Janet Moodie has spent years as a death row appeals attorney. Over-worked, underpaid, and recently widowed, she's had her fill of hopeless cases, and is determined that this will be her last. Her client is Marion 'Andy' Hardy, convicted fifteen years ago along with his brother Emory of kidnapping, rape and murder of two prostitutes, but Janet discovers a series of errors made by his previous lawyers. Andy may well be guilty of something, but what?
OPENINGCalifornia's death penalty long ago entered the realm of the surreal.
WHAT I THOUGHTI'm a huge fan of the show Cold Case and I expected this novel to be a bit similar. I just felt quite disappointed with the book. I feel like there is a huge chunk missing. The lack of any real resolution bothered me. There are so many things that are never touched on. Did Andy commit the murders? Did he deserve to get a death sentence? Did his brother plan it all and was Andy an unwitting puppet? Did Andy know what he was doing or was he mildly retarded and therefore not guilty? None of these questions are really answered. I have no issue with books that let readers make up their own mind or reach their own conclusions. I like signposts that let me assume what happened. Two Lost Boys didn't even give me that. I actually flicked through to see if I'd skipped a few chapters. Two Lost Boys is well written and engaging and I liked the cover. I really liked the characters. Something about the plot just fell flat for me. I wasn't completely satisfied. Maybe this was written to reflect what appeal lawyers do but it fell a little short for me and the lack of plot resolution let the whole novel down.