Phantom Lady

Can you ever be certain that a dramatic, life-altering event actually occurred? Without corroboration, can the arresting and prosecuting authorities be convinced you were not there, did not participate in a heinous crime? They may question your memory, veracity, and sanity, but you know the truth, or think you do. It’s all right there in your memory banks — the setting, the time, your whereabouts, and others involved. Unless…No! The possibility it never happened, that you might be…insane…is unacceptable. Cornell Woolrich takes the reader there, provides a palpable sense of gnawing uncertainty, helplessness, and fear. In the end, there is an exhausted acceptance despite heroic efforts to find a missing female whose testimony could prevent the preordained outcome…execution for a crime you did not commit.