The Innocence Game

A cold case is about to do supernova and three students will learn the price of innocence.

At Northwestern’s renowned journalism school, Ian Joyce has been invited to participate in a prestigious seminar that investigates wrongful convictions and forgotten cases. With only two other classmates–beautiful, strong-willed Sarah Gold and enigmatically brilliant Jake Havens–he begins to investigate the long-ago murder of a young boy, ten-year-old Skylar Wingate, last seen walking home from school, his body discovered three days later in a forest preserve. His alleged killer was murdered decades ago in jail. But two chilling clues delivered to Jake’s house suggest that the killer is still very much alive, and, in fact, in their midst. As the evidence mounts, the three classmates find themselves drawn into web of distrust, deceit, and corruption that will lead from the grittiest corners of Chicago and to the shores of Lake Michigan.

From Michael Harvey, Chicago’s best-known crime writer and author of the popular Michael Kelly series, comes something different: a leap forward into a dark world where the lines between innocence and guilt disappear altogether.

They’re young, brilliant, beautiful . . . and naïve enough to believe they can make a difference. For three graduate students, the exclusive innocence seminar at the nation’s most esteemed journalism school is supposed to teach them how to free the falsely accused from prison. Little do they know the most important lesson they’ll learn is how to stay alive.

The first day of class for Ian Joyce and Sarah Gold starts like any other, until a fellow student, Jake Havens, pulls a wrinkled envelope from his backpack. Inside is a bloodstained scrap of shirt from a boy murdered fourteen years ago and an anonymous note taking credit for the killing. The only problem is the alleged murderer is already dead.

Suddenly, the class has a new assignment: find the real killer. As the case unfolds, the bodies and questions begin to pile up. 

Why are innocent men being framed?

Who’s been getting away with murder?

Drawn into a web of deceit and corruption, the students realize they, too, are being hunted. Ian, Sarah, and Jake are smart . . . but are they smart enough to stay alive?

From Northwestern’s idyllic campus, to the grittiest corners of Chicago, to the frigid depths of Lake Michigan, The Innocence Game is irresistible, harrowing suspense from a writer at the top of his form.