A South Carolinian Assistant District Attorney is at the end of his tether, both professionally and personally. After a sudden, personal tragedy, he’s looking for a way out of his career and maybe from life itself. But before he can make any choices, a brutal murder in his town pulls him into one last case.
What he doesn’t know is that there are two people working in the shadows to make sure he suffers a lot before he makes his final moves.
Fox News Does Fiction?
“The Color of Death” is co-authored by Trey Gowdy and Christopher Greyson. Greyson, already a successful and prolific writer, has penned several thrillers and cozy mysteries, with millions of books sold. Gowdy is new to the job, but a familiar public figure, having served as a federal prosecutor and four-term U.S. congressman from South Carolina. After leaving office, he became a prominent host and contributor to Fox News.
Interestingly, this is the first fictional offering from the new publishing imprint from Fox News Media, called Fox News Books. They’ve carved out a niche with a series of nonfiction bestsellers, often focusing on history, patriotism, and right-wing commentary from their on-air personalities. But it appears they are seeking to expand their brand into the competitive thriller market.
Being associated with a news channel might be considered a double-edged sword. So many novels today are saturated with political ideologies, soapbox rallying cries, and social justice activism. Could they just be offering a different flavor of the same problem?
Murder and Revenge
“The Color of Death” unfolds in the South Carolina Upstate, a setting Gowdy knows intimately. The story begins with the murder of a defense attorney at the hands of two mysterious assailants who try to make it look like a suicide. We then meet Assistant D.A. Colm Truesdale, a brilliant prosecutor battling extreme grief following the recent deaths of his wife and daughter.
On the verge of resigning, Truesdale is drawn into the investigation of a local hairdresser who was found dead in her salon. The D.A. decides to use the case as a welcome distraction from his personal anguish. Aided by his long-term friend, the grizzled and cynical veteran Detective Captain Rick Denton, Truesdale hopes to make this his last case.
There are many complications with the investigation, beginning with the lead investigator, the young and inexperienced Detective Travis Hendricks, whose procedural missteps might sink the case before it even starts.
A secondary storyline allows us to follow the corrupt and arrogant Judge Martin Weber, who was engaged in an illicit affair with the victim. He may indeed be the murderer, but even he’s not sure about his involvement due to being blackout drunk on the night in question. Weber actively obstructs the investigation and begins to clean up any evidence that might link him to the case or to his affair with the victim.
All the while, the two shadowy figures who killed the defense attorney, known only as JD and Knox, are slowly closing in on members of the justice community, including Truesdale, whom they believe viciously wronged them.
Straight Shooting
One pleasantly surprising aspect of this book is that Gowdy and Greyson don’t inject any current politics. “The Color of Death” is a solid, straightforward thriller, without partisan politics or trending social outrage points that, it seems, are practically required in most mainstream popular fiction. It would be great if other publishers took note of this, regardless of anyone’s political or social leanings.
The writing style here is a little overly dramatic at times, and switches back and forth between the present and past tenses can be a bit off-putting. However, it soon settles into a taut and trim voice that has a refreshing take on the lead character. Truesdale is on the knife-edge of the abyss, and you’re never quite sure if he’s going to make it out in one piece. More often than not, it’s the hero’s weaknesses that make him memorable, not his strengths.
The big problem with “The Color of Death” is that there are two competing storylines. They are interconnected, but they seem to be at odds with one another at times. You’re never quite sure where the authors are taking you and whether promises made will be fulfilled.
By the time you get to the ending, it’s satisfying in one respect, but it also ends with a cliffhanger that somewhat betrays the initial premise. Mind you, if the book hangs on a cliffhanger, Gowdy and Greyson create a doozy, especially the surprise reveal at the very end.
Overall, it’s a pleasant surprise to find a novel from a political machine like a news channel that’s refreshingly free of politics. Gowdy and Greyson’s writing style only occasionally veers towards melodrama.
As debut thrillers go, it’s impressive, and it would be interesting to see if they can maintain this quality in the obviously forthcoming sequel.
‘The Color of Death’
By Trey Gowdy and Christopher Greyson
Harper Influence: Aug. 26, 2025
Hardcover, 288 pages
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