Helpful Score: 1
Upon reflection, Due Dilligence may be the best Rachel Gold story yet -- certainly it's the one with the most potential as a movie. In fact, it's a natural. Graphically, the opening scene is scary in reading and would be even moreso visually. The story is clever, intricately woven, with enough false leads to keep everyone guessing, and ends with a satisfying confrontation between Rachel and a surprising prime villain preceded by a life-and-death chase through the underground tunnels of old St. Louis -- again, something that would work even better darkly seen in a movie than a book. But the book works, oh, does it work. There is a sweet romance with a tragic ending for our heroine and, for a bit of lightness, a couple of memorable softball moments. The vallainy hinges on someone actually trying to do some good at its start, another ends-justify-the-means moral issue. And Rachel's closing confrontational comment: "You've destroyed enough universes for a lifetime" is the most satisfying resolution, morally and structurally. I can't wait for the movie, Mr. Kahn.
