Twenty Years Later is a crime thriller by Charlie Donlea. Avery Mason, a news anchor, takes over as host of American Events following the death of her predecessor. She intends to investigate the remains of Victoria Ford, who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Walt Jenkins, a former FBI agent now living in Jamaica, offers to assist Avery in investigating Cameron Young’s death, which she probed in 2001. The FBI expects Avery to revive the case and asks Walt to assist her while surreptitiously probing her ties to her father, Garth Montgomery.
Avery goes to a sailing camp in Wisconsin and meets Victoria’s sister, Emma Kind, who gives her phone messages from the 9/11 attacks. Avery agrees to prove Victoria’s innocence and asks Walt for help. They discreetly follow Avery to see her father and discover proof that Victoria created a series of manuscripts before her death, which correspond to five novels published by Natalie Ratcliff, Victoria’s college roommate.
Avery and Walt establish a romantic relationship, which makes Avery doubt her capacity to be intimate with people following her father’s betrayal. Walt decides to cease spying on Avery, but André admits that he has been following her. Avery and Walt intend to inform the FBI about Garth’s whereabouts, which they believe to be at a cottage in Lake Placid. They record the phone call and deliver it to the FBI.
Avery shows specials about Victoria Ford and her father’s crimes and arrest, but she does not divulge Victoria’s existence. Victoria and Natalie write a story in which the murderer plants evidence of their own blood to make it appear that they are being framed.
Chapter 1 Summary
Essentially, Part 1, titled “The Sting” for the strategy James presents to Walt, sets the stage for the novel’s plot to proceed from here. The first chapters of Twenty Years Later introduce a slew of characters, some of them, like Dr. Livia Cutty, are recurring characters from Donlea’s previous work. The main protagonists are Avery Mason and Walt Jenkins, and the connection between the two is explained in the final chapter of Part 1, in which James Oliver discloses how Walt Jenkins would infiltrate Avery’s inquiry to acquire information on Avery’s father, Garth. Cameron Young’s suspected murder at the hands of Victoria Ford, as well as Avery’s strained relationship with her father, are both essential to the plot. This section sets the plot’s avenues of inquiry, with numerous characters contributing narrative arcs and webs that will merge as the novel progresses.
Avery’s occupation raises a number of ethical issues in the news industry. Prior to Victoria Ford’s death in the World Trade Center, Avery describes her alleged crime against Cameron Young: “The media had salivated over every dirty detail, spreading them far and wide” (7). Avery’s comment implies that truth is less important than ratings, which means that misleading tales with higher viewing are more likely to be reported than real stories that may be less interesting. Avery’s specialization is real crime, specifically unsolved mysteries, but she understands that the way she delivers the tale is just as essential as the story itself. Her goal as a journalist is to “hook” her viewers so they will return week after week. The question then becomes whether Avery is prepared to compromise truth for ratings.
Avery’s past and her relationship with her father present the issue of Reputation, Truth, and the Search for Justice, which is similar to the theme of ethics in journalism. She is concerned that “attention” from the Victoria Ford story would “shine a spotlight on her past and link her to Garth” (58), demonstrating her knowledge of how her reputation as a reporter may influence public perception of what she reports. Even Walt, who claims that he “conducted a meticulous investigation and gathered his evidence by the book and with no corners cut” (78), there remains a lingering concern that his departure from the FBI will influence how others see his detective abilities.
Both Avery and Walt are on the verge of disaster, and the long-term effects of traumatic events appear to interfere with their daily lives. Avery is upset by her father’s detention, but she appears to focus more on her brother Christopher’s alleged murder onboard the Claire-Voyance while sailing with her. Walt, on the other hand, suffered two gunshot wounds three years before the novel’s events, and the healing process led to the development of an alcohol addiction. Walt admits that he is in a “dangerous spiral,” but he has “no idea how to pull out of it” (73). Walt’s addiction foreshadows future issues with his FBI duties and Avery’s probe.
Chapter 2 Summary
This section focuses on the themes of Reputation, Truth, and the Search for Justice. Walt and Avery are effectively doing the investigation from opposing perspectives. Though they are both interested in discovering the truth, they have different aims based on their assumptions. Walt believes Victoria’s guilt is evident because he discovered her blood and urine at the crime scene, and he appears to know intimate information about Victoria and Cameron’s affair, including a film of their sex life. Avery, on the other hand, is approaching the case from the other perspective, assuming Victoria is innocent based on the messages she left for Emma in the moments leading up to her death. One significant distinction between the two investigations is that Walt focuses on evidence and plausibility, but Avery focuses on “the special she could put together with the details of this case” (117). The problem of journalistic ethics meets with the quest of truth, as Emma acknowledges the immoral side of news media while narrating her 2001 experiences. Emma characterizes the press as “rabid animals” chasing Victoria for additional information and pushing the image of Victoria as a killing dominatrix “onto every news program and into every newspaper” (118). Avery appears to be tempted to use a similar tactic in her tale, noting how these news pieces “capture an audience” and “sell advertising spots” (118). Most crucially, Avery envisions herself utilizing Victoria’s story to renegotiate her contract with Mosley and David. Her desire to discover the truth may be genuine, but her position as a journalist inevitably creates a conflict of interest in investigating the case.
