Amazon.com
Mark Sway, age 11 but years wiser thanks to a drunken dad who abused his mom, is out in the woods behind his Memphis trailer park teaching his kid brother, Ricky, how to smoke Virginia Slims heisted from Mom's purse. He's a pretty upright kid--he's determined to protect his brother from drugs, and he once defended his mom with a baseball bat.
The dangers of smoking rapidly escalate when Mark glimpses a guy trying to commit suicide by carbon monoxide in his car nearby and tries to stop him. The guy is Jerome, a lawyer who tells Mark that his Mafia client has murdered Senator Boyd Boyette and buried him in the concrete under his garage in New Orleans. Then Jerome puts a bullet in his own head. Little Ricky flips out, and so does Barry the Blade Muldanno, who doesn't want blustery U.S. attorney Reverend Roy Foltrigg to find the corpse and bust him. Caught in a ruthless game between the Mob and the amoral authorities, Mark's family has no defense in the world except Reggie Love, a 50ish divorcée who has just turned her life around by becoming a lawyer. Does she have what it takes to help Mark beat the system? The life-or-death chase is on!
Mark has seen a lot of movies, and he sees life in cinematic terms. So does Grisham. Even if this novel had never been filmed, it would still be a really good, fast-paced movie. Its literary limitation is also its filmlike virtue: The Client is a rush.
Amazon.com Audiobook Review
With her sparkling voice and superb acting ability, Blair Brown gives an impressive reading of this John Grisham blockbuster. The story hinges on a young boy who gets an unwanted earful of murder, politics--and dangerous secrets about both--from a conscience-stricken mob lawyer bent on suicide. "I can tell you where the body is... the most notorious undiscovered corpse of our time." Just the kind of information most children don't need, especially when the snakeskin-wearing hit man finds out what he knows. Aside from musical cues scattered as superfluously as laugh tracks on a sitcom, the production quality is stellar, preserving the crispness of Blair's voice and the nuances of her excellent interpretation. (Running time: 6 hours, 4 cassettes) --George Laney
Book Description
In a weedy lot on the outskirts of memphis, two boys watch a shiny Lincoln pull upt ot the curb...Eleven-year-old Mark Sway and his younger brother were sharing a forbidden cigarrette when a chance encounter with a suicidal laywer left Mark knowing a bloody and explosive secret: the whereabouts of the most sought-after dead body in America.
Now Mark is caught between a legal system gone mad and a mob killer desperate to cover up his crime. And his only ally is a woman named Reggie Love, who has been a lawyer for all of four years.
Prosecutors are willing to break all the rules to make Mark talk. The mob will stop at nothing to keep him quiet. And Reggie will do anything to protect her client -- even take a last, desperate gamble that could win Mark his freedom... or cost them both their lives.
Customer Reviews:
A 11yr. old, a lawyer and the Mafia.......2007-09-23
If one was to go merely by the reviews online this book would have been overlooked. This book has everything a 'good book' should have. The book opens up with Mark, a 11 year old boy who is in the woods smoking with his younger brother, Rick. They see a black car pull up and watch in suspense as a man attempts to committ suicide. You have to get this book to find out the whole story. I loved it from the beginning to the end! I most definitely will be reading more books by him.
Highly recommend!
Dragged out and Predictable.......2007-02-10
Eleven year old Mark Sway only wanted to go out for a smoke and relax when he encountered a suicidal man. As he tried to stop the suicide, Mark learned a dark secret, the location of a dead senator's body. Now the FBI is after him for that vary secret, and the Mafia is after him, in hopes of silencing him. Who will get to him first?
The novel held a promising plot that went down hill when things were dragged out and utterly predictable. Throughout the whole 500 plus page novel, Mark debated the pros and cons of telling the FBI the location of the senator's body, which was obvious that at the end, he was going to spill it anyways. Then, throughout the whole book, The Blade (the senator's killer) was satisfied with where the body was buried, but when Mark decided to dig it up, The Blade decided on the same thing at the same time, just to add some predictable suspense. In general, there wasn't enough conflict or intrigue, while the same things kept happening over and over again. The only reason I gave this book three stars was because Mark was an enjoyable character and I enjoyed the mob aspect of the plot.
so so .......2006-12-16
I actually enjoyed the book so much at the beginning, and thought it would get even more interesting and was so excited that I was unfolding the events one by one. But, unfortunately, when I read almost two third of the book, I was gradually losing my interest and desire to carefully read it and finally, I found myself just skimming the book real quickly.. This story grabbed my attention at the beginning but as it continued to develop the plot, it became quite boring because this story was totally unrealistic. yes, it is fiction but there are too many coincidences and too much luck for the kid. the lawyer, judge, and all other minor characters surrounding the kid, they're are quite nonsense and that's why i am giving only 3 stars.
