Convergence

Dixon (Beaten, Seared, and Sauced) and prosecutor Owen collaborate on a so-so account of Owen’s work on a 1976 double murder case. After playing keyboards for various bands in his 20s, Owen enrolled in law school at DePaul University. While there, he spotted a recruitment notice from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office, and though he “had no real idea what a state’s attorney did,” he applied to be an assistant and got the job. In 1979, after rising through the ranks to become the chief of gang prosecutions for Chicago, Owen came across a file on the 1976 double murder of 20-somethings Gio Messina and Delphine Moore (the victims’ names have been changed at the request of their families). Police initially arrested Gio’s acquaintance, Mitchell Weinger, for the stabbings but dropped the charges for mysterious reasons—possibly having to do with the intervention of Weinger’s powerful family. Then Owen and his colleague, Mike Goggin, got involved, and their efforts led to Weinger’s conviction in 1980. Dixon and Owen’s propulsive pacing keeps the pages turning for a while, but long-windedness and awkward prose (“The name leapt from the page with the force of revelation, like something coiled and waiting to be found and put to use”) eventually weigh things down. This fails to ignite. (Sept.)