Photo of The Great Divide (Marcus Glenwood Series, Book 1)

"A cracking good thriller."
-- Publishers Weekly


The Great Divide (Marcus Glenwood Series, Book 1)

Davis Bunn


When attorney Marcus Glenwood resigns from a prestigious corporate law firm to retreat to a small town in North Carolina and rebuild his life after a devastating personal tragedy, he suddenly finds himself in the biggest and most emotionally difficult case of his career.

Fragile and spiritually wounded, Glenwood is introduced to Alma and Austin Hall, whose daughter Gloria has disappeared in China while investigating the slave-like practices of New Horizons, the world's largest manufacturer of sports shoes and athletic gear. Persuaded by Alma's pleading, and their obvious distress, Marcus accepts the case.

No one, including Marcus himself, can believe how quickly his investigation untangles a web of deceit that stretches from Washington , D.C., to Europe and Asia and back to his own North Carolina backyard. With the power to obstruct, manipulate, intimidate, injure, and eliminate, the giant multinational sports company New Horizons has never lost a case. But they underestimate Marcus Glenwood.

Step by cautious step Glenwood moves forward to uncover the horrifying truth about New Horizons, Gloria Hall, and ultimately himself.



Reviews
"Redolent of the grits and fatback of the Carolina tobacco belt and heralded as the Christian Book Association's bestselling author's crossover to mainstream fiction, this cracking good thriller features Marcus Glenwood, an ex-high-rolling, hard-boozing young Raleigh, N.C., corporate attorney, who--down on his luck--has come home to nearby Rocky Mount to lick his wounds, and to lovingly restore his grandparents' house.

Marcus has hardly unpacked when he is retained by the parents of Gloria Hall, a local black grad student at Georgetown University. Gloria has disappeared inside China while investigating slave labor practices at the infamous Factory 101, a manufacturing partnership with mega-international sportswear manufacturer New Horizons.

Unwittingly, Marcus finds himself caught up in a game of "don't blink" legal chicken with spiteful old enemies from his former firm, which represents New Horizons. Professional envy, political chicanery at the highest (and lowest) levels, racial bigotry, bribery, international intrigue, socioeconomic exploitation (political pressure is brought to bear on a black female judge) and a romance between emotionally scarred lovers Marcus and Kirsten Standstead, Gloria's roommate-- all flesh out the novel as the young Quixote takes on the establishment in and out of the courtroom.

Glossing over background data, the plot sometimes lacks credibility--Kirsten's psychological scarring is pure soap and Gloria's parents, a statistics professor and a dean at a local black college, are broadly sketched--and there is a tendency to play fast and loose with courtroom protocol. However, the theme of underdog vs. the system is seductive and there are enough plot twists to keep even the most unforgiving of critics turning pages."
     Publishers Weekly

"Devastated by a personal tragedy, Marcus Glenwood resigns from a prestigious law firm and returns to his childhood home of Rocky Mount, NC. There he confronts his most challenging case yet: Alma and Austin Hall come to him because their daughter, Gloria, has disappeared in China while investigating the labor practices of a factory owned by New Horizons, the world's largest maker of athletic shoes and equipment (think Nike).

Glenwood's investigation, although impeded by New Horizon's extensive efforts to conceal its connections with Gloria's kidnapping, expose a line of deceit and greed that extends to Washington, DC.

Bunn, the author of numerous best-selling works of genre fiction, mostly inspirational (e.g., The Messenger), expertly serves up a feast of suspense. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries."
    DJetta Carol Culpepper, Library Journal