Bantam, April 2002, 23.95, 304 pp.
ISBN 0553800957
Fourth grader Cathy Lake was supposed to meet her mother in the lobby of her friend's apartment building but failed to show up. Shortly after she was reported missing her twisted bloody body was found in the park near the duck pond. The police questioned several of the homeless that live in the park before arresting twenty-six years old Albert Jay Smalls, a vagrant who resides in a drainpipe.
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After holding him for almost two weeks, the police have no evidence or witnesses that can place Smalls in direct contact with Cathy. The police have only twelve more hours to charge the homeless man with the crime or release him, something they are loath to do since the lead detectives, the chief of detectives and the chief of police are convinced he's guilty. They intend to use their remaining twelve hours to try and break him so they can get at the truth.
THE INTERROGATION takes place in 1952 before Miranda and Gideon at a time when the police had more latitude in dealing with a suspect involved in a heinous crime. This crime thriller is a fantastic historical police procedural due to the dynamic interactions of the characters and their personal perspectives on the crime. Thomas H. Cock is a mesmerizing storyteller, who knows how to create and sustain suspense throughout the story.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
