A tough-minded lawyer burdened by memories of the past moves to a small town to restart his career. Frank Horgan is fleeing the aftereffects of an affair with a woman who turned against him and the laws he has sworn to uphold. But being in Basswood Hills revives a deeper layer of hidden frustrations. In a family emergency, Horgan finds himself running his father’s café, The Chair. But he hasn’t given up law practice. Some strange things are going on in the small town, and one of those unwittingly drawn into them is Emily, a former nun trying to start a shelter for battered women. With the assistance of Joyce, his secretary, and Irene, a former addict now keen on helping the right side of the law, Horgan slowly uncovers major fault lines in a noted commodities fund. And through his relationship with Emily, he discovers a long-repressed need for the solace of religious faith.

Award-winning novelist and law professor Garry has composed Horgan’s story as a third-person narrative, while deftly inserting a few first-person vignettes from certain characters to fill in the picture of his protagonists and the precise circumstances of their predicaments. Garry portrays Horgan carrying the weight of familial resentment and regret, with Emily able to reach him through her unguarded spirituality. However, her naiveté makes her a foil for the evildoers Horgan is battling on the legal front. Two parallel plots claim the reader’s attention: the mysterious illegal activities that spur Horgan’s professional dedication and the budding friendship between Horgan the remorseful everyman and Emily, who speaks directly to his deepest private longings. Intertwining these two complex plots demonstrates Garry’s considerable skill as a wordsmith. His latest offering stands poised to attract new fans of gutsy legal drama while satisfying an already-established fan base.

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