Michael Knight’s best friend from Harvard Law School John McKedrick chose to get some serious trial law experience by entering into the world of organized crime. He defended the worst of the members of the crime families in Boston and after a few years wanted out of that business. However, he knew where too many of the bodies were buried and who buried them so the bosses would not let him leave.
John worked out a way to get out by faking a stolen Vermeer painting and getting it authenticated then arranging for one of the crime bosses for whom he worked to obtain a loan of $60 Million on the painting from financiers in Amsterdam.
The genuine stolen Vermeer painting was held by a major mafia crime family in Moscow and when they heard of the fake it made them nervous. They became nervous enough that they felt they needed to get rid of the fake and of the people who brought it onto the market to muddy up the waters.
When John McKedrick’s sports car suddenly explodes as he tries to start it, Michael is devastated. He was walking toward the car when John and thousands of pieces of the car blossomed around him, sending him to the hospital with serious injuries.
The son of the local mafia boss is fingered for the killing and calls on Michael and his partner/mentor to defend him as innocent of the crime. John takes on the case and proceeds to become embroiled in an international mafia network. Michael meets with one tough criminal leader after another in situations that there can be no way to emerge with his skin. Yet he gets the upper hand on each boss one at a time until finally clearing his client.
In the process of Michael’s travels to Europe and back and meeting with tough guys all over there are numerous attempts on his life, which he just barely manages to escape through intervention of what seems to be a guardian angel. There are at least a half dozen different mysterious things that thread their way through this compelling tale. Dobbyn pulls all the threads neatly together in the end providing a most satisfactory conclusion. I won’t give away the ending because this is one you need to read for yourself to appreciate.
I give “Frame Up” a 9 of 10 on the Weaver scale. Read it!
