Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Origin and Cause
Origin and Cause
Origin and Cause
Ebook358 pages5 hours

Origin and Cause

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Cable-TV mogul Stanfield Standish wrote the book and broke the rules in the news and entertainment industry. When his charred body is found inside the burnt-out remains of his classic 1930 Duesenberg sedan, his family files a $52 million damage suit.

They blame the fatal “accident” on Courtland Motor Company, the firm that restored the antique. That’s when Courtland’s attorney, Max Bramble, takes over, suspicions sharp and asking questions. His first move: Hire private detective and ace arson investigator, Wylie Nolan. If there’s a flame, Nolan will discover the source. As Nolan brilliantly dissects the fascinating anatomy of a fire, Bramble digs deep into the Standish empire, and discovers that the media tycoon scalded many on his way up the ladder. It’s just possible that one of them paid him back with hot-blooded murder, cleverly plotted and fiery in its execution.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherBookBaby
Release dateJun 1, 1994
ISBN9780966286847
Origin and Cause

Read more from Shelly Reuben

Related to Origin and Cause

Related ebooks

Crime Thriller For You

View More

Related articles

Related categories

Reviews for Origin and Cause

Rating: 3.625 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

4 ratings1 review

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I feel mixed on this one, but ultimately it irritated me to much to finish. On the good side, the author presented the legal and arson forensics clearly and well. Reuben obviously knows the subjects on which she builds her mystery, and I'll give her points for a knowledge of torts that appears textbook perfect. The details on classic cars and arson were truly intriguing. Like much hard-boiled detective fiction, this was written first person with an attitude, and the lawyer and narrator, Max Bramble, evidenced a good sense of humor and turn of praise. I quite liked Wylie Nolan, a retired Fire Marshall who assists him in the investigation and who evinces a deductive flair worthy of Sherlock Holmes.The problem is more that the right-wing politics was way too much to the fore--and I say that as someone right of center. No author lacks a worldview, left or right, and often you can subtly (or not so subtly) detect it. Dean Koontz strikes me as right of center, Stephen King as on the left. It doesn't bother me in their books, though, but it does with Reuben. The plot deals with Bramble and Nolan investigating the conflagration of a classic car, a Duesenberg worth two million dollars, in which the wealthy and powerful media mogul Stanfield Standish is killed. His estate sues the company that restored the antique car for 23 million and Bramble is retained for the defense. Standish is an obvious--and I mean obvious stand-in for Ted Turner. And boy, Bramble sure makes it clear he detests him. We're led through the reasons why people had reasons to hate Standish. Such as a on air personality at "SNN" fired because he took a patriotic slant on a documentary rather than attacking America, offending Standish's "neo-internationalism." Or the ill-feeling when Standish buys the film archive of a major studio and begins to alter them by electronically inserting contemporary faces interposed over those of classic actors. One of those modern actresses is described as one of those bizarre and iconoclastic left-wing performance artists.In other words, this is right-wing pornography. And despite the fact I could describe myself as on the right side of the political divide, I found this too preachy and eye-rollingly heavy-handed for my tastes.

