Paul Terry, on the verge of leaving the army to become a highly paid attorney, is tasked with defending the youngest member of a legendary army family. Lt. Brian McCarran is accused of committing the worst crimes in the military's code of honor but offers minimal help with his case. With his defense hinging on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Terry brings in witnesses who provide graphic details about urban warfare in Iraq. VERDICT Patterson's (The Spire) insights into PTSD are fascinating but never interrupt the story's flow to its explosive ending, and his courtroom drama is as intensely engaging as the most action-filled thrillers. [The title was changed from Honor.-Ed.] (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A dramatic military trial is at center stage in this engrossing mystery. Lieut. Brian McCarran, a member of a distinguished military family, is on trial for shooting and killing his commanding officer. Capt. Paul Terry, an excellent trial lawyer who is on his way out of the military and into a lucrative job at a civilian law firm, is brought in as defense counsel. McCarran is claiming self-defense, but Terry knows there are secrets being kept and more to this killing than he's being told. John Bedford Lloyd reads with clear, almost clinical intonation, and this works well in the stiff question and answer phases of the trial, but not quite as well when the book moves outside the courtroom. These sections could have used a little more passion in their delivery. Still, this is a small quibble; this book is Patterson at his best, and the listener is in for a suspenseful and thought-provoking listen. A Henry Holt hardcover. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Patterson returns to the courtroom that made him famous in thrillers such as Degree of Guilt (1993) as military lawyer Paul Terry takes on the case of a young lieutenant accused of fatally shooting his commanding officer with the man's own gun. Brian McCarran comes from a long line of distinguished officers, including his father, the imperious General Anthony McCarran, the army's chief of staff. The man he stands accused of shooting, Captain Joe D'Abruzzo, was not only Brian's commanding officer in Iraq but was also married to Brian's childhood friend, Kate Gallagher. Brian claims that he was protecting Kate; a witness for the prosecution claims Kate and Brian were having an affair. Paul goes forward with the defense in part because of Brian's beautiful sister, Meg, who has left her job in San Francisco to serve as his co-counsel. Those familiar with Patterson's works know they build slowly and carefully. What distinguishes this story is not only the minutiae of the trial but also vivid accounts of what soldiers face in Iraq. Readers will find themselves engrossed as well as pleased by a twist revealing that there's more to this powerful yet seemingly straightforward story than first meets the eye.--Huntley, Kristine Copyright 2010 Booklist