"A taste for truth at any cost is a passion which spares nothing." -- Albert Camus "I suppose every hundred million dollars has its own sordid story and the hundred million I am chasing is no exception..." So begins "Veritas, " William Lashner's riveting follow-up to his bestselling debut novel, "Hostile Witness." Victor Carl--lawyer, loser, hapless hero of "Hostile Witness, " and a Philadelphian way out of his element--has come to the sweat-drenched jungles of Berize to chase his fortune. Finding it is something else entirely.Coerced into defending an unpleasant parade of mob enforcers, two-bit hoods, and other Philadelphian riffraff, Carl wants out of his shabby, squalid life more than ever. So when a terrified young woman offers Carl an unusual--but substantial--proposition, he leaps at the opportunity to trade in his grubby existence for a life of wealthy excess.The job--proving that the recent suicide of wealthy Philadelphian heiress Jacqueline Shaw was not a suicide at all but murder--plunges Carl into an eerie shadow world, where events buried deep in the past exert an awful weight in the present, a world of overturned gravesites, gruesome secrets, and a haunted, lonely estate that houses the broken and dying heirs of a once-powerful family.Simultaneously caught up in an exploding mob war and the machinations of an avaricious cult, Carl realizes too late that he's in way over his head, as he races against time to collect his fee and get out alive. As Carl edges closer to the truth, a truth that is concealed in the mists of a bygone era and now awaits him in the rainforests of Belize, he learns firsthand that the most terrifying darkness crouches not in theheart of the jungle surrounding him but in the deepest yearnings of the human soul.

Veritas (Victor Carl, #2)

Dette De Sang (Victor Carl, #4)

Rien n'est plus facile - ni plus dangereux - que de se retrouver au lit avec une ancienne maîtresse. Surtout lorsqu'on s'appelle Victor Carl. Jadis, Victor avait été brièvement fiancé à une prénommée Julia - une femme superbe, élégante, exigeante ; bref, pas le genre à finir avec un avocat de seconde zone perpétuellement au bord de la faillite. Victor pensait bien qu'elle l'avait définitivement rayé de sa liste. Or la voilà de retour - talons hauts et rouge à lèvres, traînant dans son sillage un capiteux parfum de danger. Le mari de Julia a été assassiné, ses empreintes digitales sont partout sur la scène du crime, et 1,7 million de dollars en liquide ont disparu. Julia a donc un besoin urgent de renouer avec son ancien amant avocat. De son côté, Victor est bien du genre à douter d'avoir jamais guéri de sa déception amoureuse. Au point de se convaincre lui-même que Julia veut vraiment se racheter, qu'ils pourraient avoir un avenir ensemble, et que les Beatles avaient raison : " All you need is love. " Jusqu'à ce que deux flics débarquent dans son appartement, bien décidés à lui coller le meurtre sur le dos... Après une vie passée à faire les mauvais choix, Victor Cari décide que, cette fois, on ne l'y reprendra plus avec les sentiments : il est temps de penser à sauver sa peau.

Le Baiser du tueur - Occasion

"You want to know what deceit tastes like?It's sweet. Like honey." Over the course of his shady legal career, Victor Carl has made a host of bad decisions, but letting his ex-fiancée, Julia, fall back into his life and into his bed might be the worst. Julia's husband has just been murdered, her fingerprints are all over the crime scene, and $1.7 million in cash has inexplicably vanished. If Victor didn't know better, he might think Julia was setting him up. But Julia is drop-dead gorgeous and lust trumps reason 24/7 in Victor Carl's world. Victor wants to believe the Beatles were right, that all you need is love. But why are the cops accusing Victor of murder? And what is the murder weapon doing in his bedroom? And who is the dead woman in the freezer?Suddenly, the wary lawyer is no longer fighting to rekindle a lost love .

A Killer's Kiss

Vice De Forme (Victor Carl, #3)

A stained legal career spent defending mob enforcers, two-bit hoods, and other dregs of humanity has left Philadelphia lawyer Victor Carl jaded and resentful -- until a new client appears to offer him an escape and a big payday. Caroline Shaw, the desperate scion of a prominent Main Line dynasty, wants him to prove that her sister Jacqueline's recent suicide was, in fact, murder before Caroline suffers a similar fate. It is a case that propels Carl out of his courtroom element and into a murky world of fabulous wealth, bloody family legacies, and dark secrets. Victor Carl would love nothing more than to collect his substantial fee and get out alive. But a bitter truth is dragging him in dangerously over his head, and ever closer to the shattering revelation that the most terrifying darkness of all lies not in the heart of a Central American jungle...but in the twisted soul of man.