The Client.......2006-12-02
I hated this book. I'm not one to write a review, but I felt a desperate need to write one for this book. By the end I hated the kid, I hated the lawyer, and I hated the Juvenile judge. Why didn't the kid just tell what he knew at the beginning of the book? Because then you have no story and you can't fill up over 400 pages. The bad guys turned out to be law enforcement people who were only trying to solve a mafia murder. It didn't make sense. The only redeeming feature was I got the book for free. Anything above that would have been too much to pay.
Who believes this?.......2006-08-06
This novel is absolute dreck, at the best. I don't think I could ever pick up another Grisham novel without vomiting. Pelican Brief was Okay. But, I honestly cannot read him again, because of this.
The reason for this one star rating is this.
First, the protaganist is a stupid punk kid, who by the end of the novel you are actually hoping gets shot or SOMETHING!
Second, 496 pages filled with "blah blah blah" There wasn't enough content to constitute a five hundred page novel. Maybe one hundred, and then it would have been decent.
Third, When reading about a murder mystery with the mob involved, you would at least expect more blood-shed, or more death. Especially since this is targeted at a group that enjoys those kinds of things.
Fourth, although written at a fourth grade level no fourth grader should be allowed within three hundred feet for all the swearing that takes place. Speech and the written word, are signs of intelligence, Vulgarity is something people use when they don't know how to convey something accurately. Honestly every page has at least some.
Now you know,that unless you want your socks bored off, you shouldn't even look in the section that has Grisham in it. If you want to read something light, that's believable, not Fantasy and not Romance, read Crichton.
Amazon.com
Christopher Buckley is not so much a novelist as a free-ranging satirist looking for targets. In Thank You for Smoking it was big tobacco and earnest reformers; in God Is My Broker it was business and religion; and in No Way to Treat a First Lady, it's the entire legal profession, not to mention the Washington establishment. The novel opens with the President of the United States returning to the conjugal bed after an illicit Lincoln Bedroom romp with the Streisandesque Babette Van Anka. His wife, the long-suffering Beth McMann, promptly clocks him with a Paul Revere spittoon. Several hours later he dies. "Lady Bethmac," as the First Lady is immediately dubbed by the media, is put on trial, and the resulting media circus gives Buckley lots of opportunity for nicely observed skewerings of legal culture. "Judge Dutch creaked forward in his chair. This is the source of the aura of judges: they have bigger chairs than anyone else. That and the fact that they can sentence people to sit in electrified ones. It's all about chairs." He gets in some neat neologisms--a lawyer performs a "credibilobotomy" on a witness--and sends up the pretensions of law TV: at a roundtable discussion, the guest from Harvard Law is invited "to provide gravitas and to shift uneasily in his seat when the other guests said something provocative." Buckley's Trial of the Millennium is so far-fetched that it seems entirely possible. --Claire Dederer
Book Description
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Elizabeth Tyler MacMann, the ambitious First Lady of the United States (and known in the tabloids as “Lady Bethmac”), is on trial for the death of her philandering husband, and the only man who can save her is the boyfriend she jilted in law school—now the most shameless defense attorney in America. Published to rave reviews,
No Way to Treat a First Lady is a hilariously warped love story for our time set in the funniest place in America: Washington, D.C.
Download Description
Christopher Buckley, the bestselling author of the comic classics The White House Mess and Thank You for Smoking, returns to the funniest place in America: Washington, D.C.
Elizabeth Tyler MacMann, the First Lady of the United States, has been charged with killing her philandering husband, the President of the United States. In the midst of a bedroom spat, she allegedly hurled a historic Paul Revere spittoon at him, with tragic results. The attorney general has no choice but to put the First Lady on trial for assassination.
The media has never warmed to Beth MacMann (her nickname in the tabloids is “Lady Bethmac”), and as America girds for a scandalous, sensational trial, Beth reaches out to the only defense attorney she trusts, Boyce “Shameless” Baylor, who charges $1,000 an hour and has represented a Who’s Who of scoundrels: murderous running backs, society wife-killers, Los Alamos spies, and national-security sellouts.
