Allen Eskens

outstandingly well organized and plotted for a first novel. Held interest, characterization was good. I was a bit put off by the sheer volume of rape in this book. Knew that the initial victim was raped. Stop reading here if you haven't read book yet and are for some reason looking at this. The convicted murderer turns out to have witnessed a series of rapes. One could argue that this is necessary to the plot as it illuminates why he behaves the way he does. Having the next door neighbor to the protagonist also be a rape victim was laying it on a bi thick. I'm thinking this is a mistake of someone writing their first novel and feeling every character needs a "twist," so I'll probably give him another try… (more)

I had received this book a while ago and put it aside. While it sounded interesting, I wasn't quite ready to read it yet. Recently, a friend had read it and she gave it a great review so I decided to give it a try. I should have read this sooner!

This book is about Joe Talbert, a University of Minnesota student who is assigned to write a biography of someone who has lived an interesting life. Joe chooses to write his biography about a man (Carl Iverson) who is in a nursing home after being medically paroled from prison where he had been serving time for thirty years for the murder of a fourteen-year-old girl. Carl agrees to tell Joe his story - he says it will be a "dying declaration". A story where Carl vehemently denies any involvement with the murder.

During the course of writing the paper, Joe meets another student, Lila, who lives in his apartment building. She gets drawn into the story and starts to help Joe. Also, during this time, Joe has problems arising with his mom and autistic brother that he has to deal with. As Joe and Lila dig deeper and deeper into this mystery, they discover that they need to enlist the help of the police.

It is a relatively quick read, it flows nicely but keeps the suspense. I definitely recommend this book.… (more)

Joe is in college and must interview an elderly person for his English class. He visits a nursing home to request access to a patient. They assign him Carl Iverson, a convicted murderer, who was released from prison as he is dying from cancer. Joe interviews Carl, and Carl's friend, Virgil, swears that Carl didn't do it. Along with his apartment neighbor, Lila Nash, and his autistic brother, Jeremy, they attempt to investigate the crime, putting themselves all in danger.
I loved the impetuousness of Joe, and his dedication to justice. I look forward to reading more of the series.… (more)