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I wanted to like Jason Kolarich, the brash lawyer-protagonist of David Ellis' crime thriller BREACH OF TRUST. I really wanted to like him. I mean, he was so sympathetic at the start. He had lost his wife Talia and infant daughter Emily Jane in a car accident for which he blamed himself. His law career seemed over. Things could only get better for him. So I really tried to like him. But soon his foolhardy behavior and continuous risk taking just got to be too much for me. That, and the sex. He eyes a woman up and down and they immediately get in bed together for a two-hour romp. Kolarich is basically saying to himself, "Well I haven't had any since Talia died." Great. And we have to know that at the end of the two hours the sheets are on the floor and the lamp is off the nightstand. But I digress. This book is about how Kolarich gets involved with criminal elements in the government and becomes a government informer all because he tries to find out the truth about a murder. He feels responsible for the death of Ernesto Ramirez, an ex-gang member turned social worker. He had asked Ramirez to give him information on a high profile murder. This is also tied up with feeling guilty about what happened to his family while he was waiting for Ramirez, who never appeared, instead of being with them. The reader of this book must enjoy the concept of persistence. Kolarich is persistent in his chasing down of a murderer. The reader must be equally persistent in continuing to read this novel that goes on far too long. Because of the length of the tale, we are subjected to far too many instances of Jason's reckless behavior in the face of sleazy politicos, the feds, and gangbanger assassins. He seems to hold his own life and health too cheaply. This could be because of his fresh loss, but this does not continue to make him sympathetic. We hope he has a plan, but the clues to that plan are not always apparent. A disappointment in reading Ellis is that he is not as concise in his plotting as he needs to be. He writes well, and takes us into the fascinating territory of courtroom battles and behind the scenes intrigue. He knows from first hand experience the underworld of kickbacks, corruption, government probes and wiretaps - besides writing, David Ellis is also a lawyer and served as the prosecutor in the impeachment trial of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. But too many events in this book happen without strong consequences or follow up. Kolarich's acrobatic sexual encounter with Madison, the governor's chief of staff, just falls out of the picture, even though they work together. Nor does this seemingly obligatory sex scene reveal anything we need to know about the characters. Then personal information we learn about the governor seems out of left field and perhaps gratuitous. When Kolarich is beaten up, he recovers faster than someone his age has any right to do. And when he beats up a known killer, well, how does he do that really? Unfortunately, the reader is left wanting less, not more - which is the opposite of what one feels from the best writers of this genre. § Anne Corey is a writer, poet, teacher and botanical artist in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Reviewed by Anne Corey, February 2011
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