Why Boyce Baylor? Because Beth loved him once, when they were law students. Boyce wanted to marry her, but Beth chose the future President instead. Now, after all these years, Boyce has a second chance. To what lengths will a shameless lawyer go to win the Trial of the Millennium and regain the love of his life?
Buckley has been described by the Los Angeles Times Book Review as “one of the best and surest political humorists in America” and by Entertainment Weekly as “a superb writer of politically incorrect satire.” No Way to Treat a First Lady is flat-out hilarious. And furthermore, it’s a love story for our time.
"Unspeakably and endlessly funny. Unless you're a former president. Wicked humorist Buckley shoots fish in a barrel and makes them dance."
KIRKUS REVIEWS
"The lurid sexual excesses of the late 90's provide plenty of comic fodder for Buckley's latest satire, which doubles as a legal thriller. The political humor is first-rate as usual, as Buckley has plenty of fun with the slimy, silly mess that is Beltway politics. This is one of his better efforts, which should keep Buckley on the 'A' list of American satirists."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Customer Reviews:
Buckley eviscerates a certain presidential power couple.......2007-09-06
This book is a riot. The ever delightful Buckley details what happens when philandering President Ken MacMann (not based on any recent presidents) dies after being hit by a silver Paul Revere spittoon thrown by edgy, lawyer First Lady Beth Tyler MacMann (bearing no resemblance to any recent first ladies) after being caught sneaking back into their White House bedroom at 2:30 a.m. from the Lincoln Bedroom, where he was building a bridge to 21st century Hollywood donations with actress, singer, activist and serial Lincoln bedroom visitor Babette Van Anka. (She's not based on any real characters, either.)
As he's found dead in the morning, his forehead bearing the reverse imprint "Revere" where the spittoon hit him, Beth MacMann is charged with assassinating her husband. She turns to the nation's top trial lawyer, Shameless Boyce, who also happens to be the fiance she dumped to marry MacMann a quarter century before in law school.
In the ensuing Trial of the Millenium. Boyce successfully chips away the government's case, until his client insists on testifying - to rehabilitate her image so that she can later run for office - and all hell breaks loose.
If you ever suffered from either Clinton or OJ fatigue (or, likely, both), you won't be able to put down this delicious satire. With the finest of literary scalpels, Buckley eviscerates politicians, TV-trial commentators, spin managers, jury analysts, Hollywood activists, preening superlawyers and mostly the once and seemingly future occupants of the White House.
Entertaining read, witty satire.......2006-09-17
Christopher Buckley's novel is an entertaining blend of satire and wit, that makes the mark the all good satire must achieve: Are the characters and the profession they represent reviled by the author, or respected for their achievements? Also, like all good satire, one can almost imagine the state of affairs depicted in this fictional novel actually occuring. Witnessing the spectacles of several trials of the century in the past few years, Buckley presents the "Trial of the Millenium", the First Lay on trial for the murder of the phialndering President.
The satirical commentary is as much about the American public as it is about the legal profession.
Funny, funny novel.......2006-08-20
Buckley really gets how Washington works, or doesn't. As a fed, I just howl with laughter. He skewers all the pompous and wrong headed people who try to run this country. Moreover, he knows how to tell a good and entertaining story.
No Way to Treat a First Lady: A Novel.......2005-08-31
Although this was entertaining in places and an very easy read it was no Carl Hiaasen. The verbal exchange between the main characters was creative but anyone with even a minor knowledge of the law would find the plot far from believeable.
Not a bad read to throw in your beach bag or take to the cabin for some easy weekend reading but thats about it.
hilarious!.......2005-04-18
No Way to Treat a First Lady is funny, witty, and smart. I'm a big fan of Christopher Buckley- he takes witty political satire and turns it into an engaging novel. I highly recommend No Way To Treat a First Lady in addition to Little Green Men and Thank You for Not Smoking.
Average customer rating:
- A good story although bland for thriller fans
- Very Unsatisfying
- A woman takes off with the money
- Wayward Wife
- Great suspense - easy read
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Short Straw
Stuart Woods
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
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Woods, Stuart
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ASIN: 0399153683
Release Date: 2006-10-09 |
Book Description
Short Straw reintroduces Santa Fe lawyer Ed Eagle, who first appeared in Stuart Woods's 1992 thriller, Santa Fe Rules. In his first adventure, Ed fell in love with the seductive Barbara Kennerly, and married her-against his better judgment.