Furthermore, the issue of Perceptions and Judgments of Sexuality emerges in these chapters when Walt, Ken, and Tessa reveal their predispositions for bondage and “deviant” sexual behavior. When Walt and Jarrod discuss Cameron’s sex life, they are mostly formal and professional; but, when Walt questions Tessa about bondage in her sex life, she emphatically says, “For Christ’s sake, no!” , before redirecting the subject back to Walt, accusing him of wanting to “take samples of my underwear, or whatever perverted thing you have on your mind” , as if investigating the case necessarily makes Walt a “pervert.” When Walt mentions the “boarding horse” in Cameron and Victoria’s film, Ken “[gives] Walt a sideways glance”, as if Walt should be embarrassed to know what such an object is called. These characters’ opinions and prejudices against persons who engage in bondage and other sexual practices outside the acceptable norm ultimately influence their quest for the truth, as they are more likely to believe Victoria, as a bondage participant, is guilty of actual crimes. Emma adds another layer of justice-seeking to the broader investigation, countering the seeming primary intent to prosecute Victoria based on her sexual actions. Emma speaks to The Lasting Impact of Traumatic Events about her reluctance to lay Victoria to rest after 20 years because Victoria insisted on her innocence in her final moments.
Chapter 3 Summary
While Part 2 focused on Victoria’s story, Part 3 digs into Avery and Walt’s backgrounds, illustrating how The Lasting Impact of Traumatic Events influences their character development. For Avery, the source of her trauma is her father, whose actions drove her to adopt a new identity and destroyed her family. Claire Montgomery, in Avery’s opinion, has a past “splattered with the drippings of a frantic artist gone mad”, mirroring her shattered sense of self. The way Avery assigns blame for painful circumstances is significant. Despite Walt’s suggestion that Avery feels survivor guilt in the aftermath of the sailing catastrophe that killed Christopher and nearly killed her, Avery’s reaction to Christopher’s gravestone is angry: “Goddamn you, Christopher” . Similarly, Avery expresses her inability to “stop herself from loving the son of a bitch”, implying that she blames both Christopher and Garth for her life choices. However, the mix of love and hate she feels for both men suggests that Avery can be hurt by someone while still caring for them. This has immediate repercussions for her budding relationship with Walt. It implies that, even if she discovers his spying operation, she will continue to care about him.
Both Walt and Avery’s traumas are linked to Reputation, Truth, and the Search for Justice, since Avery must conceal her history in order to retain a journalistic reputation, whilst Walt was rejected by the FBI on the grounds that he was betraying Jason on purpose. According to Walt, “when every one of your colleagues believes you were knowingly sleeping with your partner’s wife, there was not a lot of sympathy for me” , showing the gap between reality and justice. To the other agents, dismissing Walt from their group is just, but it ignores the fact that Meghan kept her relationship with Jason hidden from Walt. Meanwhile, in relaying Victoria’s story, Avery values truth over justice. She wishes to share Victoria’s “life, her flaws, and the tragic day she died” with her audience, including audio recordings of her messages to Emma and Walt’s investigation into Cameron Young’s killing. In this framing, Avery is not attempting to prove Victoria’s guilt or innocence, nor is she attempting to force her audience to relive 9/11. Rather, she is attempting to present as complete a picture of Victoria’s life as possible, allowing the audience to interpret Victoria’s life and reach their own conclusions. This approach to journalism retains the weight of Avery’s previous comments about ratings and producing a “juicy” story, but her determination to convey the truth about Victoria represents a higher ethical standard than the initial coverage of Victoria’s case.
Chapter 4 Summary
The blossoming bond between Avery and Walt at the start of this section shows that they are starting to deal with The Long-Term Impact of Traumatic Events. They trust each other, feel at ease in each other’s presence, and are willing to be vulnerable in ways they have not been with other characters. However, their efforts to transcend their painful pasts are hampered by the FBI’s use of Walt to deceive Avery. Avery shares Walt’s fear “about how his relationship with Avery could end in anything other than disaster” , as they both struggle with trust and comfort with others. Despite her conclusion that Garth’s acts are not a “reflection of who she is” , the photographs of Walt pursuing her shatter her sense of safety. For Walt, the manipulation he witnessed with Maggie Greenwald during the first 2001 inquiry into Cameron Young’s killing resurfaces in the present with James Oliver, but his devastating break-up with Meghan becomes a major point in his deceit of Avery. Walt wonders if he “is any better than Meghan Cobb” , comparing his current betrayal of Avery’s confidence to Meghan’s deception. In the present, it appears that Walt is married to the FBI while dating Avery. Walt does not install the device, and Avery seeks Walt’s assistance rather than abandoning him, indicating that both characters are attempting to escape the cycle of treachery.
