“Wrong Man Running?” I’m tempted to say, “Wrong Man Writing”

A review of Wrong Man Running, by Alan Hruska

@@@ (3 out of 5)

Sometimes I wonder when I finish a book why I picked it up in the first place. This was one of those times.

As thrillers go, Wrong Man Running works. It’s suspenseful (which probably explains why I felt compelled to finish reading it), and the protagonist elicited sympathy.

Rick Corinth is a hotshot lawyer nearing 40 who currently serves as deputy DA in New York City, heir apparent to his long-incumbent boss. Mystifyingly, when a series of violent rapes begins to surface, the victims are all women he knows well, and in short order Rick is suspected of the crime. Once he is formally charged, he flees in order to devote himself to finding the real perpetrator. Then the plot thickens.

Unfortunately, like so much pulp fiction, the tale hangs on a series of unlikely coincidences, and practically every character in this book is either drop-dead gorgeous (women) or just gorgeous (men) — or, in a very few cases, ugly. I don’t know about you, but I find this pandering to Hollywood producers tiresome. Oh, yes, we’ll probably see Wrong Man Running on the big screen one of these days. If you like looking at beautiful people and being shocked by what they do, you might consider going. Otherwise, save your ten bucks.