- Mediocre book about a solo practitioner, Ben Kincaid, who is hired by a large company
as their in-house counsel. He takes the job for the money, but soon it seems he may have
been hired as a patsy. One of the lawyers in the firm ends up dead and Kincaid is given
one week to clear himself. Bernhardt, William - Ballantine Fiction - Index
- Good read about a lawyer whose ex-lover, Robin Harwell, comes back into his life to
ask him to represent her stepdaughter, who is accused of murdering . . . . her own father!
Robin seduces him, the stepdaughter seduces him and the ending is predictable but well
developed. I believe it was just made into a movie. Coughlin, William J. - St. Martins
Paperbacks - Index
In the Presence of the Enemy
- Another good book by Coughlin. This time a young, New York City attorney, Jake
Martin, gets involved in a will contest in a small, up state town. He is seduced by the
widow (notice a pattern here?), is fired by his firm, but is able to win the case on his
own. The real surprise is that Coughlin could make a book about a will contest so
compelling.Coughlin, William J. - St. Martins Paperbacks - Index
- Another book I can recommend, this time about a 48 year old attorney, Ted Jaffe, at a
conservative law firm. When he was a prosecutor, twelve years earlier, he convicted a man
who killed the wealthy husband of a woman with whom he was having an affair. (All
attorneys have sordid pasts and extensive sex lives - didn't you know that?) It turns out
that the man didn't kill her husband and Jaffe is called upon to save the man from being
executed for this crime. In so doing, he risks his job, his reputation, and his marriage.
But who did kill the women's husband, and why? We find out in the final chapter during a
compelling cross-examination (Actually we find out in the second to last chapter). Irving,
Clifford - Dell Publishing - Index
Assumption of Guilt
- A nursery school teacher is accused of molesting some of her students. Her attorney,
Harry Hull, adopts a trial strategy that pits himself against the judge. The plot is
reminiscent of the similar cases we have heard about in the news. The author explores both
sides of the case and never takes a definitive position as to whether or not she actually
committed the crimes. The focus of the story is more about how the community reacts to the
charges than about solving the crime. Different, as far as legal thrillers go, but good.Mehing,
Harold - Jove Publications - Index
- Steve Martini is an exciting author of legal thrillers and courtroom dramas. In Prime
Witness, we meet prosecutor Paul Madriani trying a capital case involving the serial
killings know as the Putah Creek Murders. The defendant is a Russian immigrant, Iganovich,
whose attorney, Adrian Chambers holds a grudge against Madriani for his part in a sting
that left Chambers suspended from the practice of law for five years. The case against
Iganovich is strong, but Madriani is haunted by the suspicion that he was not the only one
responsible for the murders. Martini, Steve - Jove Publications - Index
- In this sequel to "Prime Witness," former prosecutor Paul Madriani
is now a prominent defense attorney. His boss, after being nominated for a seat on the
Supreme Court, is found dead of a gunshot wound to the head. The accused, Talia Potter,
was the victim's wife and Paul Madriani's ex-lover. (Where do they find the time?) A
classic whodunit with a spellbinding conclusion. So far, I have enjoyed all of Martini's
novels. Martini, Steve - Jove Publications - Index
A Time to Kill
-John Grisham's first book and his best book by far. While his next book, The Firm,
was good, it pales by comparison to this novel and is totally different from the formulaic
novels he pumped out thereafter. In this novel set in Clanton, Mississippi, a ten year old
black girl is raped by two drunken locals. The father of the girl picks up a rifle and
meets out his own justice. Jake Brigance, a young defense attorney, strives to defend the
father in a hostile environment and becomes a target of the seething racism and hate that
permeates the environment. But this book is more than the sum of its parts. The characters
and milieu draw you in. This book is modern literature. You must read this book.
Grisham, John - Island Books - Index
- The Pelican Brief is a step up from The Client and a slight departure from the
usual formula. Perhaps Grisham was challenged by having a female protaganist, Darby Shaw,
a young law student. When two Supreme Court justices are killed, Darby speculates as to
who has a motive to kill them in the form of a brief. Her law professor/mentor/lover
believes she may be on to something and passes this brief on. The bad guys find out about
the brief and want her and the brief eliminated. The cat and mouse game begins when
Darby's lover is killed. She becomes embroiled in the usual Grisham "who can I
trust" dilemna. Grisham's talent seems to be not in the story, but in the telling. In
spite of this, Grisham makes fundamental mistakes, among them, leading us to believe that
Darby's lover is the protaganist. When he kills the man off you feel cheated and there
seems to be no dramatic payoff. Grisham, John - Island Books - Index
