Half-Past Dawn
Review: New York District Attorney Jack Keeler wakes one morning to discover a gash on his head, a badly stitched bullet hole in his shoulder, an elaborate tattoo on his arm, and a newspaper headline reporting his death in Half-Past Dawn, a stand-alone thriller by Richard Doetsch.
Jack's routine rarely varies. His wife Mia usually leaves before he awakes and takes their girls to school. He gets up, lets the dog out, grabs a quick breakfast, then gets ready for work. But this morning is anything but routine. He has absolutely no recollection of being injured, and he certainly isn't dead. He tries to call Mia, but can't reach her. Fearing for her safety, he decides that if everyone thinks he's dead, he might as well be so … at least publicly. But he needs to trust someone, so calls on his good friend and mentor Detective Frank Archer. He also confides in his secretary, Joy. The only clue as to what might have happened is the tattoo, which includes writing in a language unknown to Jack. The three of them head to Columbia University, where they learn that the Coptic script reads that he would die on the first day of the seventh month — tomorrow. They have less than 24 hours to ascertain what happened to Jack, and find Mia and their children.
Half-Past Dawn is a tautly-written, suspense-filled novel, one that incorporates several mysteries. What happened to Jack? Why does everyone seem to believe the news reports that he's dead? Where is Mia? And why is someone doing this to him? Featuring creatively drawn characters and a compelling storyline, this thriller starts quickly, keeps up the pace, and captures the reader's interest from first page to last.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Half-Past Dawn.
Acknowledgment: Simon & Schuster provided a copy of Half-Past Dawn for this review.
Review Copyright © 2011 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Selected reviews of other mysteries by this author …
The Thieves of Darkness
Atria Books (Hardcover), August 2010
ISBN-13: 9781416598954; ISBN-10: 1416598952
Location(s) referenced in Half-Past Dawn: New York City
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Half-Past Dawn by Richard Doetsch
Publisher: Atria Books
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-10: 1-4391-8397-X
ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-8397-7
Publication Date: September 2011
List Price: $25.00
Synopsis (from the publisher): Jack Keeler wakes up one bright June morning to the shock of his life. He gazes in the mirror and sees a half-healed gash over his right eye and a hastily stitched-together wound in his shoulder that looks suspiciously like the result of a bullet. He also notices an intricately designed tattoo—words written in a foreign script—covering the length of his forearm. He’s alone, his house eerily silent without the delightful chatter of his wife and two daughters. He has absolutely no memory of how, when, or why he ended up in such gruesome physical condition.
Jack gropes his way down to the kitchen to call his wife, Mia—an FBI agent—and to find some answers. But before he can pick up the phone, his eyes are drawn to the front page of that morning’s paper. He takes in a large photo of a bridge, the guard rail missing, a skein of tire marks on the roadway. Above the photo, in large black type, a headline that simply reads NEW YORK CITY DISTRICT ATTORNEY JACK KEELER DEAD.
From this mind-shattering opening scene, Richard Doetsch takes readers on a twisting, turning adventure as Jack struggles to find out not only what happened to him, but to his missing wife. As fragments of his memory return, and with the help of a loyal friend, he reconstructs the events of the previous night, which culminated in his being shot and Mia’s abduction. He has only until dawn of the following day to uncover an ancient mystery hidden in the depths of one of the country’s most heavily guarded prisons. Just when Jack thinks he has put all the pieces together and has saved Mia’s life, a final twist occurs that changes everything.