THE BURDEN OF TRUTH
Neal Griffin
Forge Books
ISBN 978-0-7653-9562-7
Hardcover
Thriller

THE BURDEN OF TRUTH is as dark and tragic a crime novel as one is likely to encounter this year. Author Neal Griffin has a career in law enforcement which spanned almost three decades and in which he saw the best and the worst on both sides of the blue line. Griffin’s Newberg series --- a trilogy as of this date --- is highly prized and critically acclaimed. THE BURDEN OF TRUTH is set halfway across the country from Newberg in Vista, California. Nonetheless, it has some subtle ties to the series which play out over the course of a gritty and tragic story which anyone who reads it will remember long after they have finished the final page.

Griffin toys a bit with traditional linear narrative in THE BURDEN OF TRUTH. The Prologue which opens the book drops the reader into an explosive vignette in which an arrest is quickly effectuated in a cramped apartment occupied by what remains of a family of illegal immigrants. Omar Ortega, an eighteen-year-old high school senior, is the target. The remainder of THE BURDEN OF TRUTH is divided into two parts labeled “Before” and “After.” It is “Before” that is arguably the most important in THE BURDEN OF TRUTH, given that we learn of the events --- both part of the public record and otherwise ---leading up to Ortega’s arrest. Griffin provides a nuanced and at times subtle look into Ortega’s life as the young man makes plans to improve his life with his primary goal being to elevate the circumstances of his family. There are, however, a number of obstacles, many if not most of them thrown up by the low-level streetcorner thugs who populate the blocks of Ortega’s neighborhood. The head of the San Diego County Sheriff gang interdiction squad is somehow convinced that Ortega is gang-affiliated, a situation that doesn’t help matters. Travis Jackson, a relatively new addition to the Sheriff’s department, is somewhere in the middle, sometimes wishing he had never left his small police department in Wisconsin but wanting to prove himself in the dangerous environment of San Diego County. Ortega on a fateful night puts himself between a very dangerous street gang and his younger brother and sister. When a traffic stop goes wrong in the worst possible way it appears that Ortega is at fault, leading to the arrest that is prefigured at the beginning of the book. It is in the “After” section of THE BURDEN OF TRUTH where things seem to be at their most hopeless, particularly because the reader knows much more than the justice system and law enforcement do. Ortega acquires some allies who may be of help to him, but also finds himself facing new enemies in jail, even as some members of the sheriff’s department seek out new evidence while others suffer from confirmation bias. Help is ultimately coming for Ortega. It may, however, be too little and too late.

It is sole happenstance that the publication of THE BURDEN OF TRUTH occurs at a point in time where there is, to say the least, some polarization of feeling with regard to law enforcement. Regardless of which side of the fence a reader might fall with regard to the issue, there is plenty in THE BURDEN OF TRUTH to cause one to at least re-examine their beliefs, whatever they may be. There is plenty of sorrow to be doled out on all sides in THE BURDEN OF TRUTH without the luxury of easy answers. You will be thinking about this deeply layered book and recommending it to other readers, which is what I am doing as well.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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I feel like I've read this book before, done better by others. It had a couple of terrific reviews but to me it was slow and derivative.

This is the story of Omar Ortega who is trying to do better for his family. Unfortunately because of where he lives he is expected to jump into the Eastsiders gang which he has been avoiding. He wants to join the Army and protect his mom, sister Sofia and brother Hector. Things go wrong so quickly for Omar when he tried to get his brother away from the gang and winds up getting himself mixed up in a detective’s murder. Omar is quickly blamed for this and instead of the burden of proof Omar is trying to prove that he is telling the truth.

The Burden of Truth by Neal Griffin is a great read! A real engrossing page-turner and worth the time of a read!!