Turns out that Ed should have listened to his intuition. Ed Eagle awakens the morning after his fortieth birthday to find that Barbara has vanished, and Ed's money-from his business, his bank, and his brokerage accounts-has been wired to the Cayman Islands. Barbara, it appears, had drugged his birthday wine, neatly cleaned him out and then fled to Mexico, from where she can't be extradited. And as if that weren't bad enough, when Ed arrives at work that morning he discovers that he's been assigned a new client who looks like nothing but trouble-Joe Big Bear, a part-time mechanic charged with a triple homicide. Ed hires two slightly shady investigators to search for his wife. But when they track Barbara down in Puerto Vallarta, they discover that Joe Big Bear may also be embroiled in Barbara's plot. Ed soon finds himself caught in a scheme that is much more far reaching-and deadly-than anyone would have expected.
Customer Reviews:
A good story although bland for thriller fans.......2007-07-25
This review is for the Signet paperback, May 2007, 375 pages. SHORT STRAW was on the USA Today's Top 150 Best-Selling books list for eight weeks reaching the peak position of 43. Stuart Woods has 26 novels on this best-seller list.
Ed Eagle, a successful lawyer, wakes up uncharacteristically late with a hangover on the very day he is hosting an inauguration party for his new offices. By the time he sorts things out, he realizes his wife, Barbara, had drugged him to assure he slept late so she could escape to Mexico with over a million dollars of his money. Ed acts fast. With just minutes to spare, he prevents Barbara from cleaning out his brokerage accounts too.
Ed sends a private detective to Mexico to find his wife, which he does quickly, but Barbara shoots him. So Ed sends another PI to rescue the first and find his wife. The plot continues with the two private detectives chasing Barbara around Mexico. Meanwhile, Ed discovers Barbara has a contract out on him so she can get all his assets and collect on his life insurance.
Although SHORT STRAW is listed as an action thriller, it is not the over-the-top, nail-biting, super-hero type. The plot is believable, the characters plausible and everyone makes mistakes. Although many scenes happen in Mexico, the settings are either imaginary or unremarkable. It's a good story, but bland for thriller fans.
Very Unsatisfying.......2007-07-14
I've read 8 or 9 books now by Stuart Woods. This one ranks at the very bottom. Woods is real hit and miss. "Chiefs" was great. "Under the Lake" was unusual. "Prince of Beverly Hills" was nostalgic. This one was really just a waste of time.
The first book in this particular series was called Santa Fe Rules and introduced us to protagonist Ed Eagle, a Santa Fe attorney. It was a reasonably fun read, even though completely implausible.
This one picks up about two years after the conclusion of "Santa Fe Rules" with Eagle awakening on the day he is to celebrate the grand opening of his new offices. Within the hour he learns that his bank accounts have been cleaned out and his wife has fled the country. But yet, he manages to put on his game face and carry on as though life is grand. It is just the first in a long string of impossibilities in terms of how humans actually behave outside the pages of fiction. The only glimpse Woods ever seems to give us into the inner turmoil of his characters in any of his books is that they throw up. Literally - woof their cookies. Doesn't matter whether they have been shot at, robbed, seen a ghost, whatever. They throw up and continue on their merry way as though they just had a touch of food poisoning and now have it out of their system.
The book has no twists at all. There's really no mystery here either. Wife runs off with money. Husband gives chase through a series of private investigators. Husband catches wife. The end.
It is exactly what it seems. For no apparent reason, Barbara -- Eagle's wife of two years who we first meet in the pages of Santa Fe Rules -- has just up and left him and Woods proceeds to take the next 300 pages making her out to be a world-class b**ch. It really is quite senseless. We're never given any motive. There isn't another lover. There isn't a secret life. There isn't unhappiness at home. And it isn't really for want of money as Barbara lives a life of luxury under Eagle's roof with a man who treats her well and is faithful.
As I said, there are no plot twists. It just plods along with Barbara always half a step in front of Eagle, but with him finally catching up to her at the end. And instead of delivering a "she reaped what she sowed" ending that would have been a little bit satisfying to make up for absence of plot and motive, we get something that feels like one of those insufferable TV cop shows where the scummiest criminals never meet the violent end they really deserve, but instead a taxpayer-funded waltz through the American justice system where you know a parole awaits them all-too-prematurely. And the cops who moralize that if they rough the guy up or dispense their own brand of Clint Eastwood style justice, they've "sunk to the level of the criminal."
