Spoilers!
The old children’s rhyme about sticks and stones is plainly wrong: words can hurt, often worse than physical pain inflicted upon us. Words reverberate in our memories long after any physical ailments heal. Those with “silver tongues,” then, surely can do considerable harm, if they wield their skill for evil. That makes for a sinister premise in the hands of a master like Jeffery Deaver in his 2000 book, Speaking in Tongues.
Tate is a “silvered tongue” prosecutor in Virginia. He’s made quite the living by convincing juries and judges about the guilt of those who come before the court. His ex-wife, Bett (who I kept wanting to call by name, Brett!), is a Tarot card-reading, whimsical type with a new beau. Both have been and still are rather neglectful of their 17-year-old daughter, Megan. Because she’s bereft of their affection, particularly her dad’s, who she overheard calling her an “inconvenient child” when she was a child, has been lashing out, most recently with a somewhat-attempted suicide attempt. So, she’s been seeing a therapist.
Enter Aaron Matthews, who also has the gift of gab as a trained therapist. He uses his to further the evil machinations of his plot against Tate (although we don’t know that specific motive through the majority of the book) by cajoling people to to do his bidding first, in order to kidnap Megan, and second, to keep her parents off the trail. Aaron even cajoles Bett into a drunken affair right when her beau comes calling. I do think there is something to be said for the power of suggestion and leaning into people’s vulnerabilities (Konnie, the cop with his alcoholism; Bett, with her insecurities over her parenting; and Megan herself with her parental issues), but it was almost all too easy for Aaron. In that way, Deaver’s book wasn’t as smartly or intricately plotted as some of his other novels. In fact, three distinct plot points I found loosely concocted: a.) that Tate, a seasoned prosecutor, would talk to the police when they suspect him of murdering Amy, Megan’s best friend (Aaron actually killed her and set Tate up, of course), because a prosecutor would know you never blab to the police; b.) that Bett happens to arrive at the police station at the right time to “bump” into Tate, giving him a gun, and enabling his escape from police custody; and c.) that Bett and Tate would be free of any charges after all that, plus holding a state trooper at gunpoint later on their way to the mental hospital to rescue Megan. Also, I get it that girls (and boys) in certain parts of the country may overly use “like,” but the brief dialogue bits with Amy and some other young kids were brutal.
Those criticisms aside, I thought Deaver wrote Megan well. She went from someone who was gaslighting herself in real time (with her “Crazy Megan” persona) and vulnerable to proactively saving herself from kidnapping and potential death. She’s even the one who originally injures Aaron and then shoots him dead to save Tate. I say Tate instead of dad because that’s the other thing that comes out. Bett had an affair with her twin sister’s husband, which resulted in Megan, which is why Tate previously referred to her as an “inconvenient child.” I still think blaming the child for the mistakes of adults is messed up, but at least we have a better understanding of their relationship, or lack thereof rather. Aaron’s motive against Tate was Tate prosecuting his son for murder and the son being killed in prison. Aaron, though, was a sociopath and a sociopathic father.
As I mentioned, I don’t think this book is to the level of any of Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme books in terms of wit, plotting, or the clever tit-for-tat between good guy and bad guy, but it was a fun way to pass a Sunday! Even Deaver little more than half-cocked is still a blast.
Milam's Musings 