A Covenant with Death: A Novel
Jan 2016 · Open Road Media
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256
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About this ebook
A stunning courtroom drama set in 1920s New Mexico: "If you enjoyed Anatomy of a Murder or To Kill a Mockingbird, this is your kind of book" ( The Philadelphia Inquirer).
On a sultry day in the spring of 1923, Louise Talbot spends the last afternoon of her life lounging in the shade of a sycamore tree in her front yard. Beautiful and vivacious, Louise is the talk of Soledad City—every man lusts after her; every woman wants to know her secrets. She is found strangled to death that evening, and when the investigation uncovers her affair with another man, the citizens of the frontier town draw the obvious conclusion: Bryan Talbot murdered his wife in a fit of jealousy and rage.
Presiding over the trial is twenty-nine-year-old Ben Lewis. Appointed to the bench as a tribute to the memory of his late father, he fears he is too inexperienced to sentence another man to death. All the evidence points to Talbot, however, and it is a magistrate's sworn duty to see that justice is served. But when a last-second twist casts the question of the defendant's guilt or innocence in a shocking new light, Judge Lewis must decide whether to uphold the law—or let a murderer go free.
A thrilling suspense story and a fascinating inquiry into human nature and the true meaning of justice, A Covenant with Death was a New York Times bestseller and the basis for a feature film starring George Maharis and Gene Hackman.
On a sultry day in the spring of 1923, Louise Talbot spends the last afternoon of her life lounging in the shade of a sycamore tree in her front yard. Beautiful and vivacious, Louise is the talk of Soledad City—every man lusts after her; every woman wants to know her secrets. She is found strangled to death that evening, and when the investigation uncovers her affair with another man, the citizens of the frontier town draw the obvious conclusion: Bryan Talbot murdered his wife in a fit of jealousy and rage.
Presiding over the trial is twenty-nine-year-old Ben Lewis. Appointed to the bench as a tribute to the memory of his late father, he fears he is too inexperienced to sentence another man to death. All the evidence points to Talbot, however, and it is a magistrate's sworn duty to see that justice is served. But when a last-second twist casts the question of the defendant's guilt or innocence in a shocking new light, Judge Lewis must decide whether to uphold the law—or let a murderer go free.
A thrilling suspense story and a fascinating inquiry into human nature and the true meaning of justice, A Covenant with Death was a New York Times bestseller and the basis for a feature film starring George Maharis and Gene Hackman.
Ratings and reviews
3.0
1 review
Linda Strong
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February 1, 2016
This is a re-issue as the author passed away in 1999. The setting of this story is 1920s .. a small town called Soledad in an unnamed state. Ben Lewis is a very young judge, appointed more because of the friendship of the governor with Ben's deceased father. When a young woman is strangled in her home and her husband is accused of the crime, he has to face his own demons and how he interprets the law. This one did not punch any of my buttons. It was a murder mystery, but there was little suspense. It is very wordy ... I felt more like I was in a schoolroom learning the lesson of the day, rather than enmeshed in a very good story. There are several characters that did catch my eye. Ben is emotionally caught between two women and it's interesting to see how he relates to them and the world, in general. The young woman who was murdered was actually more fascinating after her death. Her husband, who plays a pivotal part, is seen as both guilty and innocent. Although the case looks like a slam-dunk, it really isn't. And while I wasn't invested in the story, I think there are many who would find it a captivating look at a courtroom drama. My thanks to Open Road Integrated Media and NetGalley who furnished a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
About the author
Stephen Becker (1927–1999) was an American author, translator, and teacher whose published works include eleven novels and the English translations of Elie Wiesel's The Town Behind the Wall and André Malraux's The Conquerors. He was born in Mount Vernon, New York, and after serving in World War II, he graduated from Harvard University and studied in Peking and Paris, where he was friends with the novelist Richard Wright and learned French in part by reading detective novels. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Becker taught at numerous schools throughout the United States, including the University of Iowa, Bennington College, and the University of Central Florida in Orlando. His best-known works include A Covenant with Death (1965), which was adapted into a Warner Brothers film starring Gene Hackman and George Maharis; When the War Is Over (1969), a Civil War novel based on the true story of a teenage Confederate soldier executed more than a month after Lee's surrender; and the Far East trilogy of literary adventure novels: The Chinese Bandit (1975), The Last Mandarin (1979), and The Blue-Eyed Shan (1982).
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