From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Bestseller Patterson (_Eclipse_) explores the concept of honor—and how men and women can sometimes embody and sometimes blacken this lofty concept—in this riveting legal thriller. When Lt. Brian McCarran shoots and kills his superior officer, Capt. Joe D'Abruzzo, at Fort Bolton in northern Virginia soon after they return from a tour in Iraq, 31-year-old Capt. Paul Terry, of the army's JAG Corps, defends the lieutenant. That the accused is the son of legendary Gen. Anthony McCarran, the current army chief of staff, makes it an especially sensitive court-martial. To complicate matters, Joe was married to Kate Gallagher, the general's goddaughter and lifelong friend of Brian and the McCarran family. Sparks fly after Brian's gorgeous older attorney sister, Meg, insists on working with Paul. As always, Patterson chooses to deal with difficult themes, this time PTSD and the war in Iraq. This is superior genre fiction from a writer at the top of his game. (June)
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From

Patterson returns to the courtroom that made him famous in thrillers such as Degree of Guilt (1993) as military lawyer Paul Terry takes on the case of a young lieutenant accused of fatally shooting his commanding officer with the man’s own gun. Brian McCarran comes from a long line of distinguished officers, including his father, the imperious General Anthony McCarran, the army’s chief of staff. The man he stands accused of shooting, Captain Joe D’Abruzzo, was not only Brian’s commanding officer in Iraq but was also married to Brian’s childhood friend, Kate Gallagher. Brian claims that he was protecting Kate; a witness for the prosecution claims Kate and Brian were having an affair. Paul goes forward with the defense in part because of Brian’s beautiful sister, Meg, who has left her job in San Francisco to serve as his co-counsel. Those familiar with Patterson’s works know they build slowly and carefully. What distinguishes this story is not only the minutiae of the trial but also vivid accounts of what soldiers face in Iraq. Readers will find themselves engrossed as well as pleased by a twist revealing that there’s more to this powerful yet seemingly straightforward story than first meets the eye. --Kristine Huntley