Chock full of murder, mystery, conspiracy and intrigue…
I’ve just finished reading Downfall by Brian Lutterman, and let me just state that it was a fantastic read… Penny Wilkinson, aka “Pen,” is a 
litigation attorney who has recently started working for North Central Bank. She’s a newer resident to the city of Minneapolis; and due to the new job, and new town, it’s quite apparent that Pen is attempting to rebuild her life. One can only presume that this effort is to escape being haunted by the ghosts of her past…
Two-and-a-half years ago, Pen was in a much different place. A well respected attorney working at a prestigious law firm. Pen had it all; brains, beauty, a successful career and a loving fiancé. Unfortunately, fate sometimes has a knack for shattering the illusion of a perfect life, and such was the case with Pen. One evening, while driving her six-year-old niece home, she took her eyes off the road for only a moment; yet a moment was all it took. A pickup truck, driven by a careless driver, crashed into her vehicle and changed her life forever. Now Pen is a paraplegic, struggling to both find, and redefine, herself. She still possesses her brains and her beauty, but her previous employer released her and her ‘loving’ fiancé left her shortly after the accident. Her life is about to take another unwanted turn though, when she discovers she’s being used as a corporate scapegoat.
In another part of the country, a woman by the name of Carol has been murdered; but her death was deemed to be a suicide. Several days later, Terry, a friend and former work associate of Carol’s, returns home; only to find the perpetrator sitting in her living room. She realizes that she has only moments to save herself before she winds up becoming his next victim. When you make a deal with the devil, you have to expect a house call when payment finally comes due…
At this point, I don’t want to provide any additional details about Downfall. If you enjoy murder mysteries that are skillfully combined with corporate espionage, then you should enjoy this book. In addition, it helps that Lutterman is a talented writer. I would also like to mention that I really appreciated Downfall’s protagonist being physically disabled. (This is not something I have ever encountered before). While some of Pen’s actions seemed a bit farfetched, it is her tenacity and sheer determination that will connect readers to her. In his writing of Downfall, Lutterman did a wonderful job of showing that physical limitations are not a death sentence; that one can still attain that which one seeks.
With regard to the overall plot, Lutterman wove a believable tale. One than could very well happen in today’s world. This, of course, makes Downfall a much more realistic read. And … no murder mystery, especially one set in the legal and banking world, would be complete without a twist, or two, or three. Don’t worry. Lutterman has succeeded there as well.
In summary, Downfall was an entertaining and engrossing book. Well worth the read, and I look forward to subsequent works from Lutterman in the future.