This thought-provoking mystery from the pseudonymous Robb, whose first novel, The Widow’s Son
, was published under his real name, Bruce Steinberg, examines a racially motivated hate crime with a terrifying twist. Hidden under a table, eight-year-old Richard Hill witnesses 18-year-old Henry Clayton, who sports a swastika tattoo, rape Richard’s white mother, then murder her and his black father at his parents’ home in Red River Falls (evidently located near Chicago). Sixteen years after Henry is convicted, new DNA evidence gains him a governor’s pardon and release from prison. Now a Red River Falls police patrol officer, Richard suspects the new evidence is bogus. When the murder of an elderly gay man points to an old white power buddy of Henry’s as the culprit, Richard and his white squad partner suspect Henry’s connected. Proving that connection is another matter and a testimony to friendship and faith under fire. Robb depicts Henry’s terror campaign and Richard’s hunger for justice with steely eloquence. (May)
