The Bottom Line: From Brooklyn courtrooms to Costa Rican beaches, The Collectors is a searing legal thriller that grips from the first page to the last.
The Collectors begins on a white sand beach in Costa Rica where former Navy SEAL Damian Pressler, fellow SEAL JR Reynolds, and adopted dog, Tyler, discover the body of a young surfer. An initial glance at the victim shows what appear to be stab wounds.
What follows is anything but a straightforward call to the authorities as Damian, who is wary of the local authorities, calls 911 and simultaneously orders JR to get his sniper rifle. The tense exchange that follows between Damian and the police includes an ask to keep the death quiet, as well as a request to surrender their passports.
Fortunately, both men have an unusually strong bond to a gifted attorney. As their former SEAL mentor and comrade, New York lawyer Chance Cormac shares a code of loyalty and sacrifice forged in service. When the two are framed in Costa Rica, Chance steps in not only as their lawyer but as a brother-in-arms who is determined to fight for their lives. The story becomes a true page-turner once author Richard A. Danzig introduces antagonist Dr. Alejandro Renata, a brilliant Costa Rican surgeon turned organ trafficker.
In earlier Chance Cormac novels Facts Are Stubborn Things and Punch Line, Danzig portrayed Chance as both a brawler and reluctant celebrity. The Collectors broadens the canvas as Danzig weaves international criminal defense with domestic drama. Alongside the high-stakes Costa Rica case, the book’s subplot finds Chance taking on a case for a wealthy collector who suspects an abstract masterpiece he purchased is a forgery. As Chance digs deeper, questions of provenance, insurance, and fraud reveal that neither the painting nor its owner are exactly what they claim to be.
Danzig obviously delivers a lot of plot in addition to Cormac’s ongoing personal character development. Sally anchors the emotional center, caught between her history with Chance and her responsibilities as a mother. Melody’s rise as a young tennis star provides both warmth and tension. Lincoln Lawyer devotees may relish how the book’s legal maneuvering is balanced with ample family drama.
On the investigative side, Wendell “Justice” Holmes, a former cop with bulk and wit to match, injects humor and heart. Given so many plot and character developments, Danzig’s prose is appropriately brisk, yet he still manages to paint surf shops and prison yards and Brooklyn conference rooms with enough detail to make each setting come alive. Ultimately, The Collectors is more than just a thriller about crime and corruption. It is also a story about friendship, motherhood, memory and the fragile line between faith and despair.
