly one million dollars. Darrow finds himself at cross-purposes as he also begins to privately re-open the murder case of Angela Hall. As the dual investigations start to heat up, Darrow learns that the embezzler and murderer might well be the same individual; not only is one innocent person already behind bars, but another may end up there for the more recent crime.
THE SPIRE is filled with well-drawn characters, both in the past and the present, who keep the story moving and presents enough suspects for the reader to be constantly questioning what might have happened and who is really behind it. To make matters even more difficult for Darrow, he finds himself falling for Taylor, Farr’s daughter. She was only seven years old when he left Caldwell College the first time. Now at age 28, she is a desirable and interesting woman to whom he is instantly drawn. What makes the relationship so compelling is the fact that Taylor has been haunted by nightmares from her mother’s death, which took place shortly after the Hall murder, and she has subconsciously fought what is at the heart of these night terrors.
Darrow is thrown right into the past as he crosses paths with a former high school teammate who is now the town sherriff, a college board member who was a potential murder suspect in the Hall case, and Angela’s wayward brother and infamous drug dealer, Carl. Using his skills as a former prosecutor, Darrow begins to sift through past and present leads that bring him closer to discovering the truth behind both the murder and embezzlement mysteries and unwittingly putting himself directly in the crosshairs of a psychopathic killer.
It is always a delight to read a Richard North Patterson novel because the characters and stories he creates never fail to be engaging. THE SPIRE is no exception, and I applaud the fact that he continues to move away from predominantly legal thrillers to spread his wings into other arenas and show what a skilled craftsman he is. What I particularly liked was the multiple symbolic uses of the Spire, as this structure remains a physical representative for much of what has happened at Caldwell College throughout the years. THE SPIRE is an engaging read that will appeal to longtime fans as well as anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery.
--- Reviewed by Ray Palen
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