54 pages • 1-hour read
John GrishamA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Meet the key characters, with insights into their roles, motivations, and relationships—spoiler-free.
Patrick is a former junior partner at a law firm who stole $90 million from his firm's client and faked his death in a car crash. He lives in constant fear of capture, utilizing extensive planning to stay hidden. Despite his calculating nature and criminal actions, he demonstrates vulnerability and a deep desire for a peaceful existence.
Romantic Partner of Eva Miranda
Estranged Husband of Trudy Lanigan
Father Figure of Ashley Nichole
Friend and Client of Sandy McDermott
Former Friend of The Honorable Judge Karl Huskey
Enemy of Benny Aricia
Target of Jack Stephano
Eva is an ambitious lawyer working at a firm in Rio de Janeiro. She meets Patrick when he seeks her advice on import and taxation, quickly falling into a passionate romance with him. She assumes the massive responsibility of shifting his stolen funds across global bank accounts to protect him from his pursuers.
Romantic Partner of Patrick Lanigan
Daughter of Paulo Miranda
Informant to Sandy McDermott
Anonymous Informant to Agent Joshua Cutter
Jack runs a highly successful detective agency and is hired by a consortium to track down Patrick Lanigan. He is ruthless in his methods, willing to authorize extreme violence and torture to extract information. He balances his cold professional criminality with a surprisingly normal domestic life.
Pursuer of Patrick Lanigan
Employee of Benny Aricia
Employer of Guy
Husband of Mrs. Stephano
Adversary of Agent Joshua Cutter
Benny is an older, wealthy businessman who orchestrated a massive government fraud scheme with Patrick's law firm. When Patrick steals the resulting $90 million, Benny channels his vast resources and vindictive rage into hunting him down. He is profoundly greedy and enjoys the suffering of others.
Trudy is Patrick's estranged wife, living luxuriously on a $2.5 million life insurance payout she received after his faked death. She views Patrick with contempt and relies entirely on his money to fund an extravagant lifestyle with her long-time boyfriend. She actively poisons her daughter's opinion of Patrick to maintain control.
Sandy is a lawyer based in New Orleans and a former close associate of Patrick Lanigan. He balances a busy family life with a demanding career. Upon learning Patrick is alive, he agrees to represent him, finding himself both exasperated by Patrick's demands and amused by his audacity.
Karl is a respected judge and an old friend of Patrick's who steps in to oversee the early stages of the legal proceedings. He holds a complex view of justice, balancing his professional duty with a deep personal empathy for those who make life-altering mistakes.
Former Friend of Patrick Lanigan
Clovis is an 81-year-old man who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Patrick during a legal case. Largely ignored by his own relatives, he finds companionship in Patrick, who becomes his only real friend and looks after his affairs.
Friend of Patrick Lanigan
Grandfather of Deena
Agent Cutter is the FBI agent in charge of the search for Patrick Lanigan in Biloxi, Mississippi. He coordinates the federal response to Patrick's sudden reappearance, utilizing his authority against private investigators and local law enforcement to secure custody of the fugitive.
Lance is Trudy's childhood sweetheart and current live-in boyfriend. He funds parts of his extravagant lifestyle through illegal drug running and views Patrick's return as a direct threat to his financial security, immediately exploring violent solutions.
Romantic Partner of Trudy Lanigan
Mother's Boyfriend of Ashley Nichole
Guy is Jack Stephano's best tracker and the man on the ground in South America. He handles the physical capture and interrogation of Patrick, utilizing drugs and electricity despite harboring personal reservations about the extreme methods.
Employee of Jack Stephano
Interrogator of Patrick Lanigan
Paulo is Eva's father, living in Brazil. He provides Eva with a deep sense of familial connection and stability. His safety becomes a major point of leverage as the hunt for Patrick's stolen money intensifies.
Father of Eva Miranda
Ashley Nichole is a young girl raised primarily by her mother, Trudy, and Trudy's boyfriend, Lance. She is sheltered from the truth of her family dynamics and heavily manipulated by her mother into hating the man she believes is her father.
Charles is a senior partner at Patrick's former law firm. He utilized his political connections to facilitate a massive whistleblower fraud scheme. The exposure of his illegal actions terrifies him as federal investigations loom.
Co-conspirator with Benny Aricia
Former Employer of Patrick Lanigan
Pepper is a 17-year-old woodsman who lived near Patrick's hunting cabin. Suffering from a miserable home life and a stutter, he occasionally spoke with Patrick before disappearing around the same time Patrick faked his death.
Acquaintance of Patrick Lanigan
Mrs. Stephano is Jack's wife, deeply concerned with her family's social standing and neighborhood reputation. Her severe mortification over federal agents visiting their property forces her husband to reconsider his staunch resistance to law enforcement.
Wife of Jack Stephano
Deena is the granddaughter and only remaining relative of Clovis Goodman. She has never met her grandfather and shares no emotional connection with him, making her entirely indifferent to his fate.
Granddaughter of Clovis Goodman