Hit and Run: A Thriller

Allan Adler knows his son, and he knows he's innocent. Bereft of the money that could get Steven effective legal counsel, he embarks upon a desperate mission to save his son from a murder conviction -- an odyssey that will thrust him into the highest echelons of Washington politics. His weapon of choice: blackmail. Twenty years ago, Allan had been the chauffeur for a Pentagon official named Getty Fairfield and had been privy to Fairfield's affair with a sexy Russian spy. Now, as Fairfield becomes the president's choice for chief justice of the Supreme Court, Allan is determined to leverage his knowledge of the past to save his son's future.

But other forces are at work -- specifically, two giant software corporations whose monopoly trial has come before the Supreme Court. And as they bribe, steal, murder, and manipulate their way into influencing the chief justice vacancy, Allan finds himself caught in a cross fire that could cost him much more than he'd bargained for.

Steven Adler had the world at his feet. A junior at Harvard, he had far surpassed the hopes and dreams of his working-class Oklahoma family. But all of that ends one foggy night while driving to Boston from New York when his best friend, Nick Calevetti -- the golden child of one of America's richest families -- commits a gruesome crime and maliciously points the finger at Steven.

Allan Adler knows his son, and he knows he's innocent. Bereft of the money that could get Steven effective legal counsel, he embarks upon a desperate mission to save his son from a murder conviction -- an odyssey that will thrust him into the highest echelons of Washington politics. His weapon of choice: blackmail. Twenty years ago, Allan had been the chauffeur for a Pentagon official named Getty Fairfield and had been privy to Fairfield's affair with a sexy Russian spy. Now, as Fairfield becomes the president's choice for chief justice of the Supreme Court, Allan is determined to leverage his knowledge of the past to save his son's future.

But other forces are at work -- specifically, two giant software corporations whose monopoly trial has come before the Supreme Court. And as they bribe, steal, murder, and manipulate their way into influencing the chief justice vacancy, Allan finds himself caught in a cross fire that could cost him much more than he'd bargained for.

Kirkus Reviews

A hit and run accident and the death of a Supreme Court Justice spark enough chases, plots and counterplots for a Hitchcock triple feature. This guilty pleasure, good for train or plane, begins as Nick Calevetti and Steven Adler, racing north to Boston in a '67 Ford Mustang, strike a man who for some bizarre reason is walking along I-90. The man survives, but Calevetti, an ex-con on probation who was drinking while driving, knows he's in trouble. Hoping to skip off, he silences the victim for good with a tire tool. Cut to Washington, D.C., where Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Bourgeous dies of a heart attack. His successor will tip the Court left or right. Cone Intermedia, a software firm, needs a liberal judge to rule in their favor on a case before the Court. Opposing company Amethyst Technologies wants a conservative judge. Billions at stake, Cone honchos bribe a liberal senator who has the ear of his cousin, a liberal president (a fantasy indeed!) to nominate Getty Fairfield to fill the Court vacancy. Meanwhile, Steven Adler faces prison after Nick framed him for the accident. Desperate to hire a crack lawyer to spring his son, Steve's dad remembers he once chauffeured Fairfield while the gentleman had a hot affair with a Pentagon secretary, who was a Russian spy. To nail a blackmail bid, Adler sprints to find her in Ohio. But Amethyst and Cone's henchman and other assorted goons and computer geeks are also on to her-and the daughter she had with Fairfield. Planes, trains and SUVs carry the racing men to Ohio, Colorado, Washington and, finally, the Caribbean. Moreton keeps readers hooked despite hoary cliches, stock characters, shorthand description and preposterous action scenes.

Casey Moreton lives with his wife, Kari, in Rogers, Arkansas. This is his first novel.