Dark Lady, Richard North Patterson
Dark Lady, Richard North Patterson
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Dark Lady

Author: Richard North Patterson

Narrator: Patricia Kalember

Abridged: 6 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/04/2000


Synopsis

In Dark Lady, Richard North Patterson displays the mastery of setting, psychology, and story that makes him unique among writers of suspense, and one of today's most original and enthralling novelists.

In Steelton, a struggling Midwestern city on the cusp of an economic turnaround, two prominent men are found dead within days of each other. One is Tommy Fielding, a senior officer of the company building a new baseball stadium, the city's hope for the future. The other is Jack Novak, the local drug dealers' attorney of choice. Fielding's death with a prostitute, from an overdose of heroin, seems accidental; Novak is apparently the victim of a ritual murder. But in each case the character of the dead man seems contradicted by the particulars of his death. Coincidence or connection?

The question falls to Assistant County Prosecutor Stella Marz. Despite a traumatic breach with her alcoholic and embittered father, she has risen from a working-class background to become head of the prosecutor's homicide unit. A driven woman, she is called the Dark Lady by defense lawyers for her relentless, sometimes ruthless, style: in seven years only one case has gotten away from her, and only because the defendant took his own life. She has earned every inch of both her official and her off-the-record titles, and recently she's decided to go after another: to become the first woman elected Prosecutor of Erie County. But that was before the brutal murder of her ex-lover--Jack Novak.

Novak's death leads her into a labyrinth where her personal and professional lives become dangerously intertwined. There is the possibility that Novak fixed drug cases for the city's crime lord, Vincent Moro, with the help of law enforcement personnel, and perhaps with someone in Stella's own office . . . the bitter mayoral race which threatens to undermine her own ambitions . . . her attraction to a colleague who may not be what he seems . . . the lingering, complicated effects of her painful affair with Novak . . . the growing certainty that she is being watched and followed. Making her way through a maze of corruption, deceit, and greed, trusting no one, Stella comes to believe that the search for the truth involves the bleak history of Steelton itself--a history that now endangers her future, and perhaps her life.

For his uncanny dialogue, subtle delineation of character, and hypnotic narrative, critics have compared Richard North Patterson to John O'Hara and Dashiell Hammett. Now, in the character of the Dark Lady, he has created a woman as fascinating as her world is haunting. Dark Lady is his signature work.

About The Author

Richard North Patterson’s eleven novels include seven consecutive international bestsellers; critics compared his most recent novel, Protect and Defend, to such novels as Allen Drury’s Advise and Consent and Gore Vidal’s Lincoln. Formerly a trial lawyer, Mr. Patterson served as the SEC’s liaison to the Watergate Special Prosecutor, and is now on the boards of several Washington-based advocacy groups dealing with gun violence, political reform, and reproductive rights. He lives with his wife, Laurie, and their family on Martha’s Vineyard.


Reviews

Goodreads review by aPriL does feral sometimes on February 13, 2017

Solid research add details to the plot of 'Dark Lady' which equal a good story and strong characters, who are very believable. Intricate as filigree, it is impossible to know the next twist, the next turn. The main character Stella Marz is a tarnished gem, but I admire her guts. A Catholic third gen......more

Goodreads review by Michael on July 25, 2016

This book begins so well because Patterson does nearly everything right: the protagonist has a personal stake is the outcome of a murder investigation and the book in about more than the mystery, at least at first. Those familiar with the TV series The Wire will remember that each season was about a......more

Goodreads review by Rupesh on June 22, 2016

This murder mystery starts on a good note & then deviates into mafia politics, racial discrimination, sex & corruption. The author loses the grip on the story completely & stutters towards a crippled finale. SLOW & BADLY WRITTEN.......more

Goodreads review by William on March 12, 2016

Dark Lady by Richard North Patterson Legal thriller does not really describe this book. There is anguished soul searching, perverse sex and brutal murders set in an economically challenged city. Stella Marz is an assistant prosecutor in the city of Steelton which was loosely based on Cleveland. Stel......more

Goodreads review by Warren on June 01, 2021

I thought l had picked a murder mystery by reading the rear cover. I soon discovered the story was overwhelmed by political intrigue and only saved itself in the last 25% of the book. Reading this book was a struggle, although the author redeemed himself at the end by drawing all the threads togethe......more


Quotes

"ENGROSSING . . . TRUE SUSPENSE."
--San Francisco Chronicle

"[A] COMPLEX TALE OF PERSONAL, POLITICAL, AND CRIMINAL BETRAYALS . . . Dark Lady not only keeps you in suspense; it gives you plenty of social and moral questions to ponder."
--The Wall Street Journal

"EXCELLENT . . . ONCE AGAIN PATTERSON REVEALS HIMSELF TO BE A MASTER OF CRAFTING MEMORABLE CHARACTERS. AND THE LONELY, LOVELY STELLA MARZ . . . IS ONE OF HIS BEST."
--USA Today