Book preview

Origin and Cause - Shelly Reuben

1^book_preview_excerpt.html}َG8a - *pH JVz0o%~h`cd9G$I 0],龽opS|oݷa7~/?+^pSNŰ)>cS0ض 9u*.כeb<Ƣl;8͐blPWũ9ľS3WmUac_g(}1&l4\ -B1a8wC/UPwU*}i};rU|ԟ*mR9X|LmRl,q'R+6ESiHߜB3Jзb)JeCsS }UxY*iz #V;!'l>+2\|O6>VFQCW;Oҿi@ٛt8(O7(ؒ'=0-ţ =y=$nZ؃EJ?Oa((OO6Cߵ~sQ&}cv2r}Ban]gwSCC;i8kk㱏" R O[fo xYGIw0qgjxl$R(Ԉu%=X>v _] ^6/i,>uXWt o{jOjv!P ԡ6tl*my9;? +3OP*J +~3\]CH!{pe)3z6oWmA5tcf#i^XDI}I|MIq Ce/jJؐAƬ.I 񂅖On\O<1/SC%4CF Т-^4@zTCi֨}\mUrJք Ŧ-"m[M1[h#Rӥwՠpm%)=h{h ?9ks7ZIpFcxrFczl.AFLhqC!385QNi<B^xl%Vp@;nC@U󷰶U6 ]FHIrxgBZ>u$*x+2 \0VZ8%5jxōN/ mh xp\k+i$iXļM>x[.}f,Nܯ\p' ṴfpÅʤi߀qصOqcZJg?[Ml>#8\Ox %P7T,×2МRH ȃdPs` 2&I0tPؤRs1'#d}jUh2`M@Keg`rǩ  Lo]R:SC2^L=/H׶ȓZEKO=0 VL;PoFm`j CX Ի~v`Qq(/?)l x;6b_K3i˽ eX.F\ N5[n OL̅m /ΦO8|Da YrEAFi z)Z*a,!- •&IߞE=f{V2ėaK!51/mm>%Dx١>>E{(W,aT@u*}ߠ[{h̛'w06mx[~3mcasArh,6ja1ֺfc6#.g3h8ؒ{ W@t@@ G j[k 41ԇم9rkZi.%0KA#|YG̶x4|Z`}b'^7`. nxIȎx 0P]W +9cs;[n8C;vmOU9D55 }Z׵}hJTŝrN2dN&3O7P1Faxᓍ}f,݄)}}rQ`ww!> .ίJK;"wG]6 fSN9y qr?kbzV8ZR[G"BMahZ*TwgyEG"qNOģd(E>ɷfW 4EN̲4zle^.LAdR4W4u^6zf{_lCC-UxH|m3@vnDsYL1bd;D*}YLw<ɲ~ձEzKZutI~̊E1ÛHRKKˇCy\ZFo c B?j+_AC4S`_/]QJ@ %gBƊ?'yXx{&e WDwS8O;a7tHQ,EB[*y@!$  e#Dv *^92TJVf8"W~Ұɒ湈gKS`ӛ50Bl(DB!,R5]zD`y2.aW;MĻf(Lg#?MPV^.,l)uYD!S2u2rm,*(B9zVL!Sj7тo5jX^B^꺒^vQ`/`/IJokEaԛ]T#T51bE](uঌ%Ј@{a= TH N!$UAh2ѣ+-5yM1HZ"̏M8ɡg -#WzBHI R;Uw']d;]Ҽ AXE,yƍ= TBڱac˻t7abKF[pTp\ ]RBZ&MTg+j.rG"}DBURקH(/֜a9mzz4q0LA9K#k7I+KӒ﫰 Z8A}!o"?ϫK}ھV""]՞MTa_epwqPTWP[0vk0-A@E0'^EL$5;5޵6I +:4/v.lo=pthrًzٻ ѲRvaT[?lg^oSy g@#HOH0DgYO,/NW[7CɴL<˟xeݍ#}_򸷒Xb4Mr"H F/eeU+&G+'7x2hP̑C'ci7sՅpP0;)P[T%^.5YiWkZ bV|i4;]b!E+ E;rv 8ػ]S*q)2CXu^p lT!L['>^(2~4K(|MWٻE'L<fPVU(.0*tXZ@$mψƽJs\6uU%4pXf̹Nt͖+-Y'ڪDʾal=u"vep@QKNֻaQ[ds Kܫ_>wýin_j,1ϐk"Ui-Φ{߶9{0`Y"3H{+e{#q1(uӚlPE߆),m#}4zU =?\ Kvӫc6[{u$4:TrH P }H_cSdW_/:A? Rou\kBQ+<͹VٚZm$biAhp,sV3u{8Do2uHy',_)fȹoX/ ,}kcl-^^㹕<^IeṚ \ĺ&'6D}juZwkN9/>nP#ۣR˪c~]shK>46 YS`KP1 }aK&nr6f Kmd:^54L4&1o!