"Prince of Beverly Hills" was far more satisfying in this respect.
Maybe Woods was trying to leave the door open for a sequel with this book's ending. But my advice? Don't bother, Mr. Woods. You've milked the antagonist in this story for all she is worth, which wasn't enough for even a single book - let alone two. This book was truly pulp fiction. It wasted a perfectly good tree. I perservered to the end, only to find it wasn't worth waiting for.
A woman takes off with the money.......2007-06-15
This is entertaining light reading with a somewhat unlikely, but interesting, cast of characters. Ed Eagle, attorney in Sante Fe, wakes up one morning and finds his wife gone along with all the money in their personal bank account and the business bank account (things like that do happen in real life). Ed seems mainly interested in getting the money back and getting a divorce. His love for the woman is lost very quickly, and he just as quickly finds a new woman. It's hard to have much sympathy for any of the characters in the novel, but the plot moves along as you read on to see what happens next.
Wayward Wife.......2007-06-11
Stuart Woods, "Short Straws" resurrects Ed Eagle from "Santa Fe Rules," whose wife does not want a divorce, but a permanent separation with winner take all. Ed must hired an Apache tracker, Vittorio and Cupie Dalton, a retired LAPD detective to trace both his wife, Barbara and his money to Mexico. Getting a divorce when the "lady" is out to kill him is rough, but not so much that Ed doesn't find solace in the arms of Susannah Wilde, an actress from Delano, GA.
This vintage Woods has more twists and turns than a mountain road with enough betrayals, bullets, and beddings to keep the plot moving.
Nash Black, author of "Qualifying Laps" and "Taxes, Stumbling Blocks & Pitfalls for Authors 2007."
Great suspense - easy read.......2007-06-08
This is my first read of this author. Plot grabs you from the first page and holds you until the last. I'll look for other of his works.
Average customer rating:
- A solid contribution to the genre, hard to put down
- A Special Book
- Jump on for a rollercoaster ride of a read
- Irresistible Forces Prepare to Collide as the Tension Builds
- Very transparent plot
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When Darkness Falls
James Grippando
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Contemporary
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ASIN: 0060831138
Release Date: 2007-01-02 |
Book Description
The man who calls himself Falcon is full of contradictions. He lives in a car but he has access to a lot of cash. And he has an obsession with the Miami mayor's daughter. First, Falcon climbs to the top of the Bay of Biscayne bridge and threatens to jump unless he can talk to Alina Mendoza. That brings in blind negotiator Vince Paulo, who makes a promise he isn't allowed to keep, and Falcon ends up in jail. Jack Swyteck doesn't want Falcon as a client but takes him on as a favor, thinking he'll plead the guy out and watch his client go to jail. But Falcon has the bail money and is on the street again in a few hours, earning Jack the enmity of the powerful and vindictive mayor.
Then Falcon strikes again. Hours after his release, the body of a brutally murdered woman is found in the trunk of Falcon's car. On the run, in an attempt to highjack Swyteck and his best friend Theo, he crashes Jack's car into a motel and takes hostage the woman inside, plus Theo, in the process killing one policeman and injuring another. Jack has mere hours to get Theo and the woman out, because he realizes that Falcon has nothing left to lose. But what Jack doesn't know is that other people are involved and are keeping dangerous secrets that they will stop at nothing to conceal.
Thus begins a lightning–paced, impossible–to–put–down story, as only James Grippando can tell it.
Customer Reviews:
A solid contribution to the genre, hard to put down.......2007-09-04
This was my first exposure to Grippando, and hooked I am. This novel, in the sub-genre of police/hostage thrillers, grabs your attention and never lets go. I particularly enjoy contemporary thrillers with a solid historical hook, and this one does not disappoint -- it gives us a whiff of something long fallen below our collective radar, the "dirty war" in Argentina a few decades ago. The main characters are well-depicted and the plot moves briskly along with a satisfying denouement. A great read.
A Special Book.......2007-05-23
I began this book with trepidation as I do not, usually, like books with a stock character. The writer does an exceptional job in developing his characters and making an extremely engaging story. My attention was grabbed as I read the first chapter where a homeless man, calling himself Falcon, is thratening to jump off of a bridge. It appeared to be a rapid start to a rather harmless, yet rapid, read. The book is anything butsimple and the witer has the unique ability to show that things are not always what they seem to be. The characters are complex and the story is truly riveting with much not appearing to be what one thinks it to be. This is a superbly satisfying book from a very special writer.
