William Lashner, Marked Man

Marked Man

William Lashner

Morrow, May 2006, $24.95

ISBN 0060721553

In Philadelphia, defense attorney Victor Carl wakes up to a four poster hangover caused by imbibing too much alcohol the night before. Not only does he remember little of most of the evening, Victor is stunned to find a tattoo of a heart on his chest with the name of someone called Chantal Adair inside it. He thinks never again, as he has no idea who Chantal is or when he got the tattoo.

As he remains bewildered and befuddled, he finds connections between the mysterious Chantal Adair, a client with a Rembrandt, and an elderly woman asking Carl's father for a favor. Victor works his case diligently as long as it does not interfere with his search for what happened on the lost evening, more info on Chantal, and especially not interfering with his girl watching skills. However, as haunting that night is with his total lack of recall, the evening will soon come back in full force to haunt him.

This interesting character driven thriller stars a somewhat hedonistic man who knows he went on too much of a bender, but as he tries to learn what happened that led to the tattoo, he finds himself instead in an even more complex fiasco. Readers will appreciate this cleverly designed tale because of Victor, as he goes from severe hangover to bewildered soul, to shocked jock, to finally in trouble just because he wants to connect the dots. No one who reads this fine novel will ever overindulge, as William Lashner provides a strong suspense story.