Chalk Line

July 25, 2011
LaRocque's uneven debut introduces Arlington, Tex., chief of detectives Ben Gallagher. Ben is looking forward to a better time for his immediate family with the release of his brother, Andrew, after a decade behind bars at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for manslaughter. Attorney Dayton Slaughter, a close family friend and the brothers' father figure, has just bought a Dallas apartment building for Andrew to manage, but on the day of Andrew's homecoming, Slaughter is found shot to death in Ben's home. Despite Ben's deeply personal connection to the case, Ben winds up driving the investigation to determine who of the many people that wished the lawyer ill took his life. While the Gallagher brothers come across as fully realized characters, others do not, and the competent prose only partially compensates for a weak plot. LaRocque is also the author of The Book on Writing and other nonfiction works.