cover image Savage Justice

Savage Justice

Ron Handberg, Rod Handberg. Carol Publishing Corporation, $18.95 (373pp) ISBN 978-1-55972-116-5

A TV anchorman in Minnesota risks his life to bring down a brutal pedophile in Handberg's riveting debut. Alex Collier, burdened by a painful divorce and professional problems, reluctantly pursues a tip from Pat Hodges, long-lost girl friend now married to a judge, about another judge who may be ruining kids' lives. Soon, however, he learns that a reporter who was investigating Judge Emmett Steele has disappeared. Now thoroughly committed, Collier tries to find Daniel Grabowski's computer disks that may contain important information. He also struggles to contact some of the alleged victims, homeless boys working the street. News that Minnesota's governor has nominated the judge to the State Supreme Court increases Collier's sense of urgency, as does discovery of Grabowki's mutilated body in a remote part of Wisconsin, near land owned by Pat's husband. Pat and Collier are on the Hodges' property when they see Steele drive up with boys and bodyguards. Shocking revelations set up a race to the climax and a final retribution that most readers will cheer, as Handberg wraps up his gripping story without reverting to graphically offensive scenes. (June)