[Jake Scarne Thrillers 05] • Pedestal

The author that the Washington Independent Review of Books calls “the master of thriller dialogue” has penned another twisty tale of murder and deceit in PEDESTAL.

Freelance writer Cassie Mulloy believes she has a story that will catapult her from a journalistic backwater to a dream job with The New York Times – and maybe beyond!

But Times editors, wary of recent media mistakes, are nervous. Mulloy won’t reveal her sources. And her claim – an innocent man is in jail for a murder committed by two of the nation’s most-famous and revered athletes – is too explosive to print without absolute proof.

Enter Jake Scarne, who is asked to confirm or debunk the proposed story, which Mulloy is threatening to take to the tabloids or blogs if the Times won’t print it.

Scarne soon suspects that the wrong man may indeed be in prison. But he’s not convinced the rest of Mulloy’s story makes any sense. And that’s what he reports to the Times before leaving for Europe to attend a friend’s wedding.

Then all hell breaks loose.

Rushing back to America, Scarne discovers something far worse than he, or anyone else, suspected. And, once again, he enlists help from both sides of the law to seek justice.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lawrence De Maria is a Pulitzer-nominated journalist who cut his teeth on financial corruption at The New York Times and Forbes. His other thrillers and mysteries do not have to be read in order, but he believes to do so will enhance the reader’s experience.

JAKE SCARNE THRILLERS (in order):

Sound of Blood

Madman’s Thirst

Killerfest

The Viron Conspiracy

Pedestal

ALTON RHODE MYSTERIES (in order):

Capriati’s Blood

Laura Lee

Siren’s Tears

Sister

Gunner

COLE SUDDEN THRILLERS (in order):

Hurricane Fats

The Hadron Escape

CRITICAL ACCLAIM

According to John Crudele of the New York Post, Alton Rhode has "a touch of Bourne, a dash of Bond and a sprig of Spenser."

“While De Maria may have been an award-winning financial reporter, he's an awfully good fiction writer as well.” (THE NAPLES DAILY NEWS)

“What is really almost beyond belief is how easily De Maria has transitioned from the dry world of financial reporting to the wild and lavish world of novel writing.” (THE COLLIER CITIZEN)