Silent Witness

By: Richard North Patterson

Narrated by: T. J. Edwards

A main selection of the Literary Guild

Silent Witness begins in 1967, in a small Midwestern town. Seventeen-year-old Tony Lord, Lake City's star athlete, seems destined for great things. His driving ambition is precisely what attracts Alison Taylor, the daughter of the town's leading family, and it is what sets Tony apart from his two closest friends: Sam Robb and Sam's girl, Sue Cash.

Suddenly, everything changes. Alison Taylor is brutally murdered, and Tony is the number one suspect. The town turns against him. His friendship with Sam is destroyed. And Tony leaves Lake City, vowing never to return.

Twenty-seven years later, an urgent phone call from Sue changes Tony's life once more. For Tony Lord is now a San Francisco lawyer - a relentless advocate dedicated to the defense of his clients. Sue's plea for help is one he cannot ignore: Her husband, Sam Robb, now the vice principal of Lake City High School, is suspected of the murder of a female student. In seeking to save him, Tony must confront not only the fear that Sam is a murderer, but the concealed passions and buried truths that underlie Alison's death so long ago.

©1997 Richard North Patterson (P)1996 by Random House Audio Publishing, Inc., All Rights Reserved Under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions, Reproduced by Arrangement with Random House Audio Publishing, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This generation's best writer of legal thrillers.... His strongest fiction to date." (Entertainment Weekly)

"Enthralling.... The denouement is powerful." (Los Angeles Times Book Review)

"Intense courtroom drama.... As startling as the bang of a gavel." (People)

A grabber...

I downloaded and began listening to this on Sunday morning, and finished at around 9PM Monday night - I was hooked from the very beginning, and only stopped to sleep...Good plot, well narrated - I'll try more from this author - could be addicting...

The Cruelty of the Defense

"Silent Witness" may not exemplify Richard North Patterson in his top form, but it does showcase some of the writing genius that has won him deserved accolades. For example, Patterson has made himself the master of the flashback. All of his novels unfold their plots teasingly -- almost like an ecdysiast -- by first dropping hints of the characters' past history, then, finally -- when our curiosity starts irritating us -- going back in time to open up what happened before, clarifying the current plot situation for us. Also, Patterson here demonstrates his mastery of the gripping courtroom drama. During the courtroom scenes, I kept worrying, "How is Tony Lord going to talk his way around 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 evidence?" And Tony Lord always does manage to squirm his way out of evidentiary predicaments ... but at a high cost. He begins to realize the extent to which he must smear some good people's reputations in order to discount their testimonies against his client. These gut-wrenching scenes show how a defense attorney might begin to hate himself. They make the listener wonder: Does 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 really deserve the best possible defense ... even at the expense of other people? If nothing else, Richard North Patterson makes us think. In "Silent Witness" -- as in his earlier novel, "Degree of Guilt" -- Patterson inserts too much unpleasant pornography for my taste; but the story does concern the trouble that the characters' hormones got them into .... I deducted a couple of stars from the story rating, because some of the characters -- particularly the female characters -- didn't act in a believable way, although their behavior did help set up the plot complexities. The narrator, T. J. Edwards, has a nice voice, and does a pretty good job of reading "Silent Witness." I deducted a star from his rating, because he lacks the range of voices that a good actor needs to distinguish the characters in an audiobook. I wouldn't put "Silent Witness" into the Thriller category, nor even into the Suspense category. It moves along a bit to slowly for those labels. I guess you could call it a "legal drama," with a mystery sub-plot. All of Richard North Patterson's novels warrant attentive reading; but I would not suggest starting with this one. If you haven't listened to any of his audiobooks before, try listening to "No Safe Place" first.

Caught me by surprise....

I can usually figure out whodunit halfway through a book. This had me guessing up the climatic chapter - and then I kept saying, "no, no, no way". It's so nice to have a book catch me by surprise. It was well written and the characters were well drawn, enough so that I cared about what happened to them. If you like mysteries, and good trial dramas, add this one to your list.

love this book

this is an old favorite of mine. narrator did a great job bringing the characters to life. highly recommend.

Complete character development

Narrator great to listen to. Enjoyed the full character development of the main character, one you could care about. Some parts at the conclusion are hard to listen to, so entirely creepy.

well written, researched & performed, but...

this is a typically well written book by a great author, but the subject matter became too upsetting for me to continue, and I had to restart it a few times to get through it. I am not a prude by any means, but this should have (and maybe did) come with a warning that the matters may be considered offensive to some listeners. that being said, I felt relieved when I did finish the book

Great book!

This is a wonderful book with fleshed out characters and an intriguing, twisting plot. I plan to read all of Richard North Patterson that I can get my hands on!

Riveting

This book was riveting! 18 hours seems like a long time to listen to one story, but the author keeps you enthralled the whole time.

Predicable

This is a good (but not great) book by RN Patterson. I enjoyed it, though if you're a realist, some of the coincidences may be a problem for you. It did get a bit tedious in patrs. It definitely gives the listener a lot to reflect on regarding life purposes, worthwhile goals, and the nature of friendship.

Excellent!

This is an excellent audio book. The reader and book make for a terrific listen. I was engrossed to the end, constantly changing my suspects. Yes it is a long book, but would not recommend abridged. I wouldnt want to miss a thing.