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Jilliane Hoffman made an impressive debut in 2004 with RETRIBUTION, hitting a number of public and private Top Ten lists. A lesser writer would experience a sophomore slump, or perhaps even the dreaded "one and done" syndrome. Thankfully, Hoffman, with the newly published LAST WITNESS, has written a work that exceeds the promise of RETRIBUTION, taking Florida State Prosecutor C. J. Townsend into new and darker territory of the body and soul.
One suggestion before you begin LAST WITNESS: Read RETRIBUTION. Though Hoffman does an admirable job of bringing new readers up to speed with respect to what has transpired before, reading RETRIBUTION will not only give you the full backstory but also will prepare you for the even wilder ride that you will experience in this latest novel.
LAST WITNESS is full of surprises, to say the least. Someone in Miami is brutally murdering policemen. And not just any policemen. A number of the victims have ties to the investigation of the Cupid killings, resulting in the trial and conviction of William Bantling. Townsend's successful prosecution of Bantling may have been an ugly win, but justice, in its fashion, was done. Now, however, it appears that someone knows of the conspiracy of silence and omission that has sent Bantling to Death Row, and is taking pains to clear up any potential loose ends.
Special Agent Dominick Falconetti with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is charged with investigating the murders and slowly uncovers a drug connection between the slain officers and a member of Miami's high society, unaware that the trail he is following leads back to Townsend, to whom he is engaged. Townsend is in both personal and professional danger. The unknown killer seems to be methodically working his way toward her. Bantling, meanwhile, is seeking a new trial on the basis that the prosecution --- Townsend --- deliberately withheld evidence at his trial, and that this evidence was material to his defense. The problem, of course, is that Bantling is correct --- and Townsend is indeed in grave danger, as an unknown killer moves ever closer to her.
Hoffman's work here is astounding --- no other word will do. LAST WITNESS clears up questions left unanswered in RETRIBUTION and provides a fully satisfying reading experience in its own right, while creating an electrifying anticipation for her next novel. While Hoffman's protagonists are interesting and three-dimensional, she truly excels when creating her bogeymen, nightmarish characters who live and think where the buses don't run and where angels fear to tread. Hoffman also subtly utilizes the political and cultural backdrop of southern Florida to great advantage, but never lets the flora and fauna get in the way of her dynamic, suspenseful delivery.
Reading LAST WITNESS is a page-turning, terrifying experience that will keep you up all night, not only while you are reading it but also after you have finished it.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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