SummaryIn the critically acclaimed novels The Advocate and Officer
of the Court, Bill Mesce Jr. introduced readers to a new
hero in the world of military suspense. The Defender is the
electrifying tale of Major Harry Voss's most riveting case
yet: a wartime court-martial that could cost an innocent
man his life—and cover up another innocent man's murder. THE DEFENDER The case against Lieutenant Dominick Sisto is overwhelming.
It's so overwhelming that Major Harry Voss hasn't been
called in to prove him innocent—but to fight for a less
severe sentence when the guilty verdict is read. Charged
with disobeying a direct order from a commander, Sisto is
accused of fleeing in the face of the enemy at a place
called the Huertgen Forest. But the more Harry looks into
the case, the more he suspects the official story is far
from the real one. As Voss is raced to a secluded castle in
Wiltz to defend Sisto, the war in Europe escalates and the
Allied forces mount an offensive against the Nazis that
will reach a climax in the Battle of the Bulge. Summoned
personally by an old friend who will preside over the
trial, Voss has a personal connection with the accused
going back to the neighborhood where he watched the young
lieutenant grow up. Still, determined as he is, Voss isn't
sure he's the right man for the job. He hasn't defended a
criminal case in years and he's up against an ambitious
hotshot JAG prosecutor chosen by the brass to win at any
cost. And that cost may well be justice, truth, and the lives of
innocent men. For as Voss unravels what really happened on
Hill 399, he discovers that Sisto was a hero, not a
traitor, and that the one man who can prove it vanished in
the blood and chaos of war. As the trial builds to a
shattering climax, Harry is driven to visit the Belgian
site where the drama unfolded—and it's there he must find
evidence that he's not just walking the hallowed ground of
a battlefield...but the scene of a crime. Evocative, tense, and relentlessly paced, The Defender is a
superior military thriller that takes us to a place where
loyalty turns into betrayal, allies turn into enemies, and
comrades in arms can become cold-blooded killers.
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