The Heavens May Fall

by Allen Eskens Narrated by R. C. Bray, David Colacci, Amy McFadden

Overview

Detective Max Rupert's and attorney Boady Sanden's friendship is being pushed to the breaking point. Max is convinced that Jennavieve Pruitt was killed by her husband, Ben. Boady is equally convinced that Ben, his client, is innocent. As the case unfolds, the two are forced to confront their own personal demons.



Max is still struggling with the death of his wife four years earlier, and the Pruitt case stirs up old memories. Boady hasn't taken on a defense case since the death of an innocent client, a man Boady believes he could have saved but didn't. Now he is back in court, with student Lila Nash at his side, and he's determined to redeem himself for having failed in the past.



Vividly told from two opposing perspectives, the truth about the stunning death of Jennavieve Pruitt remains a mystery until the very end.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

07/18/2016
Edgar-finalist Eskens’s gripping third mystery featuring homicide detective Max Rupert (after 2015’s The Guise of Another) pits Max against defense attorney Boady Sanden, a longtime friend, in a criminal case. Boady is defending attorney Ben Pruitt, who’s on trial for the murder of his wife, Jennavieve. Jennavieve was stabbed to death at night in her Minneapolis home while Ben was at a meeting in Chicago. Was there just enough time for Ben to drive home, kill his wife, and get back by morning? A witness saw a red car park in front of the house at midnight—did Ben have access to a red car? Although Max is distracted by new information on the death of his own wife four years earlier, he pulls together the case against Ben at the insistence of prosecutor Frank Dovey, who’s altogether too eager to put it before a grand jury. Eskens keeps the reader guessing as the tale takes several unexpected twists before reaching the satisfying denouement. Agent: Amy Cloughley, Kimberley Cameron Agency. (Oct.)

From the Publisher

"Eskens keeps the reader guessing as the tale takes several unexpected twists before reaching the satisfying denouement." ---Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"Eskens keeps the reader guessing as the tale takes several unexpected twists before reaching the satisfying denouement." —Publishers Weekly

FEBRUARY 2017 - AudioFile

The crime at the heart of Eskens’s mystery is only the beginning of the issues tackled in this audiobook. Speaking primarily from the perspectives of the main characters, detective Max Rupert and attorney Boady Sanden, narrators R.C. Bray and David Colacci express urgency, compassion, and determination. The story begins with the brutal murder of Jennavieve Pruitt. The subsequent investigation and trial are vividly portrayed as the principals struggle to overcome past mistakes without destroying their reputations. Narrator Amy McFadden makes a brief appearance as law student Lila Nash. Listeners await the verdict while also rooting for Max and Boady to win their personal battles. This is an unforgettable novel about justice, forgiveness, friendship, and redemption. K.S.M. 2017 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2016-07-20
A grieving detective and a self-doubting lawyer face off in a courtroom. The last thing Max Rupert wants is to catch a homicide case on the anniversary of his wife Jenni’s hit-and-run death. But he’s determined to do right by the unidentified dead woman found in an alley with stab wounds in her neck and a child’s blanket wrapped around her. Max uses his wits and a pair of registered diamond earrings to trace the victim’s identity. She was the wealthy and influential Jennavieve Pruitt, the force behind a foundation to save wetlands. When the police search her home, they find a shadow box missing a two-edged dagger and an inscription that reads, “For carving out more protected land.” Although it’s likely one of the developers whom Jennavieve prevented from building on his own land, who could have killed her, Max is under pressure to build a case against Ben, Jennavieve’s husband, who wasn’t even in town the night of the murder. That doesn’t discourage an ambitious assistant Hennepin County attorney in league with Jennavieve’s sister, who has her own motive for murder and her own reasons for getting Ben charged with the crime instead. But they haven’t reckoned with Ben’s friend and former law partner, Professor Boady Sanden, who’s still recovering from a case that left him so shaken he swore he’d never practice law again. Ben coaxes Boady back into practice to defend him, even though Boady and Max are friends, too. But more than friendship is on the line as Ben’s case heads to trial, Max thinks he has a break in his wife’s cold case, and the momentum finally starts building in this sideways sequel to The Life We Bury (2014). A previously secondary character, Eskens' broken-hearted hero finally has the spotlight the third time out. It’s too bad he has to fight his way through so much back story to get there.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170823420
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	10/04/2016
Series:	Max Rupert and Joe Talbert , #3
Edition description:	Unabridged

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