Blair Van Howe and Danny Moran had been the best of friends since their days in law school. Both are rising stars in their prominent law firm, but one fateful evening everything came to a screeching halt for Danny. Though a great lawyer he had problems holding his liquor, and that particular night was too intoxicated to drive.

Blair was thrilled to drive Danny’s Porsche, but wound up causing an accident that killed an innocent driver. Afraid his budding political career would suffer if the truth came out Blair framed Danny, allowing him to take the fall for his own crime. Danny was too drunk to know he wasn’t at fault, while Blair believed he could make great changes in other’s lives if he stayed quiet about the accident and kept his political dreams alive.

Throughout the book, as Hayes tells Danny and Blair’s story and the truth struggles a bit too long to be revealed, readers are constantly brought back to the question of who had the better life. Was it the man one step away from becoming President who lived his life based on a lie, or was it the man who lost everything yet had everything in the end? What kind of life do you live when no one is watching?

Hayes ends his thought provoking novel with even more thought provoking Discussion Questions, sure to generate debate on these issues.

Recommended for Adult readers.

Blog link for review: https://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2015/11/12/when-no-one-is-watching-jose... ( )

Pretty good story - a real page-turner....with some nice character development. I also really liked the references to Chicago. ( )

DNF. Too much message, too little narrative, character development or reason to keep reading.

If you did something horrible, and there were no witnesses, would guilt make you confess? How would you hide your emotions and keep it from eating at you? What if it all came back to haunt you after decades of getting away with it?

Blair Van Howe and Danny Moran are lawyers, partners and best friends. They have been celebrating a big victory, and Danny has passed out, leaving Blair to drive them home. When Blair loses control of the car and causes a deadly accident, he puts Danny in the drivers seat and runs away. Blair, you see, has political aspirations, and if no one sees it doesn't happen, right?

Blair calls on his father in law for advice and is told to distance himself from Danny, which he does, cutting Danny out of his life completely. As Blair rises, Danny stumbles, doing prison time, losing almost everything, before finally coming to grips with his addiction and rebuilding his life.

This book made me wonder how many lies (other than the obvious) we are told by our politicians. Can you trust anyone?

Does Blair come clean? Does Danny succeed, and get his life back? I don't want to spoil it! I can't say I love, loved this book, but it really made me think!

I received this book from Newman Communications for review. Thank you! ( )

About:
When No One is Watching is a story about family, friendship, betrayal and redemption that had me hooked from the start.
Lawyer Danny Moran is a recovering alcoholic. His supposed best friend and colleague Blair Van Howe, is driving Danny home one night after a work related dinner. Despite being sober for a few months, Danny decided to have a few drinks and is in an alcohol induced stupor completely passed out in the passengers seat of his sports car. Blair is driving Danny's Porsche at full speed when he causes a horrible accident involving a father of two.
Instead of taking the blame himself, Blair gets out of the car, drags a passed out Danny over to the driver's seat and leaves the accident scene. Blair is running for Congress and cannot afford a scandal that will ruin his political career. At this point, he doesn't know whether the innocent victim survived the crash or not, but Blair frames Danny for the accident.

When Danny awakens he finds himself in the midst of a horrible car crash and is being arrested for drunk driving and possible manslaughter. Danny cannot remember how he got into the drivers seat, since he never drove drunk before. Meanwhile Blair is home trying to cover up his tracks. He involves his wife and his father in law, who is a well known and politician, as dirty as he is.
Detective Vic Slazak arrives at the gruesome scene. He is assigned to the case, that seems like a regular DWI, yet he can't shake the nagging feeling that something is not right. He begins to investigate even further in search of the truth. Plenty of obstacles are curiously put in the way of his investigation, and Slazak realizes there are some powerful people who do not want him to uncover what really happened.

Riddled with guilt and humiliation, Danny spirals downward and continues to drink heavily, losing his wife and breaking his own family apart in the process. Never giving up hope, Danny tries to beat his alcoholism and redeem himself. He doesn't even blame Blair or hold grudges, although Blair dissappeared from Danny's life shortly after the crash.
A decade passes and Blair is now running for President of the United States, but there is always that small chance that his past lies will be uncovered.

My thoughts:
While reading When No One is Watching I really got swept into the story as author Joseph Hayes took me for a emotional and thrilling ride.
Blair Van Howe frames his best friend for a crime he committed himself then tries to console Danny after the fact. He seems like your everyday average Joe, yet he has it in him to do this horrible thing. After everything is said and done, Blair feels remorse for his actions, yet he lets Danny take the rap, almost ruining his life.

I rooted for Danny Moran from page one. His addiction makes him vulnerable and he is really a good guy battling his personal demons, even visiting the victims family to apologize for his supposed drunk driving. The supporting characters in this book were well written and the relationship between Danny and his 17 year old daughter seemed real to me, tugging at my heartstrings. I chocked up during one scene where Danny was home alone and drunk watching Blair on the television. He was cheering Blair on loudly.

Detective Slazak was a great character as well. I was sure that he would uncover the truth and set Danny free from his guilt and shame. He was on a mission to set things right, even a decade later.

If you're in the mood for a political thriller dealing with issues of morality, betrayal and family, I recommend When No One is Watching. The author creates multi-faceted characters with an interesting storyline, which in turn make for a thought provoking and emotional read. ( )