What happens when a college student returns home for the holidays, anxious to spend time with his parents, and finds them shot dead? And what happens when this young man is LDS, and has become the prime suspect in the murders? Such is the premise of Wrongly Accused, an exciting and often-unpredictable thriller from author J. Michael Hunter.

Brad Armstrong is a pre-med student at the University of Utah. And although his parents live in Salt Lake City, he decides to move into the dorm and room with his cousin Jess. Jess is on his way home to California to celebrate the holidays with his family (his father is a pharmacologist at the U), leaving Brad to spend the season with his parents. When he arrives at their home, he senses something is wrong -- newspapers gathered at the front door, an eerie silence. And then he discovers the murders.

When the police arrive, a battle of wills begins. The senior officer, Detective Douglas Thornton, is convinced that Brad is guilty. But his junior officer, Detective Vanessa Chandler, is not so sure. And after speaking to Brad, she's certain he's innocent.

What follows is a fascinating, and sometimes troubling, search for the real killer. The trail leads everywhere, from the lab facilities at the U to the slums of Salt Lake City. And at each step, the mystery deepens. We peek into the world of medical experimentation, big business, and the perils of bringing a new drug to market.

I will confess that, while some books telegraph their endings (sometimes unforgivably), this one took me by surprise. Looking back, I could see that Hunter left some clues that I should have picked up on. Maybe I'm just getting old. In fact, the ending is satisfying and logical, very well written.

So what's the downside? The book is just too preachy. When Hunter decides to be explicitly Mormon in his writing, he pulls every Mormon cliche from the vast collection and uses it. I found myself reading past those parts rather quickly; I didn't want it to ruin my enjoyment of the book. In the end, it wasn't fatal, and I found my discomfort fading as I appreciated the story, but I have never thought that overt references to Mormon life and belief were necessary to tell a good Mormon story.

On balance, the book is worth reading. I hope to see more from Hunter; I likewise hope that future books will back off a bit on the preachiness.

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Jeff Needle
August 15, 2004