Bitter Truth

L'Homme Marqué (Victor Carl, #6)

Dette de sang

Hard-luck Philadelphia lawyer Victor Carl is just itching for the opportunity to sell out. Then good fortune comes knocking at his door in the guise of William Prescott III, a blue-blood attorney from one of the city's most prestigious firms. Prescott wants Victor to represent a councilman's aide who is on trial, along with his boss, for extortion, arson, and murder. It's the juiciest, highest-profile courtroom extravaganza in years -- and all Carl has to do is show up, shut up, and follow Prescott's lead. But it soon becomes clear that somene's setting him and his client up to take a long, hard fall. Victor Carl may be desperate and unethical but he's no one's patsy. And to survive in this legal snake pit of secrets, lies, and lethal double-crosses, he's going to play the game his way.

Hostile Witness

La femme d'un chef cuisinier français, François Dubé, a été sauvagement assassinée. Son mari, accusé du meurtre et emprisonné, clame son innocence : il contacte le cabinet d'avocats Derringer & Carl pour trouver de nouvelles preuves en sa faveur afin de faire réviser son procès. Le hic, c'est que Victor Carl ne croit pas une seconde à l'innocence de l'arrogant Français - et il faut toute la force de persuasion de son associée Beth, tombée sous le charme de leur client, pour qu'il accepte l'affaire. Comme si Victor n'avait pas d'autres soucis en tête. Toujours célibataire et désargenté, le voilà qui souffre en plus d'une terrible rage de dents. Partagé entre effroi et résignation, il se décide à consulter l'énigmatique "docteur Bob", un dentiste peu orthodoxe, déterminé à faire le bonheur de ses patients. Sur la fiche que doivent remplir ceux qui entrent dans son cabinet, on peut lire notamment la question suivante : "Avez-vous une sexualité satisfaisante ?" Et non content de soigner la dentition ravagée de Victor, ce bon Samaritain décide de le prendre en main - en commençant par lui faire changer de cravate, et en lui présentant une compagne idéale... Victor Carl a-t-il enfin rencontré son ange gardien ?

Rage de dents (Victor Carl, #5)

Hard-luck Philadelphia lawyer Victor Carl is just itching for the opportunity to sell out. Then good fortune comes knocking at his door in the guise of William Prescott III, a blue-blood attorney from one of the city's most prestigious firms. Prescott wants Victor to represent a councilman's aide who is on trial, along with his boss, for extortion, arson, and murder. It's the juiciest, highest-profile courtroom extravaganza in years -- and all Carl has to do is show up, shut up, and follow Prescott's lead.But it soon becomes clear that somene's setting him and his client up to take a long, hard fall. Victor Carl may be desperate and unethical but he's no one's patsy. And to survive in this legal snake pit of secrets, lies, and lethal double-crosses, he's going to play the game his way.

Les prévaricateurs

Prescott m'a acheté, c'est un fait. Si je n'avais pas cédé, Victor Carl, avocat miteux survivant de causes miteuses, jamais je ne serais entré dans son prestigieux cabinet, le plus gros de Philadelphie, mon rêve de toujours.
L'affaire qu'il me propose est simple. L'intouchable conseiller municipal Jimmy Moore, son client, est accusé de racket et de meurtre avec son complice Concannon. Prescott s'occupe de Moore. Je me charge du larbin, avec mission de le laisser plonger à la place de son patron. Facile. Je commence à voir la vie avec un certain optimisme.
Une chose me chiffonne cependant. Concannon ne vaut pas cher, c'est certain, mais Moore est une vraie ordure. Puis-je envoyer un innocent dans le couloir de la mort ? Ai-je vraiment le choix ?

Les Prevaricateurs - Occasion

William Lashner, né en 1956 à Philadelphie en Pennsylvanie, est un auteur de romans policiers et de thriller juridique américain.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lashner

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