MY REVIEW:
Enterprising young attorney Tom Crane feels like he has just had the rug pulled out from under him. Believing that he has a partnership in his law firm in his pocket, he is shocked to find that he not only didn’t get the partnership but no longer even has a job. To make matters worse, his girlfriend leaves him a “Dear John” letter and takes his cat. With nothing to hold him in Atlanta, Tom travels to his home town of Bethel to wrap up loose ends of his recently deceased father’s estate and to close his office before returning to the city to find a new job.
Of course nothing goes according to Tom’s plans. His uncle Elias encourages him to return to his spiritual roots but Tom is not interested. Friends and other lawyers in town encourage him to continue his father’s law practice but all Tom wants is to quickly close the office and get back to Atlanta. When Tom finds information in his father’s belongings that does not add up, his investigation leads to a trail of deceit and possibly murder. He soon learns that he cannot be certain who to trust.
Water’s Edge is a riveting legal suspense in the tradition of John Grisham. I personally prefer the novels of Robert Whitlow because the plots are more people centered without the excess legal terminology that tends to bog me down. The characters of Water’s Edge are very realistic. I found myself telling Tom “Don’t do that” on more than one occasion. I wish he had listened but then the story wouldn’t have been nearly as interesting.
I was particularly impressed by the strong message of faith woven unobtrusively throughout the story. Tom’s transformation was truly amazing. The author’s description of “thin places” was of interest to me and I would like to learn more about them.
I would highly recommend Water’s Edge as well as any other of Robert Whitlow’s books, especially to those who enjoy good legal suspense. If you are not familiar with his novels, Water’s Edge would be a good place to start.
This book was provided for review by BookSneeze.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Sometimes the smallest towns hold the biggest secrets. Ambitious young attorney Tom Crane is about to become a partner in a big-city law firm. One final matter has to be cleared from his docket—the closing of his deceased father’s law practice in the small town of Bethel. Killed in a tragic boating accident, John Crane didn’t leave his son anything except the hassle of a bankrupt estate. Then, within twenty-four hours, Tom loses his job, his girlfriend, and his cat. Job didn’t have it much worse. Returning to Bethel with his pride ground to powder, Tom’s plan to quietly shut down his father’s practice and slink out of town runs into an unexpected roadblock—two million dollars of unclaimed money stashed in a secret bank account. Tom follows the money into a tangled web of lies, theft, and off-shore financial transactions manipulated by powerful men who will do anything to stop him from discovering the truth.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Robert Whitlow is the best-selling author of legal novels set in the South and winner of the prestigious Christy Award for Contemporary Fiction. A Furman University graduate, Whitlow received his J.D. with honors from the University of Georgia School of Law where he served on the staff of the Georgia Law Review. A practicing attorney, Whitlow and his wife, Kathy, have four children. They make their home in North Carolina.
