The Guardian by Peter Ralph

Publisher's Synopsis

Do you believe prisoners on death row in the U.S. have more rights than the elderly?

Josh Kennelly didn’t. Vietnam veteran, Joe Brock, didn’t … that was until he was dragged from his home, sedated, and imprisoned in a nursing home.

When Josh starts rattling cages, he unearths crooked judges, lawyers, guardians, cops, and doctors, colluding in a massive guardianship racket.

The path to Joe Brock’s freedom is fraught with danger, and one slip-up will see Josh behind bars …

My Review of The Guardian by Peter Ralph

The 3rd book in the Josh Kennelly series once again features a scam designed to fleece old and incapacitated victims of their money by using a loophole in the law. This follows hard on the heels of Deadly Bequests where Kennelly’s persuasive skills were also required to right some wrongs being performed by the morally bankrupt. The Guardian highlights a form of elder abuse that is frightening in its scope and organisation.

Kayla Brennan is sleeping with a probate court judge and, although repulsed by the man, is lured in by the prospect of making a lot of money through the guardianship he’ll throw her way. By acting as guardian for numerous wealthy people who are suffering from dementia or other debilitating diseases the judge, through Kayla and courtesy of paid off police, lawyers, real estate agencies and muscle bound ‘carers’ take control of the finances of these people and gradually drain away their life savings.

The scam is outlined in great detail including a number of examples of the grift in full operation. It’s ruthless, insidious and operated by completely heartless people who neutralise their victims by keeping them constantly sedated and isolated from their loved ones.

Josh Kennelly is brought into the picture after Harry Brock’s father, Joe, is placed under guardianship. Harry served in Afghanistan, suffers from PTSD and had lived with his father in their family home until the court ruled that Joe be placed into care for the sake of his health. It’s no coincidence that Joe’s house sits on land that a developer had been trying to buy for years but he’s been stubbornly refusing to sell. One of the first things the guardian does is change the locks on the house, essentially evicting Harry and casting him into the street.

Kennelly’s been successful in the past as a “problem solver”, essentially a private investigator, and is happy to come to the aid of a fellow veteran. He quickly gets down to business digging into the case and discovers that this form of legal kidnapping and asset seizure is widespread, spotting a pattern of behaviour that looks to involve the same group of people.

He sets about formulating a plan that may save Joe Brock but also many other people who have been subjected to the same fate.

Three books into the series and there’s a definite formula to the storyline, one that is effective in presenting the details of a crime, portraying the situation the victims find themselves in as hopeless and then thrusting Kennelly in to come up with an investive solution. It’s very effective. 

Josh Kennelly continues to be a resourceful, humble character who prefers to work quickly and quietly, often under an assumed name. He’s unusual in that he’s a decent bloke who consistently puts the welfare of others before himself and is unaffected by personal gain. Not surprising given that he’s a highly decorated war hero, a fact he’d prefer no-one else knows about.

Peter Ralph’s writing style is direct, providing only the bare necessities of detail without adding any significant embellishment. Consequently we have a plot driven narrative that moves along quickly forcing you to keep up. Apart from Josh himself, character development is kept to a minimum with only enough revealed about each person to describe them as either a good guy or a bad guy.

The Guardian is a quick read that succinctly and clearly explains a problem that takes place in the real world. It highlights flaws in the legal system and, although a short term solution is achieved in the course of this story, goes on to comment on the fact that there’s still an ongoing problem that must be dealt with. I found it both very interesting and somewhat frightening.