Novels No. 22 (LL340)

 

Rosemary Hennigan. The Favorites. Ebook download from TPL's "Libby." USA: Graydon House, 2023.

A woman on a mission is Jessie Mooney. The Irish student was accepted into the highly coveted post-grad class run by Professor Jay Crane at a law school in Philadelphia. Crane chooses only six students for the honour; Jessie is determined to become his favourite, a typical practice each term. This man once did something so drastic to her sister Audrey that she fled from her family and died alone, far away. Audrey didn't confide in Jessie, but she inadvertently left some clues about the relationship in emails and her diary entries. Little does Crane know that he's going to pay for whatever he did. His theme of law versus justice encourages intellectual debate in class, an ironic parallel to what Jessie secretly has in mind. But is the story simply to point out that Crane's (and all men's?) personal behaviour is the antithesis of his professional demeanour?

Jessie's plan requires getting as close as possible to, and trusted by Crane. By repeating what she believes was Audrey's experience, she can make sure to have a witness and nail Crane. Yet there's a chance that one of the other five students might win Crane's favoured position; two of them are Vera, already a law school leader, and Charlie, the silver spoon charmer. It's also ironic that Jessie shares Crane's conviction that "the law" is formed by rich old white men for their own benefit; that women are generally at the mercy of the legal system. Crane comes across as academically magnetic but remarkably ordinary in person. Nowhere is the word rape used with Crane's transgression; the reader, like Jessie, assumes. The word consent is bandied about as if those in the know are too high-minded to say "No means No" or "#MeToo," as if legal language eliminates all emotional content. The way the author handles it makes one wonder if anything life-shattering did happen.

Does Jessie's pursuit of justice on her sister's behalf justify her deliberate, bold entrapment? The communications intended to be flirtatious or sexy between Jessie and Crane tend to feel awkward or clumsy. Seems to me his character fails to portray a predator; even his ultimate anger feels artificial. I enjoyed the literary classics as debate samples but the bigger story does not hang together for me.

Bits

▪ "Yeah, like, he's known as this, like, radical law professor with big political ideas." (17)

▪ ... in almost everything Crane wrote, there was a deep skepticism of the legal system as the formal arbiter of justice. (17)

▪ He had destroyed her life. It was his turn now. (49)

▪ ... he was a part of the power system he was now so nobly admonishing, a direct beneficiary in fact. (56)

▪ "If there's any room to doubt a woman, she will be doubted. Culturally, we find women less trustworthy, less stable, less believable." (59, Jessie)

▪ Together, we would talk about how the law failed women, how it made the male experience normative, and discounted the trauma this caused for women. (95)

▪ It was harder to plot a man's ruin while sitting in his home, observing all the things he stood to lose. (107)

▪ Nowhere had Audrey mentioned a wife, not once in an email or text. (139)

▪ "That's the game? Using what I taught you against me?" (239)

▪ "You allege that your sister withdrew consent and Jay ignored this." (269)

▪ Losing his career, his access to students, it felt like the right punishment. The other route, the police, a courtroom, did not. (281)

Jo Nesbo. Police. Ebook download from TPL's "Libby." Vintage Canada, 2014.

Couldn't resist after finishing Phantom (Post No. 20): Harry Hole continued. Nesbo has a tricky premise here because last we heard, Harry had been shot by his drug-addicted foster son Oleg. This is definitely a case where having read Phantom beforehand is an advantage. Harry's informal team in the Crime Squad ‒ crime scene techs Beate and Bjørn, psychologist Ståle Aune, joined by internet wunderkind Katrine Bratt ‒ are a bit lost in tackling a major case without him: the brutal killing of policemen at the scenes where each had fumbled a past (still unsolved) murder. Their Crime Squad boss, Gunnar Hagen, does not trust Chief of Police Mikael Bellman, so the group works independently and secretly.

Harry had promised Rakel no more investigative work; he wants to savour his happy domestic life with her and the quieter pace of teaching at the police college. It's almost impossible to say anything about the story ‒ the stories ‒ without giving away any of the constant surprises. The team thinks Valentin Gjertsen must be the cop killer, a man who scares everyone he meets, without finding any proof at all. The killer can predict their procedures and reactions. In no particular order, Katrine visits a scumbag in prison; Bellman unwisely dumps his influential mistress; Beate endlessly pesters Harry to join them; police student Silje accuses Harry of rape; the suspected corrupt cop Truls gets an unwelcome epiphany; Oleg comes home. Tattoos, ski lifts, extortion, the importance of a refrigerator, and so much more; the pace is relentless. Harry does join them—after a shock that brings him to his knees—even though it's likely to lose his love and his career.

I do have trouble with certain gruesome physical descriptions, but the plot totally engaged me, had me spellbound, moving brilliantly from one suspense point to the next. Nesbo counterbalances violent bits with his inviting, flowing prose. You have to love these characters; I'm sure I've never cried twice in a book before! It was almost exhausting, but thankfully the series goes on.

Bits

▪ Yes, Truls was loyal, but he was also a loose cannon, and that in particular worried Mikael Bellman. (47)

▪ "The thought that there's someone out there who can testify that you and I have been working with a dope dealer to further our careers — " (51, Bellman)

▪ "Welcome to the sewer," the prison warder said, a phrase Katrine was fairly sure he didn't use with his standard clientele. (113)

▪ "You've got to find him. Please. Before he finds me." (132, a witness)

▪ "The answer's no," Harry said. "I've promised Rakel that none of us will go back there." (211)

▪ "He rings his victims and says the police murderer has struck again?" (228, Bjørn)

▪ "I'm freezing all activity in your group until further notice, Gunnar." (237, Bellman)

▪ "The very fact that this rape has been reported and made public will turn your life upside down." (282, Silje's lawyer)

▪ It was painful, so, so painful that he couldn't breathe, so painful that he was doubled up, like a dying bee with its sting removed. (336, Harry)

▪ "You want to fail Rakel as quickly as possible because you're convinced it's going to happen anyway." (376, Ståle)

▪ He asked himself the same question Katrine had asked: why was it so obvious that it was a policeman they were after? (434, Harry)

▪ "Just a final word of advice, Harry. Don't come after me. If you know what's good for you. For you and your woman." (469, Bellman)