The 24th Letter

By Tom Lowe

Book Overview

It happens to every homicide investigator. Even the best of the best. Sean O'Brien never thought it would happen to him. But there was something about the look in the accused man's face that O'Brien could never quite forget. It was a look that haunted him in the dark hours somewhere between sleep and consciousness. Even a decade later he remembered the man's face when the jury delivered the guilty verdict.Although the evidence was overwhelming, something in O'Brien's gut told him there was more to the story than surfaced in court, more than what was found at the murder scene. But caseloads mount and time has a way of blurring the lines of desperation in a man's face until something surfaces. For O'Brien, it happens when he receives a call from Father Callahan.The priest hears the confession of a frightened prison inmate, and he learns that a man facing lethal injection in 84 hours is innocent. The lead investigator on the high-profile case was his old his friend Sean O'Brien. And now O'Brien has a chance to right a horrible wrong. But he has less than 84 hours to uncover clues to a crime that sent an innocent man to death row.Appeals have expired and the man will be executed in 84 hours unless O'Brien can find evidence that points to the real killer. The 24th letter in the Greek alphabet-Omega-may provide the key to uncovering the killer's identity.Evidence may not lie, but evil does, and when the original killer comes out of his lair, O'Brien is in a race to save two lives - the man on death row and his own.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1475128126
• ISBN13: 9781475128123
• Release Date: June 2012
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

wonderful page turner!

this is a great book! i found myself just totally getting involved with the book and the characters...I could not WAIT to get to the end.. TERRIFIC storytelling, and a page turner that you will remember for a while! i am so excited about this author, i didn't know this was book number 2, so i must read the one before, and soon...Another new terrific author to add to my list of favorites..i will be watching TOM LOWE.DAVID LOOK for my interview with TOM LOWE on [...]..please do listen

action-packed thriller

At the U.S. District Court in Orlando, the assassin fires one shot at the chest of convict Sam Spelling who is set to testify against a cocaine trafficker. Father John Callahan visits the dying Sam to receive his last confession and give last rites. Sam tells him that death row inmate Charlie Williams never killed his girlfriend; he names enigmatically someone else and states where the weapon can be found that killed Alexandria Cole. In less than four days, the State of Florida will execute Charlie. Father John's friend former cop Sean O'Brien led the Miami police investigation into the South beach homicide. The case never felt quite right though the evidence obviously hung Williams. Now Father John tells him of Spelling's puzzling death bed confession. The clock is ticking away as an apparent innocent man is about to receive the lethal injection while the real killer of the model is murdering other people to insure no link to the Cole homicide is found. O'Brien with some assistance must figure out what or who is the only clue to identify the culprit, The 24th Letter. The second O'Brien mystery (see A False Dawn) is an action-packed thriller in which the countdown to the execution hangs over the heads of those who now believe the death row inmate is innocent; especially excruciatingly difficult on the former Miami homicide detective who led the official inquiry. However, the inclusion of implausible incidents to heighten the suspense ironically detracts from an otherwise fascinating tale. O'Brien fears he will be too late to prevent the execution by Sunshine State officials who ignore his plea for a stay so he can complete his second (this time civilian) investigation into the Cole murder. Harriet Klausner