=M~Eʁ[wdZ&Fb+X7b L"3u=WpAg_kG򬄗, [_#mGtxl܌:ceJR6afKXNE$dViœU04a7O~ޖj<1vBj֨UxU;yTR:D`i#LE&FgYr{qPUsxP7㒖G-KŸ5CVwjJ-)^#:ݤDzk"&YzݶOqT0)o_Vϓ􌱠PN|L8g[Wxi_}BD۽!à 5<nj}Zk!BL=ç>j `u|V,x)~P^?Tz|fLh5Ȥ6O14yl llY%MXʖŪ5m"&P5pb;y_rf g%7?R7ng%7f}N_N bC.<ߪFNA#I,wu2;8hd5C2$:0rx+Gշ6^A6%9W7o,4 Xճ/j*rQs}h*b})%vIx2/+~_jl N~^&4y}sb~IQe<jѧ:li\íj_Ōp'[LA04F|Vwk}W46IpJ6MB<2EZ'@Ri4_8t1RH54`Mk/6 :di iD4_Kzr{tLR,×%+ &h,Gk/${2 fт[J; ^Фe*{&umBk'+LNya;o_~frӻOwny]<_n|_n?^߽[<#؇:4_7o٘0P,BUST ՅvZ %8r\3+ 6KL}j,kH{H?63S N T۰ hz!ކƲ\XJڔPv/e}f>Ý=Mvh ESfI>C'FxZWMa5'se{<-Agى@ H:y3eQB0sldKSyn+n{6:]hٖc!K,ǰhВ6YlX36:fXXgMɇ5]|HrNgXUz% onoyGGάRD5F^f&ϹFVj,=>F[&?{J3̚ևk;M7eIJav5\43T–g~`^,#ͅnN=dA1k1*nb&Y`L]zq:5nnĪ^n*K76eCI?ip 3YUɕ6ۜ,ؽU14fPV_R5XU0V϶~ytJ/ %)JJXf-~VP_c5T5>Fg(=h47{laWk<[/܇Zϱ7Ld^OXA?xހ`9e{wxtTo{QU*o{ls/k` ~lDE9uv2ljfzT&t;en݂עdhx+Vxފ<h4bki'+;f"O֪Ѧi^ymR`HE\hv( 1;pA,QgGsX7%ʈU'pokBr+ &V6c-UXXUʆ+OK(~K;o؎+/zپTSŪcuGeXUbN>HnC-O`N+gs!,44 0{+zV!^i'Dphz%pPOj*Mxe ]l!^E|AAt$ >%NἥÇV9+>)$[n3ɶawR 2T;BUvpd*DPjoUco/\EYIs흵Dd^mQDmF\>MVjb+Cm|@|_q½O:;S#ޫ,Ϥ#4q*pcĝK2W$c`깩72aAaF4c| ke(S`'w}|˓$,[CDpvI)Q+AT+`|/BV÷cAi,du0\G0Cq̝[u[/μ 9=nN96cvkh+bsa!ǠE=V|ލ_L8 ¶BI5Yrhh*@WQwn=75}t~Hv^+J?ZBLGbY'1x}z4k'Zk9An#U8`z8`^9>"PږS9#ȳy .l`F;J|}zw _=o~;w[Κs{]<&Opb4GRgޤ#k U:n݋ֿz:9~̻g&zv„(~VS1ۃaWóy>- W }kUގNo֩M/VϖX.ge{N%5Ok{[E|~j*;.nnLh1>\9emԀ0s4yd_{_liT?g&ogk^=ػq3K`v|SLYOco\e\m3tOߴsO͠xJ=^5}YŏK BV\`)Sk(E^Vت㉼s/qv&K[/GUE'r}NΎaU9S4r~!/ծ.z+F~6=VZ;2zVtN.yɽռyHNI+G?W]Zybw,DtZN,r`g*ikDp&y.19jlԞRk!] 2XVU;ǥSG%Q>wm^Q?ƄV x۝Z6|uM#4]bI7ڛJdh2eȇ֑%s2kEzE/`$|ژ_-Pk-?ہ|yV._ vfe H-E'[0P(^=$U?҂;.݋[m1ڡdguauȹ0F?)ʕsGX=;):4\Y~.V,ڢLBO˺.u9Sb`>:=dH0w"Un9cřM# g;b|>mT  ƲOfm?s-Ou 6X FuI~R9jeR?M ?W3tdȪ(I`C>O\9 mhKS cV_KLRΨF%\]kӀ6vpT2~ge,#>Ys&Ub'cIԧ2\KŅj7֝y'HK 'HmhkŎ`Ųr_1Qn
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1