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Veritas

Veritas

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Philadelphia Gothic
Review: "Bitter Truth" is a grand novel of epic proportions, rich in detail, complex, and long. In this, the sequel to author William Lashner's debut, "Hostile Witness", he serves up a surprisingly gothic mystery with all the trimmings: a dark and decrepit mansion - "Veritas", the wealthy family with secrets that are literally buried, hidden passageways and, of course, murder. Throw in Lashner's usual cast of south Philly mobsters and other assorted bizarre supporting characters, and this adds up to one engrossing and entertaining read.

Philadelphia lawyer Victor Carl has a history defending organized crime. He is approached by Caroline Shaw, an attractive young woman who, unbeknownst to Carl at the time, is heiress to the "Reddman" Pickle fortune. Caroline believes her sister's recent suicide was in fact a mob hit, and that she would be next. Given Car's connections to the underworld, enlists his help. Reluctant at first, but, envisioning a wrongful death law suit with millions of inheritance at stake, he eventually succumbs to greed and agrees to take the case. Carl is soon over his head in a delightfully convoluted tale of old money and old murder, deception, greed, and mayhem that span four generations and two continents. Street smart and self-depreciating, Victor Carl proves he can deal with street thugs and aristocratic bankers with equal ease. While neither fitting the mold of the competent lawyer of a Grisham novel, and certainly not the physically tough hero of a Lehane or Crais mystery, Carl is nonetheless an endearing and effective narrator.

In summary, if you like a spooky old-fashioned thriller mystery with some real skeletons in the closet, engaging characters, intelligent dialog, and don't mind investing some time, (the paperback stretches to 568 pages), "Bitter Truth" is a highly recommended read.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Suspenseful, enjoyable novel...
Review: First things first-"Veritas" is different from "Hostile Witness",i.e. it's NOT a courtroom drama. Say what you want,but this is a brave move for the author(can you remember another series with novels belonging to different sub-genres?)."Veritas" is Victor Carl playing Philp Marlowe.It's a really good novel with lots of interesting characters(including Beth,who is back working with Victor).The only drawback is that Victors mind isn't as sharp as Marlowes,so it sometimes takes him forever to come to raver obvious conclusions.I liked "Hostile Witness" better,but this one is still good.I admire Lashner for writing noir novel instead of another courtroom drama,but,to be honest, I hope the next one will be the latter.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Suspenseful, enjoyable novel...
Review: I "read" this novel as an unabridged audiobook and without having read "Hostile Witness", but I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot. Lashner did a great job of making Victor Carl a believable character, who is alternately annoying and appealing. I'm now returning for more of Lashner's writing in Hostile Witness...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's an Excellent Read!
Review: I read Veritas 1st, then read his first novel, Hostile Witness. I would advise reading Hostile Witness before Veritas since the novels devleop Victor Carl's personality. Both books are excellent reading!
Wm. Lashner is a great writer. He creates an exciting story and also caused me to think about how I would react in the same situation.
I am looking forward to his future books!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: disappointing sequel
Review: I read Veritas after reading Hostile Witness and found the author using the same old plot devices that seemed novel in the first - letters/statements from characters that explained complicated plot antecedents.

While a lot of the dialogue is quite good, much is long declamatory prose that explicates the character or the plot. The intricacies of the relationships and the exaggerations of plot elements became unbelievable and sort of silly in what was meant to be a realistic novel. It just got sort of boring - I finished it but didn't care.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: William Lashner continues a good series
Review: I was impressed with Mr. Lashner's first work, and he delivers again with Veritas. Veritas is a continuation of Hostile Witness, with the same central characters - the lawyers, the mafia, and the private investigators. Victor Carl is still chasing the elusive big payout client, and he stumbles into what could be a very lucrative case. Different worlds collide in a very well written work, where Victor Carl is forced to confront exactly what wealth can and cannot do for you.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Four and a half really, but doesn't quite get five
Review: The writing in Veritas (which apparently is called Bitter Truth now) is just as good as in Hostile Witness. The plot had great possiblilties, and was often more interesting than Hostile's plot, but it didn't quite pay off the way I had hoped. Apparently Veritas is a shortened--though still 440 long pages--version of Bitter Truth, and Bitter Truth might take its time in the ending better and be richer, I don't know. At this point, I would say that Lashner's best plot was Fatal Flaw (though not executed very well in the beginning), his best writing was Hostile Witness--when you consider the meaning of the words and the whole book, and Veritas kind of gets stuck in the middle. Almost the whole time I was reading it I thought I would call it his best book, but it didn't resolve itself quite to my satisfaction, and I don't. Bottom line: I don't think Lashner has written his best book yet--even though Hostile will define him due to the introduction of Carl. Two things are for sure, I'll keep reading Lashner's books, and there isn't anybody like him.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Victor Carl gets more complex, but old house is trite
Review: This is a much more ambitious book than Hostile Witness. Lashner is clearly trying to move beyond the confines of writing a courtroom procedural. In fact, very little of this book takes place in a courtroom. Victor Carl is becoming an interesting, funny, and complex character. The book's weakness lies in its reliance on the shopworn plot device of a gloomy old mansion whose every closet is rattling with skeletal remains of past sins. Despite this, I think Victor is interesting enough to outweigh Lashner's overused plot line. If Lashner's writing continues to improve (and if he can develop a more original plot line) his next book may be very good indeed.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Gothic, Long, but still intriguing...
Review: This is clearly not Lashner's best work. It took a while to get thorough, but Lashner kept me interested. This is a book that cries out for better editing. Way too many long descriptive passages that lead to yawns. The story is convoluted, but at least the main plot is interesting--just who is the evil force behind the Pickle family? And Carl is so darned interesting. I love Morris as always. I noticed that this book was called Vertias first and there was almost a 6 year lag between novels for our boy Lashner...I hope that Fatal Flaw is better. Still, because I love Philadelphia (Lasher even gets the restaurants right here) and Carl, I will read it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Gothic, Long, but still intriguing...
Review: This is clearly not Lashner's best work. It took a while to get thorough, but Lashner kept me interested. This is a book that cries out for better editing. Way too many long descriptive passages that lead to yawns. The story is convoluted, but at least the main plot is interesting--just who is the evil force behind the Pickle family? And Carl is so darned interesting. I love Morris as always. I noticed that this book was called Vertias first and there was almost a 6 year lag between novels for our boy Lashner...I hope that Fatal Flaw is better. Still, because I love Philadelphia (Lasher even gets the restaurants right here) and Carl, I will read it.


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