The Betrayed

by David Hosp

Two Washington, DC police detectives take on the power elite and unravel the secrets behind a brutal murder.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Legal, Audiobook

445 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

David Hosp is a trial lawyer who spends a portion of his time working pro bono on behalf of wrongly convicted individuals. He lives with his wife and family in Boston.

Reviews

[Paul Pessolano · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Black Water Rising” by Attica Locke, published by Harper Collins.

Category – Mystery/Thriller Publication Date – 2009.

The 1960’s were a turbulent time in the United States. Racial Equality, Women’s Rights, and the Vietnam War were just a few of the reasons for this unsettling time.

Jay Porter is a black lawyer that is struggling to make ends meet. It seems his best client so far is a prostitute who is ready to settle against his wishes.

Jay’s life only gets worse when he saves a drowning woman that leads to an investigation that opens up his past life. His life now becomes entangled in a murder and a work stoppage by black longshoremen for equal wages. This is further complicated by his father-in-law who is a preacher and supporting the work stoppage and Jay’s wife who is now pregnant.

Jay finds his life in mortal danger as he gets deeper into the murder mystery, and more importantly he finds his wife could also be endangered.

Jay becomes involved with the FBI, his past, and the upper class of Houston society, business, and politics. Jay must come to terms with himself and decide whether to pursue a course that could undermine his life or stay the course and be safe.

A very good period piece that adds mystery to social upheaval.

[Alicia Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story I usually like to read. It is nothing special but engaging. Sydney a law student comes home when her sister is murdered. She is from a very wealth family in Washington D.C. She works with the cops when someone attacks her thinking she was getting to close to what happened to her sister. Eugenics is in this story and to me that was the most interesting to learn about. Read this via Audible while working out. Kept me interested.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really kept me intrigued until the final chapters and then the ending was kinda "blah". A Washington DC journalist ends up murdered after researching unethical procedures that were done on mentally challenged patients in the 50's and 60's. Is her family somehow involved or is it coincidental? Several more murders take place during the investigation.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reporter Elizabeth Creary is murdered while investigating experiments going on at the Virginia Mental hospital. Detectives Train and Cassassias discover that the secretary of HHS is behind the experiments to try to fast track cures for diseases. Fast track story that gets unbelievable when it starts to involve the government but kept the story a pageturner

[Susan Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first by David Hosp and it will not be my last. Even though I found his writing sometimes melodramatic, it did not get in the way of a stelar story. It's a great plot and well told even with the underestimating of his readers.

[Tomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 2006, this book has an eerie connection to today’s vaccine-crazy world. Well-written and intriguing-although I really wish people wouldn’t fall into bed with mere acquaintances so quickly.

[Bina Ratna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye-opening read

[Vania Llewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read, with just enough twists

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy quite enjoyable read, slightly flat ending.

[Diana Rene]

Good detective story. Enough twists to keep us amused.
What we need now, is for him to write more

[Pegeen]

Timely

[Minna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyably cliche lol - 3 stars

[Chitra Muralikrishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first David Hosp read.. Enjoyed it.. Good flow of words, no unnecessary dragging of storyline..

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, intriguing premise, excellent narrator. An entertaining listen by an author new to me.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! Great mystery! Great imagery! I could really picture it being acted out. Not the biggest fan on how the ending was tied up, that’s the only reason it didn’t get 5 stars.

[Leonie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed and the plot was good, kept you going.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting discussion that they discuss and how it became relevant 13 years later

[Wendy Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good murder mystery

[Shannon Le Brocq · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant story telling, this book had me from Chapter 1.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of action and even some science 😚

[Shreya Tejan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takes you into the dirty ride of politics.

[Mo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy reading books set in D.C. Settling into the dark gritty streets of the city always makes me feel like I have been transported to Gotham City and I wait to see the Dark Knight lurking around the corner. It’s my love of D.C.’s grime that drew me to The Betrayed and made it such an entertaining read that kept me engaged from beginning to end.
There was a parade of characters that marched across the pages, each unique - telling the story from their point of view. Even the bad guys had their turn telling you their story!

Sergeant Deter Train and Detective Jack Cassian are the well-intentioned D.C. police officers assigned to the gruesome murder of Elizabeth Creay. The police officers were as different as night and day, typical of partners in this kind of tale, but the author kept their relationship and back-stories from feeling overly stale or hackneyed. I felt comfortable with both of them immediately, savored the snarky humor both Deter and Jack shared, and appreciated the dedication they had to their jobs and the people in their lives.

The Chapin/Creay Women – Lydia, Elizabeth, Sydney and Amanda were intriguing. Although Amanda featured early, it was Lydia and Sydney who represented the women most strongly. The loss of Elizabeth was a blow felt by all the women very deeply and very differently. Lydia Chapin the iron-willed matriarch was the rock that her daughters and grand daughter crashed against. Lydia was unflappable and she had my sympathy most of all, because in the midst of a terrible tragedy and loss, Lydia’s motherly instincts were smothered by her sense of propriety. No parent ever wants to bury his or her child, but for Lydia Chapin, burying her first-born child was another engagement penned into her planner. Sydney felt the most loss, as she mourned the death of a sister whom she’d grown apart from. The two women were just beginning to rekindle their sisterly bonds, when the unthinkable happened. Now Sydney is left with thoughts of what could have been. Sydney’s involvement in the investigation of her sister’s death did not have as direct a path as I would have liked. She seemed to fall into the investigation by sheer happenstance and through very unconventional and almost improbable means.

