Bruce Hartman

The Devil's Chaplain Bruce Hartman

"A riveting story that hinges on clues so elusive that the tension is exquisitely drawn." -- Midwest Book Review Disillusioned with her corporate legal career, attorney Charlotte Ambler volunteers to handle the final appeal of Christopher Ritter, a Florida death row inmate whose execution is imminent. Ritter had been a prominent biologist before being convicted ten years earlier for the brutal murder of a prostitute. He denies killing the woman but is tormented by guilt for other, secret transgressions. The only appeal he will allow is to prove that he is innocent-a kind of appeal which is almost impossible to succeed. Ritter claims he was framed by a shadowy figure named Craft, but as Charlotte studies the evidence she concludes that he is a dangerous psychopath who should not go free. Then a piece of evidence turns up that confirms a key part of his story. Pursuing her investigation, she is thwarted by hidden forces that seem determined to see him executed. In a race against the clock, she searches for the elusive Craft and falls into the cross-hairs of a psychopathic killer. THE DEVIL'S CHAPLAIN is a legal thriller in the tradition of Scott Turow and John Grisham -- a gripping tale of deception and self-deception, betrayal and violence, in which lawyer and client find common ground in their quest for justice and human values. "Brilliant... One of the finest depictions of evil I have ever read." - Ken Bruen