The Conviction
PRAISE FOR
ROBERT DUGONI
“With each new novel, Robert Dugoni continues to prove both his talent and his craft. His books remind me of the best of John Grisham—only better! Read him now!”
—JAMES ROLLINS
“Dugoni has often been described as a challenger to Turow and other big names in the legal-thriller genre, but at this point, he’s claimed his own position on the A-list. A must read for fans of courtroom drama, from Grisham to Turow to Erle Stanley Gardner.”
—
BOOKLIST
“Tight plotting and well-developed characters push Dugoni to the head of the legal thriller pack.… John Grisham and Scott Turow fans should add Dugoni to their list of must-reads.”
—LIBRARY JOURNAL
(STARRED REVIEW)
“Robert Dugoni is a bona fide new talent.”
—JOHN LESCROART
In this gripping, high-octane thriller by critically acclaimed
New York Times
bestselling author Robert Dugoni, a father takes the law into his own hands to save his son, trapped in a juvenile detention center from hell.
L
awyer David Sloane is desperate to get through to his troubled teenage son Jake. Still reeling from the devastating loss of his mother in a brutal murder, Jake has spiraled out of control and Sloane has barely been able to keep him out of jail. So when his old friend, detective Tom Molia, suggests that they take their sons on a guys-only camping trip, Sloane gratefully accepts.
What Sloane imagines will be the perfect excursion turns into a horrifying nightmare when the boys are arrested for vandalizing a general store late at night while their fathers are asleep. The next morning, before Sloane and Molia even realize they’re gone, their sons are tried, convicted, and sentenced by the presiding judge to six months in the county wilderness detention camp, Fresh Start. For the teenagers, a grueling physical and psychological ordeal begins.
As Sloane fights the conviction against the boys, he discovers that local judge Earl Boykin’s authority seems to extend far beyond the confines of his courtroom. Meanwhile, on the inside, Jake is forced to grow up quickly and soon learns the hard way that this detention center has a very different purpose than rehabilitating troubled youths.
With their legal options exhausted, Sloane and Molia will do anything to save their sons—even mount a daring rescue operation that could win the boys their freedom… or cost all of them their lives.
ROBERT DUGONI
has practiced as a civil litigator in San Francisco and Seattle for more than twenty-five years and is a two-time winner of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Contest. He is the author of
Murder One, Bodily Harm
,
Wrongful Death, The Jury Master,
and coauthor of
The Cyanide Canary
. Dugoni lives with his family in Seattle, Washington.
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JACKET DESIGN AND PHOTOGRAPH BY JAE SONG
COPYRIGHT © 2012 SIMON & SCHUSTER
Also by Robert Dugoni
Murder One
Bodily Harm
Wrongful Death
Damage Control
The Jury Master
The Cyanide Canary
(nonfiction)
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by La Mesa Fiction, LLC
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsover. For information address Touchstone Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Touchstone hardcover edition June 2012
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dugoni, Robert.
The conviction : a novel / Robert Dugoni.—1st Touchstone hardcover ed.
p. cm.
I. Title.
PS3604.U385C66 2012
813’.6—dc23
2012013923
ISBN 978-1-4516-0672-0
ISBN 978-1-4516-0674-4 (eBook)
To my son, Joe, and my daughter, Catherine.
You both make me so proud.
God blessed me and your mother the day each of you was born.
Contents