Of particular interest to me was the fact that with the exception of the two police officers in the case, all the male characters in the story were nefarious beings in one way or another. For each reveal that David Hosp deigned to give, there was another mystery waiting to take its place. And while the story could have survived without it, the romance between Jack and Sydney was a nice side story that did not detract from the main tale.

All in all, The Betrayed was a great read. Pop culture read that accomplishes the task of entertaining you and engaging you. Not a book for my physical or virtual bookshelf – this was a library read, but if you come across it in the marked down section of your local bookstore, you won’t regret picking it up.

3 of 5 stars

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was well..just okay..I must admit on reflection there were some parts I really found interesting however all together it didnt keep my interest as well as I had hoped and there were some parts I really feel could and should have been expounded upon seriously...Okay so this book is about Sydney, the rebellious and fiercely independent youngest child of a multimillion dollar powerful family down the street literally from my current residence the political playground Washington D.C...Alright so Sydney returns home to her domineering mother under tragic circumstances as her older sister has been brutally tortured and murdered with her only daughter fourteen year old Amanda being the one to find her. Not being that close to her sister until later in life Sydney is grieving and trying to piece together why this horrible senseless act happened to her sister though she was a hard hitting investigative reporter who made her share of enemies..Thrust in the investigation of her sisters's death there is romance, suspense, political and medical coverups and some pretty shady characters but not explained enough to really get me involved you know..The information on eugenics was pretty interesting and should have been explored more with the research and history but I appreciated the lesson I did receive...Overall the motive and big reveal character were alitle weak and could have used some more attention but I did finish it quickly thanks to the large font but wasnt really satisfied, easily forgettable..on to the next..

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Washington, D.C., Sydney Chapin learns that her elder sister, a journalist, has been murdered. There are marks of torture indicating that the killer was after information.

Detective Sergeant Darius Train and Det. Jack Cassain are assigned to the case. Cassain is dealing with the emotional burden of his brother's shooting, when he was on the police force. Now his brother is non responsive in a convalescent home.

Sydney had borrowed her sister's laptop computer and she traces her sister's last searches. She learns that her sister was doing a story about a mental institution for children and the abuses that occurred there many years ago.

In a well plotted story with appealing and believable characters, the writing grabs the reader's interest and holds it as the search for the killer is mounted.

What was Sydney's sister doing that caused her death?
Could the police fight through the political implications to find a killer among the wealthy and influential in Washington, D.C.?
What were the risks tha Sydney would be taking in attempting to find her sister's killer, before the killer found Sydney?

These questions need to be answered. Sydney and Det. Cassain eventually work together to hunt the killer in this enjoyable story.

[Baoyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fantastic read. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Definitely a page-turner - I couldn't bear to put down the book, and the twists and subplots only added to the thrill. Quirky characters (read: Antonia) that come alive and making me fall in love with them despite making an appearance for a few pages are a plus. However, after finishing the book, I find that the sense of satisfaction - or something - I always experience after reading a book missing. It wasn't that the the ending was poorly done, but I just didn't feel the impact of the ending that I feel when it all comes to a close - even if some endings never do have a closure. Perhaps because I just wanted to get through the book, I missed the impact of the ending instead. Now I'm left feeling... Cheated. But i gotta say, I love the characters and the plot, and I have not regretted reading this book.

[Jim Puskas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike most of Hosp's books, this one doesn't feature Scott Finn and his colleagues -- in fact lawyers play no real part in the story at all. This is a straightforward crime story, with the main protagonists being a pair of cops, the criminals, the evil people who hire them, their victims and (as usual) the politicians who get in the way of solving the crimes.
I also missed the local color of Boston that pervades the Scott Finn stories, this one being set in DC.
Nevertheless, apart from a lack of legal shenanigans, this is a typical David Hosp story, complete with a trail of dead bodies and a couple of hair-raising close calls.
A quick read and good entertainment, but I keep hoping that Hosp will give us another Scott Finn story.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

A legal thriller I read in the hospital while recovering from surgery. I accused my wife of supplying this random paperback as a joke based on the author's name, David Hosp). Enjoyable thriller, though not particularly memorable (or perhaps that is a result of the drugs).

Legal thriller - Washington, D.C. homicide team of Darius Train and Jack Cassian investigate the brutal killing of the reporter daughter of the extremely wealthy, politically connected matriarch of the Chapin family. They are fed false leads and warned off looking at the family. Sydney Chapin, law-student sister of the victim, is attracted to Cassian and wants to help investigate.

[Mhd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Dark Harbor, but it does have its strengths. I learned something about the development of polio vaccine that I didn't know before. The last 1/3 is the best. Sometimes there is just too much description: almost every time a main character goes through a door, there will be 3 paragraphs of what the new room looks like.... The villain was very predictable, the only mysteries were how was everything else going to get tied together and how was the heroine going to escape danger one more time.

[Louis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent story and great plot line. Not a lot of twists, but a good, decent story. A few factual errors in the first chapter about the city makeup. But then again I live in DC and the errors just stared me in the face. Other than that and a minor spelling mistake at the end, it still remains a decent read.

[Derk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book at random, knowing nothing about it or the author. It was an excellent read. The plot was no more inplausible than most and the main characters were distinct in voice an actions. Even the unmasking of the "evil" mastermind was OK, if somewhat predictable (although for a few pages I was starting to second guess who I though it was).