In the Name of Honor

by Richard North Patterson

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Richard North Patterson likes to center his stories around an issue, and the one he tackles here is PTSD, and the lack of support for Iraq War veterans once they return state-side. We spend more time in the courtroom here than in his past few books, and that’s both a plus and a minus.

On the plus-side, RNP is at home writing about the courtroom. He can create suspense and drama where there is little action. But the fact that the primary action has already happened when the story begins is a minus. What we’re left with is a lot of talking heads as the players recount their stories over and over again. He tries to combat this with the use of flashbacks, but hearing the same story more than once with little variation gets a little tiresome.

I really didn’t care for how he wrote the women in this story. They’re either overly dramatic (the speeches they give in their grief are ridiculous) or conniving or martyrs. Ultimately, Paul Terry’s motivations also aren’t clear to me. He sleeps with a woman a few times and he’s ready to give up his new career for her? It didn’t compute.

Overall, I was entertained by this story, but I didn’t love it. RNP is a master at writing the courtroom, but the characters behind it never gelled.