There is still a contradiction between journalism and Reputation, Truth, and the Search for legal, as the purposes of the legal system and journalism vary in Victoria’s case. For example, Avery intends to utilize the final words of a woman trapped in a terrorist strike to boost her ratings: She can picture “a short clip of Victoria Ford’s voice playing just before a commercial break, anchoring fifteen million viewers to their televisions” . Avery appears to have no qualms about exploiting someone else’s sorrow to enrich herself, implying that her journalistic ethics are compromised. However, by the end of this part, Avery has made it apparent to Natalie that she does not mean to damage either Victoria’s or Natalie’s lives, instead asking to use Natalie’s husband’s cruise line to assist Garth avoid punishment. This case demonstrates how Avery’s search of the truth is not constrained by the norms and regulations that govern law enforcement, creating a gray area between the ethics of chasing the truth as a journalist and seeking justice as a court officer. Walt, too, observes this paradox while addressing how the justice system is geared on convicting people of crimes, regardless of their truth or guilt. Only now, “far removed from his role as lead detective on the case” can he realize that the video of Cameron and Victoria is not evidence of Victoria’s guilt . Furthermore, Maggie Greenwald’s involvement in hiding evidence in many cases raises questions about the entire justice system. Walt recognizes that, while journalism may not always lead to justice, law enforcement and the legal system are likewise imperfect organizations.
This chapter portion concludes Perceptions and Judgments of Sexuality by having Avery study the recording of Victoria and Cameron having sex together. Regarding Cameron Young’s body, Walt says, “He had whip marks all over his body, so we know whatever was going on that night was quite violent” . Walt believes that bondage play is inherently violent and aggressive, thus these markings obviously implicate Victoria. Walt, and many of the detectives involved in the initial case, believe there is a direct link between using a whip in sexual interactions and using a whip to physically and viciously injure someone. However, Avery offers another take on the film, noting that Victoria “was delivering what Avery interpreted as playful punishment.” However, one swipe of the whip went too far, and the situation was immediately resolved. Now she started caressing his back. Avery’s opinion strongly contradicts Walt’s notion of violence and aggression in their sexual encounters. This contrast between expectations and actuality reveals the preconceived conceptions that many people have about various types of sexual play, reinforcing the assumption that Victoria was initially suspected because of judgments made about her sex life.
Chapter 5 Summary
The final chapter portion investigates the long-term effects of traumatic events. Avery overcomes her anguish by having the FBI arrest Garth while she smuggles Christopher to Jamaica. Avery even orders that “federal agents wear cameras and microphones” during Garth’s arrest, which he subsequently broadcasts as a “cathartic” program on American Events. By diverting the FBI with Garth’s arrest, Avery is able to arrange for Christopher to join one of Natalie’s husband’s cruises. In this way, she redeems Christopher while punishing her father, reconciling the conflict between Avery’s internal picture of herself and her ability to trust others. Walt, too, overcomes his pain, asking Meghan to assist him by accompanying Christopher on the vacation, which is believed to be the job of forgiveness that Walt required to move on from her betrayal. In Jamaica, Walt grabs Avery’s hand, revealing that he is still “working really hard on changing” himself , and Avery “[doesn’t] resist” his hand-holding, hinting that they are regaining trust in one other.
The investigation of Reputation, Truth, and the Search for Justice ends in a twist ending in which Victoria admits that she did, in fact, kill Cameron Young, placing her own blood and urine to make it appear as if she had been framed. The references to “a district attorney refusing to follow the evidence” , meaning Maggie Greenwald, and “a sycophant detective refusing to trust his instincts” , meaning Walt, imply that Victoria’s case was a clash of truth, justice, and reputation. The truth was buried in order to boost Maggie’s reputation, and Walt’s failure to follow his intuition resulted in the loss of justice. Avery’s special, which does not expose Victoria’s existence in Greece, was intended to be ethical, allowing an innocent woman to live in peace; however, the novel’s climax takes on a more ominous tone when the current Peg Perugo novel hints Victoria’s guilt.
Interestingly, the Epilogue takes a distinct approach to Perceptions and Judgments of Sexuality. While the detectives were mistaken in presuming Victoria and Cameron had a violent relationship based on their bondage play, Victoria revealed that the bondage activity in the film was manufactured to be particularly benign. On the night of the murder, Victoria notes that the “normal lightheartedness of their role-playing was gone” , and she “had been particularly violent with the whip, but he hadn’t protested”, which appears to imply that Victoria did harbor violent intentions toward Cameron, though these intentions may have developed after learning that Tessa was expecting.
