Sydney Bauer’s first book, UNDERTOW was a fast paced thriller and GOSPEL is promoted in the same way. It doesn’t seem to have quite the same pace and I think it suffers for that. The first couple of chapters introduce a so many characters that I found it confusing for quite a while. Bauer’s use of adjectives seemed at times a little unnecessary: ‘She took two of the upturned glasses standing on the crisp white towel on the black marble counter and poured them both a drink before gliding across the room, extending her long slender arm and handing him his water.’ It was a very minor detail. She gave him a glass of water would have sufficed. I found numerous examples of this. These unnecessary descriptions detracted from the pace of the book considerably. When a book is 487 pages long, details like this can become annoying.
Most of the plot was predictable. There were a few very clever little twists, but they didn’t arrive until after 400 pages and seemed to come too late. A large part of the ending involved a dramatic overblown court scene. “’Cavanaugh is a liar,’ he yelled, his voice rising over an astonished crowd. ‘A simple-minded show pony who, in his desperation to win exoneration for his murderous client, has rallied this group of geriatrics, has-beens, teenagers and drug addicts in a pathetic attempt to sully my good name,’”. Speeches like this abounded and I felt that any resemblance to a real courtroom situation was purely coincidental.
It’s a shame that GOSPEL was so overdone because there was a good idea in the basic plot premise.
Gospel
US Vice President Tom Bradshaw is the perfect candidate, a "sure thing". But then he is found dead in the penthouse of Boston's finest hotel.It has been 12 years since Boston attorney David Cavanaugh's ex-wife Karin left him for another man. Now, she has called to ask the unthinkable. She wants David to represent her husband who has been charged with murder. The alleged victim is the Vice President of the United States.Now Cavanaugh faces a decision he knows will see him face off with his past and carve out his future. But Tom Bradshaw's death is only the beginning. Three more are dead and his enemies will stop at nothing to protect their secret and consolidate their power. They are an unbreakable band of four, and their word is gospel.
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