An Unreliable Truth

From the bestselling author of A Killer’s Wife, Victor Methos’s acclaimed Desert Plains series continues with the saga of two brilliant defense attorneys and a client whose confession may not be what it seems.

Two couples cut to bits near a canyon close to the Nevada border. The police pull over blood-soaked Arlo Ward not far from the site of the grisly murders; he fully cooperates with the officers, grinning through a remorseless confession dripping with gory detail. Investigators find no murder weapon, but young, awkward Arlo’s confession is signed, taped, and delivered.

Defense attorney Dylan Aster and his partner, Lily Ricci, are two rising legal stars. They’re hesitant about pursuing the Arlo Ward case, as it seems like a slam dunk for the prosecution—Arlo was covered in the victims’ DNA and admitted to everything. But the state psychiatrist shares the impossible with Dylan: Arlo Ward is likely innocent. The man is racked with delusional schizophrenia, seizing on these murders as an opportunity for macabre attention.

Dylan can’t resist. He and Lily take on Arlo as their client, but once the trial commences, it’s clear that the real secrets and lies are just beginning.

At the age of thirteen, when his best friend was interrogated by the police for over eight hours and confessed to a crime he didn’t commit, Victor Methos knew he would one day become a lawyer.

After graduating from law school at the University of Utah, Methos sharpened his teeth as a prosecutor for Salt Lake City before founding what would become the most successful criminal defense firm in Utah.

In ten years, Methos conducted more than one hundred trials. One particular case stuck with him, and it eventually became the basis for his first major bestseller, The Neon Lawyer. Since that time, Methos has focused his work on legal thrillers and mysteries, earning a Harper Lee Prize nomination for The Hallows and an Edgar nomination for Best Novel for his title A Gambler’s Jury. He currently splits his time between southern Utah and Las Vegas.