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Don't Tell a Soul by David Rosenfelt — book cover

Don't Tell a Soul

by David Rosenfelt
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Overview

Tim Wallace's wife was killed in a boating accident several months ago—and one New Jersey cop is sure he did it. He didn't. But even if the police eventually clear his name, he'll never get over this terrible tragedy…

It's New Year's Eve. Tim's buddies convince him to go out for the first time since his wife's death. They're at a local pub when, just before midnight, a drunken stranger approaches Tim—and asks him a compelling question.

Soon the man confesses to a months-old murder—even offering as proof the location of the woman's body. "Now it's your problem," he says to Tim before walking away. When the man turns out to have been telling the truth, Tim's life goes from bad to worse as he is put under the microscope again by the cops—and this time they're not giving up. But neither is Tim: He is the only one who can figure out what's really going on—and who murdered his wife…

Don't Tell a Soul is an electrifying stand-alone thriller from David Rosenfelt, bestselling author of the Andy Carpenter novels.

Synopsis

HE WAS THE ONLY EYEWITNESS.

Tim Wallace’s wife was killed in a boating accident several months ago—and one New Jersey cop is sure he did it. He didn’t. But even if the police eventually clear his name, he’ll never get over this terrible tragedy…

BUT THE TRUTH IS STILL OUT THERE…

It’s New Year’s Eve. Tim’s buddies convince him to go out for the first time since his wife’s death. They’re at a local pub when, just before midnight, a drunken stranger approaches Tim—and asks him a compelling question.

“CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?”

Soon the man confesses to a months-old murder—even offering as proof the location of the woman’s body. “Now it’s your problem,” he says to Tim before walking away. When the man turns out to have been telling the truth, Tim’s life goes from bad to worse as he is put under the microscope again by the cops—and this time they’re not giving up. But neither is Tim: He is the only one who can figure out what’s really going on—and who murdered his wife…

DON’T TELL A SOUL

“Rosenfelt has earned his crime-novelist pedigree.”

Entertainment Weekly

Publishers Weekly

Near the start of this stellar stand-alone from Rosenfelt (Play Dead), ordinary guy Timothy Wallace, still grieving for his wife, Maggie, who was blown to bits in a boating explosion on Long Island Sound a few months earlier, hears a gruesome secret from a fellow bar patron on New Year's Eve. Tim was investigated and cleared as a person of interest in Maggie's death, but now Tim becomes a suspect in a second woman's death. Meanwhile, as a partner in a security construction firm that's prospered in the wake of 9/11, Tim is focused on his company's part in the building of the Federal Center, a huge complex funded by the U.S. government, in Newark, N.J. The president is due to appear at the center's opening festivities. Det. Jonathon Novack believes Tim's a stone-cold killer and is eager to arrest him. Rosenfelt keeps the plot hopping and popping as he reveals a complex frameup of major proportions with profound political ramifications both terrifying and enlightening. Author tour. (July)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author, David Rosenfelt

David Rosenfelt is the Edgar and Shamus Award–nominated author of six novels featuring lawyer Andy Carpenter, most recently Play Dead. He and his wife live in California with their thirty-seven golden retrievers. Visit him on the Web at www.davidrosenfelt.com.

Reviews

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Editorials

From the Publisher

“Stellar… Rosenfelt keeps the plot hopping and popping as he reveals a complex frame-up of major proportions with profound political ramifications both terrifying and enlightening.”—Publishers Weekly (starred)

“This fast-paced and brightly written tale spins along.… Don’t Tell a Soul is a humdinger.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“High-voltage entertainment from an author who plots and writes with verve and wit…Rosenfelt ratchets up tension with the precision of a skilled auto mechanic wielding a torque wrench.”
Booklist (starred)

“Rosenfelt has earned his crime-novelist pedigree.”—Entertainment Weekly

“He delivers a fast, inventive stand-alone thriller you’ll never put down.”—Kirkus Reviews

“[Rosenfelt] has pulled together a cynical political thriller that rings true in this age of terrorism, media hype and Washington scandals…. it’s an enjoyable tale.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Rosenfelt’s first stand-alone novel is a riveting thriller that should boost him to best-seller status…Compelling twists and turns, a lightning-fast pace, and breathtaking suspense make this a harrowing ride…The book deserves a wide audience.”—Library Journal (starred)

Publishers Weekly

Near the start of this stellar stand-alone from Rosenfelt (Play Dead), ordinary guy Timothy Wallace, still grieving for his wife, Maggie, who was blown to bits in a boating explosion on Long Island Sound a few months earlier, hears a gruesome secret from a fellow bar patron on New Year's Eve. Tim was investigated and cleared as a person of interest in Maggie's death, but now Tim becomes a suspect in a second woman's death. Meanwhile, as a partner in a security construction firm that's prospered in the wake of 9/11, Tim is focused on his company's part in the building of the Federal Center, a huge complex funded by the U.S. government, in Newark, N.J. The president is due to appear at the center's opening festivities. Det. Jonathon Novack believes Tim's a stone-cold killer and is eager to arrest him. Rosenfelt keeps the plot hopping and popping as he reveals a complex frameup of major proportions with profound political ramifications both terrifying and enlightening. Author tour. (July)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Library Journal

Rosenfelt's first stand-alone novel (after six Andy Carpenter mysteries, including Play Dead and Dead Center) is a riveting thriller that should boost him to best-seller status. Unjustly suspected of killing his wife in a boating accident, Tim Wallace, co-owner of a construction company, is shadowed by Jonathon Novack, a relentless homicide detective who knows in his gut he's chasing a killer. Then, in a bar one New Year's Eve, Tim encounters a drunk who confesses to having murdered a woman three months earlier. When her death is linked to his wife's, the first of many surprises to come, Tim goes on the run, pursued by Detective Novack and the FBI. As complications mount (even the president's life will be at risk), Tim must unravel a horrifying plot featuring him as the mastermind of an unprecedented terrorist attack. Compelling twists and turns, a lightning-fast pace, and breathtaking suspense make this a harrowing ride equal to James Patterson's or Harlan Coben's best. Marred only slightly by a conclusion that seems a bit rushed, the book deserves a wide audience and is highly recommended for popular fiction collections. [Library marketing campaign planned.-Ed.]
—Ron Terpening

Kirkus Reviews

Shortly after his wife is killed, a New Jersey contractor is pulled into a freakish case of murder and terrorism. Sitting alone in the familiar Fort Lee bar his buddies Danny McCabe and Will Clampett have dragged him to in order to drink in the new year, Tim Wallace is nonplussed when a stranger confides that he murdered a young woman named Sheila, cut off her finger and buried her body in a park in nearby Kinnelon. Tim's not eager to take this wild story to Det. Jonathon Novack, who still suspects him of blowing up his boat and his wife. And when he does, he's immediately sorry. True, the cops do dig up a fingerless corpse just where the informant said it would be. But the missing finger turns up right under Tim's nose, with a horrifying additional surprise that instantly makes him Novack's prime suspect. Clearly, someone's taken considerable pains to set Tim up-someone who knows a great deal about his patsy. But is it Danny, Will or his dog-walking acquaintance Eden Alexander? And what power will Tim have to wrest back control of his life from his enemy once he's decided to take it on the lam?The creator of attorney Andy Carpenter (Play Dead, 2007, etc.) can't resist a good punch line or still another plot twist. But he delivers a fast, inventive stand-alone thriller you'll never put down unfinished.

Book Details

Published
September 1, 2009
Publisher
St. Martin's Press
Pages
345
Format
Mass Market Paperback
ISBN
9780312356644

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