A very fine story, very gripping, well conceived and with a neat prose. Every step of the way, the author employs unique narrative skills and concludes with a mesmerizing unexpected superb ending...How lucky I was to find this book....

Henry and Addie Bowers had a country store in western Maryland where they dispensed candy for the children, kept a petting zoo in the back, and chairs around a wood-burning stove where friends and customers could gather, relax and swap stories. Everybody loved Henry and Addie -- except whoever killed them. Nothing was taken from the store. It didn't appear to be a robbery. Rather, it looked like an execution. But who would execute this gentle, elderly couple? Other than the killers themselves, only one person knows -- and he can't tell. Eight-year-old Granville, son of State's Attorney Gardner Lawson, is the first one off the bus when his class, on an outing from school, stops at the store for cold drinks and snacks and a chance to pet the animals. He is first to burst into the store to see his beloved Henry and Addie, only to find them on the floor covered in blood with two men with guns standing over them. Left severely traumatized with the imprint of a gun on his forehead, Granville's memory of what he witnessed is quickly and deeply buried, to surface only in nightmares and a strange emblem he draws over and over. When Sgt. Joe Brown (Brownie) arrests two men for the grisly crime, Gardner is certain the men are guilty but his case against them is weak. Unless Granville can remember what he saw, and testify to it in court, it is unlikely that the state can win a conviction. Thus the state's attorney is thrust into a terrible conflict, caught between the need to convict the killers and the need to protect his young son. He is warned that, if pushed too hard, the child might be damaged for life. But, with two killers out on bond and bent on eliminating the only eye witness, unless Granville can remember, he may not have a life! So, while Gardner is immobilzed by the struggle to help his son, and the conflict with Carole, his son's mom, his case is carried on by Jennifer Fahrnam, his assistant attorney and live-in lover. And Brownie continues digging for evidence, an exercise that carries him down twisting paths of hidden money and an incredible secret that has been deeply buried for two generations.

Silent Son is people with characters we met in State V. Justice and hoped to see more of. It is a powerfully written novel in which the surprises keep coming to the very last page, and a deeply moving story that catapults Warfield to the top of the list of lawyerly-writers.

it was OK. But not as good as the first one..

As a free citizen of the United States, who is somewhat familiar with the criminal justice system, I found this book to be a true insight into the thought(?) processes of a prosecutor. The author makes no pretense of being a neutral observer & chronicler, he is a prosecutor. He is morally outraged that a defense attorney will want all discovery, even exculpatory material (gasp!). He bemoans how the defense investigator goes out and actually takes statements from witnesses! Yet the "hero" in this sad little story has no problem having his people coerce witnesses, hide their investigation results, or in trying to bully a grand jury to indict on crimes without a single shred of evidence. The whole concept made me nauseous. The story is also implausible (Fortunately real cops have a clue & wouldn't arrest somebody for no other reason than revenge for beating an earlier charge, which appears to be the hero's motivation). A boy is found murdered, and because a suspected child molester (not convicted in Kansas due to prosecutorial misconduct) is in the area, he is arrested, and subsequently prosecuted by the hero, despite the fact that there is no evidence tieing him to the crime. The author feels that because the "bad guy" got off last time (the suspect's & the court's fault..not the prosecutor who violated the law) the hero has carte blanche to do whatever it takes to get him this time. And what's with these weird "G" names, does Gallatin feel that good guys begin with "G"? The story was okay. The writing style was probably better than average. But the bias reeking from the author made reading this book a sickening experience. We can take some comfort in that at least this guy is not prosecuting while he's writing this tripe. Gee, with the viewpoint this guy demonstrates (the author), he's bound to be headed for a career in politics. Hypocritical, holier-than-thou types always feel like they are the ones to decide how the rest of us live. Don't buy any of this guy's books. Don't encourage him.