Justice at Risk: A Benjamin Justice Mystery

Mr. Wilson, through the main character and narrator, Ben Justice, grapples with difficult subjects: corruption in the LA Police Department--there are references to the Rodney King debacle--corruption in the newspaper media, the insanity of "barebacking." Along with Justice, we meet again Harry and Templeton as well as Justice's older landlords. (Actually they're touring Europe on a sort of second honeymoon while Justice looks after their animals and housesits for them.)

Wilson secondarily has almost written a travelogue for a great part of Los Angeles. I got a better feel for this city from him than I have gotten from other "serious" travel writers.

Early in the novel, Ben stops at a mystery bookstore to buy the last copy of Walter Mosley's GONE FISHIN', as Wilson once again pays tribute to another fine California mystery writer.


Solid Mystery   August 16, 2001
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Intrigued after reading the previous reviews, I went and purchased this book first, even though I believe it is the 3rd of the series. I won't go into the plot but I will say that the author develops his characters in such a way that you feel as if you really know and care about what happens. Excellent pace to the story. Had me turning pages to find out what happened next. Enjoyed it so much I went and bought 2 of the other novels in the series. Recommended.


Hard questions   December 30, 2000
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I like this series because the most difficult questions are raised and the author faces them with honesty and fearlessness. He isn't afraid to take us all the way down the darkest corridors of ourselves or of the society we have created. I read and re-read all of them and ask myself the same questions, Justice asks. What is desire? If we follow it, where will it take us? What is honesty and when is it useful, when distructive? How do we deal with the persistance of slings and arrows, especially as we get older? And the terrible reality of not knowing ever, really, why we do what we do. Wilson asks more than this, following the answers relentlessly toward often ambiguous conclusions. These books are thought provoking as well as entertaining. Tough stuff, but irresistible and memorable.


Another great Mystery!   November 10, 2000
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I really enjoyed this third Benjamin Justice novel. Ben is such a wonderful character, and now that he has turned 40, things are looking up for him. He's got a new job at a Public Broadcasting Station writing a documentary series on AIDS and bare-back riding, a very controversial new trend. Justice and his new associate producer go looking for the episode's producer, Tommy Callahan, who hasn't been heard from in over a week. Tommy is later found murdered. It's from this point on in the story that Ben gets involved in solving this mystery, and his life gets turned upside down, and backwards. At the same time, Ben is struggling with his love life, infatuated with Peter, the associate producer ( a blond beauty) and Oree, a sophisticated gentlemen more his own age.

There's always plenty of surprises in John Wilson's novels, and this one is one of his best. You just can't wait to get to the end to find out how everything is going to turn out. And the characters are always so well-developed you feel like they could be your friends. I read his last mystery, "The Limits of Justice" first, so now I am working on his previous three. It's best if you can start from his first one, and read the whole series in order, although each book stands on its own. If you like mysteries, you'll really enjoy this one, I did.