From Publishers Weekly
Featuring the hero of White's earlier novels, Alan Gregory, this thriller concerns a sexual harassment case implicating a Mormon Supreme Court judge. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Attorney Lauren Crowder recommends a Salt Lake City lawyer for her younger sister, who has accused her former boss, an impeccably Mormon woman with high political and church connections, of sexual harassment. Crowder assists a private investigator in gathering information on the potentially explosive case, but murder intervenes: someone kills the P.I. and the former boss. Crowder then calls upon boyfriend Alan Gregory (Private Practices, Viking, 1993) to outmaneuver the ubiquitous, corrupt tentacles of the Mormon church. Much background research supports fine prose, subtle characterization, and intricate plotting. A good selection.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Mormon fundamentalists took a beating in Jon Krakauer's UNDERTHE BANNER OF HEAVEN, and they don't come off any better here. LaurenCrowder, the fiancée of Dr. Alan Gregory (White's usualprotagonist), goes to Salt Lake City to assist in the investigation ofa sexual harassment charge brought by Lauren's sister against a femaleclerk to the first Mormon U.S. Supreme Court Justice. The clerk ismurdered--is it a random killing or one connected to the lawsuit? Twoother murders follow. Dick Hill's facility with voices allows him tonavigate easily between male and female, authoritative and scared,young and middle-aged. One policeman has an entire conversationthrough a mouthful of food. Informative about Mormon history andphilosophy, well abridged, and well read. J.B.G. © AudioFile2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
White's latest thriller has comedienne Teresa Crowder filing sexual harassment charges against Blythe Oaks, chief clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lester Horner. The sexual harassment case is an instant headline grabber, especially since Oaks is a woman and a devout member of the Mormon Church. Teresa asks her sister Lauren, a deputy D.A., and Lauren's longtime attorney friend Robin Torr for help in winning the case, but she knows it will be an uphill battle, especially in ultraconservative Utah, where the Mormon patriarchs hold undisputed power. When Blythe Oaks is savagely murdered, Lauren and Robin decide the killer is someone determined to keep the spotless reputation of both the church and Chief Justice Horner intact. But the two women can't begin to fathom how far the killer will go to keep them from uncovering the real truth. There are some weaknesses in the overall flow of the story, and White is surprisingly unreserved in his open criticism of the Mormon Church, but overall the book offers a pleasant mix of suspense and entertainment. Emily Melton


Book Description
Dr. Alan Gregory's fiancée, attorney Lauren Crowder, is thrown into a maelstrom of violence when a sexual harassment case embroils the nation's most powerful leaders, a killer strikes-and a trail of deadly secrets shows no signs of ending.

ANNOTATION

Dr. Alan Gregory's fiance, attorney Lauren Crowder, is thrown into a maelstrom of violence as a case of sexual harassment strikes a devastating chord among the nation's most powerful leaders. But this legal time bomb soon explodes when crucial evidence disappears, and a killer strikes.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The sudden death of Utah's Senator Orrin Hatch propels his successor, Lester Horner, first into Hatch's Senate seat and then on to become the first Mormon associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Carried along with Horner is Blythe Oaks, an ambitious and intelligent woman who is also Horner's favorite law clerk and a fellow Mormon. But Blythe's reputation - and, by extension, Lester Horner's - is threatened when a female former employee accuses her of sexual harassment and career sabotage. In Higher Authority White shifts his focus from Dr. Alan Gregory, the hero of Privileged Information and the national bestseller Private Practices, to Alan's fiancee, Lauren Crowder. The pool-shooting deputy D.A.'s life is already complicated enough as she picks her way through her relationship with Alan at the same time she is fighting her quiet and dignified battle with multiple sclerosis. But since Blythe's accuser happens to be Lauren's kid sister, aspiring stand-up comic Teresa Crowder, Lauren plunges into the case. And she gets immediate help from an old law school buddy, Robin Torr, whose practice is in Salt Lake City. When, suddenly, Blythe Oaks is savagely murdered in Washington, D.C., the lengths to which someone will go to protect secrets that might prove embarrassing to higher authorities in the church are starkly revealed. And as Crowder and Torr probe more and more deeply into these secrets, with timely help from Alan Gregory and his old friend Detective Sam Purdy of the Boulder, Colorado, police, White's tough but determined women find the body count growing and themselves placed in jeopardy by a remorseless killer.

FROM THE CRITICS

White keeps on getting better.

Nelson DeMille

Stephen White writes thrillers of the first order.

Denver Post

White keeps on getting better.

Publishers Weekly

Nuanced, vivid characterization-especially of the right-wing fanatics who are the possible conspirators behind the nasty goings-on in White's third novel (Privileged Information; Private Practices)-makes this an engrossing thriller. Lester Horner, the first Mormon to sit on the Supreme Court, is implicated when his law clerk, fellow Mormon Blythe Oaks, is charged with sexual harassment by former employee Teresa Crowder. To help her cause, Teresa enlists the aid of her lawyer sister, Lauren, who persuades an old law school pal, Salt Lake City attorney Robin Toner, to handle the case. After Blythe is found murdered and a private investigator hired by Robin turns up dead, Teresa disappears and Lauren turns to Alan Gregory, her fianc and the hero of White's earlier novels, to help sort matters out. Is the Mormon Church responsible for the murders? The conclusion provides an ambiguous answer, but in the meantime White has portrayed the Church of the Latter Day Saints as an implacable, nearly all-powerful villain. The main plot line is relatively straightforward; it's the ancillary action and the rich characters that enliven this novel: Teresa's habit of disappearing during moments of stress; Lauren's ongoing battle with multiple sclerosis and her relationship with Alan; the secretive and fascinating Mormon church. While some readers may find White's pot shots at Mormonism offensive, even bigoted, there's no doubt that he's cooked up a thriller that will keep most of his large readership happily entertained. 35,000 first printing; paperback rights to Signet; author tour. (Nov.)

Library Journal