Review: The Best Revenge

Variously attributed to Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Truman Capote, the phrase “living well is the best revenge” is the theme of this Stephen White entry into the Dr. Alan Gregory suspense series.

Tom Clone has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the vicious near-beheading of a young woman he casually dated and spurned while in medical school. After thirteen years in prison, he is released when an ambitious FBI agent uncovers evidence that Clone did not commit the crime. Clone moves to Boulder, Colorado to live with his reluctant grandfather, who insists he begin therapy to lessen his bitterness over the lost years in prison. The FBI agent, Kelda James, recommends Dr. Alan Gregory to help Clone ease into life outside the walls. Clone mistakes her professional help as personal interest in him and pursues her romantically. James has reasons of her own in responding to his interest.

Though innocent people are wrongfully convicted in the justice system, White’s novel is not simply about criminal innocence or guilt. It is about living well and exacting emotional revenge. Tom Clone’s confusion about living in a world of smaller telephones, new technology, and more forward women accurately reflects the real-life time warp in which an inmate finds himself upon release. Accurate as well, is the characterization of the mixed emotional responses an inmate receives after his years in prison from the public. As usual, Dr. Gregory wrestles to keep his private life separate from his practice and to maintain a professional distance from each of his patients, whose worlds overlap. Sam Purdy, Boulder police detective and Dr. Gregory’s closest friend, makes it harder still for Gregory to keep his professional silence when Gregory’s patients create chaos and commit crimes.

White’s always three-dimensional characters are driven by secrets and carefully-concealed personal agendas. White’s skillful draw on his clinical psychology experience and training creates this complex story of crimes, past and present.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, A. Rolfingsmeier

Book Review: The Best Revenge