The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: Bastard Verdict, James McCrone

Bastard Verdict

James McCrone

You don't have to win, just don't lose.

High stakes and low politics combine with deadly effect in the new thriller, Bastard Verdict, by James McCrone.

A second referendum on independence looms, and a Scottish official enlists elections specialist Imogen Trager, a by-the-numbers, if rarely by-the-book investigator, to look into irregularities in the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum. Imogen uncovers a trail of criminal self-dealing, cover-ups, and murder leading to the highest levels of power. None but a very few know the truth. And those few need it to stay hidden at any cost.

Imogen will risk what's left of her standing, her career--and maybe her life--to get at the truth.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Faithless Elector
  • Publish Date: May 18th, 2023
  • Pages: 302
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.50in - 5.50in - 0.75in - 0.70lb
  • EAN: 9780999137741
  • Categories: Thrillers - CrimeThrillers - PoliticalThrillers - Suspense

About the Author

McCrone, James: - James McCrone is the author of the Faithless Elector series-Faithless Elector, Dark Network, and Emergency Powers-"taut" and "gripping" political thrillers about a stolen presidency. For this latest book, Bastard Verdict, set amidst a second Scottish referendum on independence, he drew on his boyhood in Scotland. His short stories have appeared in Rock and a Hard Place; Retreats from Oblivion: The Journal of NoirCon, and in the short-story anthology Low Down Dirty Vote, vols. 2 and 3. He's a member of MWA, Int'l Assoc. of Crime Writers, Philadelphia Dramatists' Center and he's the vice-president of the Delaware Valley Sisters in Crime chapter. A Pacific Northwest native (mostly), he lives in South Philadelphia with his wife and three children.James has an MFA from the University of Washington. He's also continuing work on a next book, a gritty thriller set in rural Oregon, called Witness Tree.

Praise for this book

Bastard Verdict is a gripping and explosive political thriller. Set in the aftermath of the Scottish Independence Referendum of 2014, it investigates many of the questions raised in Scotland at the time and still not answered.

- Lin Anderson, author of the Rhona MacLeod mysteries

"Once again James McCrone has created a political thriller as fresh as tomorrow's headlines."

- Tom Straw, author of seven New York Times bestsellers as Richard Castle.

"McCrone's deft prose and sharp characters make Bastard Verdict a must-read political thriller."

- Richie Narvaez, award-winning author of Hipster Death Rattle