Blood and Bone

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Victor Carl series comes a stunning stand-alone novel about a young man forced to confront the dark truthsof his past

For a son, every funeral before his father's death is a rehearsal and every funeral thereafter is a memorial.

Kyle Byrne, the illegitimate son of a prominent Philadelphia lawyer, had to sneak into his father's funeral when he was fourteen years old. Twelve years later, his father's death still casts a shadow upon his heart.

Now amiable and handsome, Kyle finds himself drifting through a life of slack. With his house in foreclosure and his part-time job lost, he spends his days playing Xbox and his nights in Philly bars, drinking way too much and sleeping with the wrong type of women. Life is, well, actually pretty damn sweet.

But when his father's former law partner is brutally murdered, the cops see Kyle as a possible suspect and start asking uncomfortable questions about his father's death. And after a strange encounter with one of his father's former clients, Kyle enters into a search for answers that leads from his father's past to the highest pinnacles of power—and forces Kyle to lay bare the deceptions and losses in his own life.

Just when it seems he's close to learning the truth about his father and the murder, Kyle is reminded of that old adage "be careful what you wish for." Because Kyle Byrne's most fervent wish is suddenly about to come true—with a vengeance.

Once Kyle Byrne had promise. But he opted for a life of slack—drinking too much, playing too much Xbox, sleeping with the wrong type of women. He will, however, always attend the burial services of friends of his late father, a prominent Philadelphia lawyer. It's his only connection to the parent he barely knew, yet whose passing still casts a shadow on his heart.

But when his dad's former law partner is murdered and the cops start asking Kyle uncomfortable questions, he's forced to confront head-on the tragedies and self-deceptions that form the fabric of his existence. Suddenly, Kyle wants the real truth about his father's death—and his search is leading him to high, dark, and very dangerous places.

They say "be careful what you wish for," and Kyle should keep that in mind—because his wish is about to come true . . . with a vengeance.

Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Lashner's first stand-alone, a contemporary thriller, falls short of the standard set by his acclaimed Victor Carl series (A Killer's Kiss, etc.). The murder of Philadelphia attorney Laszlo Toth marks a turning point in the life of part-time bartender Kyle Byrne, whose late father was Toth's law partner for many years. The elder Byrne died more than a decade earlier under mysterious circumstances, and Kyle, his out-of-wedlock son, was bounced from his funeral-by Toth. Kyle's attendance at Toth's burial service attracts the attention of homicide detectives Henderson and Ramirez, the latter a good-looking woman who takes more than a professional interest in the suspect. Kyle is further rattled when he believes he sees his father watching him during a softball game. Since the reader learns the identity of Toth's killer early on, only the motive for the crime offers much mystery-and that turns out to be less than compelling. (Feb.)

New York Times bestselling author William Lashner is the author of seven suspense novels that have been published in more than a dozen languages throughout the world. A graduate of the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop, he lives with his family outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.