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Crime of Privilege (2013)

by Walter Walker

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2815293,979 (3.37)15
Fiction. Literature. Mystery. Thriller. HTML:NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE SACRAMENTO BEE
In the tradition of Scott Turow, William Landay, and Nelson DeMille, Crime of Privilege is a stunning thriller about power, corruption, and the law in America??and the dangerous ways they come together.

 
A murder on Cape Cod. A rape in Palm Beach.
 
All they have in common is the presence of one of America??s most beloved and influential families. But nobody is asking questions. Not the police. Not the prosecutors. And certainly not George Becket, a young lawyer toiling away in the basement of the Cape & Islands district attorney??s office. George has always lived at the edge of power. He wasn??t born to privilege, but he understands how it works and has benefitted from it in ways he doesn??t like to admit. Now, an investigation brings him deep inside the world of the truly wealthy??and shows him what a perilous place it is.
 
Years have passed since a young woman was found brutally slain at an exclusive Cape Cod golf club, and no one has ever been charged. Cornered by the victim??s father, George can??t explain why certain leads were never explored??leads that point in the direction of a single family??and he agrees to look into it.
 
What begins as a search through the highly stratified layers of Cape Cod society, soon has George racing from Idaho to Hawaii, Costa Rica to France to New York City. But everywhere he goes he discovers people like himself: people with more secrets than answers, people haunted by a decision years past to trade silence for protection from life??s sharp edges. George finds his friends are not necessarily still friends and a spouse can be unfaithful in more ways than one. And despite threats at every turn, he is driven to reconstruct the victim??s last hours while searching not only for a killer but for his own redemption.
Praise for Crime of Privilege
 
??Twisting, engrossing, irresistible.???William Landay, author of Defending Jacob
 
??Stunning . . . an outstanding crime story.???Library Journal (starred review)
 
??A terrifically entertaining race of a read . . . jam-packed with intelligence, insight, morality and heart. Top-notch and highly recommended!???John Lescroart
 
??A gripping thriller . . . an unsettling, multilayered look at the insidious symbiosis between power and corruption.???Maclean??s
 
??A legal thriller and a murder mystery cloaked in pure enjoyment . . . The author??s wit, dry and cutting, is razor-sharp.???Bookreporter
 
??An engaging
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» See also 15 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 55 (next | show all)
Compulsively readable; good match for those (like me) who liked [b:Defending Jacob|11367726|Defending Jacob|William Landay|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1329612158s/11367726.jpg|16298550] by William Landay or [b:Indefensible|18144020|Indefensible|Lee Goodman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403346280s/18144020.jpg|25539458] by Lee Goodman, AND who used to gobble up Dominick Dunne stories about rich power families (ahem, the Kennedys) in Vanity Fair. This book gets mentioned alongside Grisham and Turow (probably because those are the only two legal thriller authors people know), and I think that's a disservice. Much more solid writing, plotting, character. If a reader likes Grisham, he/she *may* like Walker, but I don't think it works the other way around. ( )
  ljohns | Jun 15, 2020 |
What an unmitigated mess this book is. I am not sure whether to blame the authors I have read lately for not having a single original thought, or if I need to blame myself for picking such lousy books to read, but this book was awful. Much like [b:Schroder|15018713|Schroder|Amity Gaige|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1340468250s/15018713.jpg|20673281] is a blatant ripoff of the Clark Rockefeller case, this atrocity is a wholesale ripoff of the William Kennedy Smith and Michael Skakel rape and murder cases respectively. The writing is pedestrian, the "characters" (I put this in quotes because it is so easy to spot the real people who are indeed not fictional characters)were one-dimensional and this book had absolutely no plot. Hated it, couldn't wait to be finished with it. For the love of all that is holy, I beg the publishing community to stop pawning off "novels" which are simple retelling of true-life events done poorly and with the gall to claim they are literary accomplishments. ( )
  Maureen_McCombs | Aug 19, 2016 |
Having grown up in Massachusetts in a time when the Kennedy family was revered by many, i'd wanted to read this book for awhile, before i ever got a copy. Shades of the dynasty are throughout the book....Will Smiths rape trial in Florida, the Skakel murder sensation in CT. (i think that's where it took place), the family compound on the Cape.... Add a few more sleazy characters and change the times and dates and voila!

This story however revolves around a fringe character- not family and not quite a friend. There is manipulation and sabotage, cover-ups and of course- money.

So sure, if interested give it a whirl. You just might feel like you need to wash your hands afterwards....
  linda.marsheells | Jun 4, 2014 |
The Gregory family is a rich and famous family of a Massachusetts senator. That sounds familiar for some reason. Anyway there was a rape in Florida and a murder on Cape Cod. Was it a Gregory behind these crimes or were they just convenient scapegoats? Do they think privilege is their right? Is there an elaborate coverup? Along the way there are plenty of twists and turns and travels around the globe tracking down the people who were at the Gregory compound the night of the murder. I couldn't wait to find out who did it and if and how justice was served. IMHO Walter Walker is a wonderful writer.
I received this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. ( )
  jwood652 | Sep 28, 2013 |
Showing 1-5 of 55 (next | show all)
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Fiction. Literature. Mystery. Thriller. HTML:NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE SACRAMENTO BEE
In the tradition of Scott Turow, William Landay, and Nelson DeMille, Crime of Privilege is a stunning thriller about power, corruption, and the law in America??and the dangerous ways they come together.

 
A murder on Cape Cod. A rape in Palm Beach.
 
All they have in common is the presence of one of America??s most beloved and influential families. But nobody is asking questions. Not the police. Not the prosecutors. And certainly not George Becket, a young lawyer toiling away in the basement of the Cape & Islands district attorney??s office. George has always lived at the edge of power. He wasn??t born to privilege, but he understands how it works and has benefitted from it in ways he doesn??t like to admit. Now, an investigation brings him deep inside the world of the truly wealthy??and shows him what a perilous place it is.
 
Years have passed since a young woman was found brutally slain at an exclusive Cape Cod golf club, and no one has ever been charged. Cornered by the victim??s father, George can??t explain why certain leads were never explored??leads that point in the direction of a single family??and he agrees to look into it.
 
What begins as a search through the highly stratified layers of Cape Cod society, soon has George racing from Idaho to Hawaii, Costa Rica to France to New York City. But everywhere he goes he discovers people like himself: people with more secrets than answers, people haunted by a decision years past to trade silence for protection from life??s sharp edges. George finds his friends are not necessarily still friends and a spouse can be unfaithful in more ways than one. And despite threats at every turn, he is driven to reconstruct the victim??s last hours while searching not only for a killer but for his own redemption.
Praise for Crime of Privilege
 
??Twisting, engrossing, irresistible.???William Landay, author of Defending Jacob
 
??Stunning . . . an outstanding crime story.???Library Journal (starred review)
 
??A terrifically entertaining race of a read . . . jam-packed with intelligence, insight, morality and heart. Top-notch and highly recommended!???John Lescroart
 
??A gripping thriller . . . an unsettling, multilayered look at the insidious symbiosis between power and corruption.???Maclean??s
 
??A legal thriller and a murder mystery cloaked in pure enjoyment . . . The author??s wit, dry and cutting, is razor-sharp.???Bookreporter
 
??An engaging

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