Jump on for a rollercoaster ride of a read.......2007-05-04
I came late to James Grippando's novels. My first was Got The Look and since then, I've been devouring his earlier works.
Jack Swyteck is a Miami, Florida attorney who is hired to defend a homeless man who calls himself Falcon. Falcon lives in his car, doesn't seem to have a job, yet he has enough cash on hand to bail himself out of jail. And there seems to be more where that came from.
Straddled on top of the William Powell Bridge, Falcon is threatening to jump unless he can talk to his obsession, Alicia Mendoza, the Miami mayor's daughter. Crisis negotiator, Sergeant Vincent Paulo, who is blind, attempts to talk Falcon down. Thus begins the strange and intriguing journey of When Darkness Falls.
A short time after Falcon is released from jail (the police don't like jumpers) a woman's body is found in the trunk of Falcon's car. Falcon takes Jack Swyteck's best friend, Theo, and others, hostage in a motel room. He wants his money (he thinks Jack has it) and to speak to Mendoza. Falcon's behavior is erratic (to say the least) but there are good reasons for everything he does.
Jack and the negotiator, Paulo, must work together to free the hostages and learn Falcon's agenda. If they aren't successful, a lot of people are going to die.
I enjoy Jack Swyteck and the rollercoaster rides Grippando takes his readers on with each novel. He writes page-turners that grab the reader at the first page and keep us up late at night.
The rich mixture of the Anglo and Latin cultures is an extra that one finds in Grippando's novels. The addition of Argentina's dirty war and the thousands of 'disappeared' in When Darkness Falls adds a dark and sinister element to the plot.
Armchair Interviews says: You'll love When Darkness Falls and then you'll be shopping for all of Grippando's other novels.
Irresistible Forces Prepare to Collide as the Tension Builds .......2007-04-29
Thrillers present different benefits to readers than mysteries do. In a thriller, you need to identify with many of the characters. You need to feel like you are in the situation . . . and frequently feel helpless. When a thriller works well, your stomach starts to turn queasy and you find your heart beating faster. The best thrillers increase the intensity at a rate that leaves you racing to get to the end.
A mystery, by comparison, is more of an intellectual test. Can you figure out who did what, to whom, and why? To make mysteries more interesting the author will often add an element of a thriller by putting an appealing character in jeopardy near the end.
In a thriller, figuring out what's going on makes the tension higher and the story more effective. In a mystery, figuring out what's going on often pops the balloon of your interest.
When Darkness Falls is a thriller. Some will figure out the plot's elements much sooner than others. But it doesn't matter. In either case, the thriller works.
Defense attorney Jack Swyteck usually finds himself being bailed out by his friend and former client, Theo. In When Darkness Falls, it's up to Jack to do the saving of Theo and that's a bigger challenge.
Jack normally takes on three pro bono (nonpaying) clients a year. Homeless suicide-threatening Falcon seems like a good candidate for this good deed. Jack is surprised when Falcon turns out to have the money for bail and to pay Jack, all in cash . . . Jack just has to go get it. But this arrangement soon goes awry when Falcon decides that Jack is a thief. Falcon's paranoia extends to wanting to talk to the mayor's daughter, a policewoman, something the mayor doesn't want to have happen. An unexpected accident leads to a hostage situation developing. How will Jack deal with it?
The plot is further complicated by blind hostage negotiator Sergeant Vincent Paulo having lost Falcon's trust in the bridge jumping threat. To make matters tenser, the sergeant is the former boy friend of the mayor's daughter, Alicia Mendoza. For unknown reasons, the mayor wants Paulo in charge of the new negotiation. Meanwhile, the SWAT team is honing their charge.
Can a bloody charge be avoided? What will happen to the hostages? It's touch and go. I suspect the ending will surprise you.
I encourage you to read this early in the day. Otherwise, you'll undoubtedly lose sleep.
Great work, Mr. Grippando!
Very transparent plot.......2007-04-10
Come on people! This books was not that good! First of all, I figured out the plot before page 100. The instant the author mentioned "The Disappeared," it was obvious. The plot devices, i.e., flying to Nassau to get money - hello! Just bring cash - Falcon's not going to know. Of course Jack HAD to go to find a CLUE!!! Then there was a HUGE information dump toward the end by Alicia. Does Grippando really think people are that stupid and ill-informed? Hey, we're educated, we read newspapers - we know about the Dirty War. The book was very slow - not much happened. After the first few threats by Falcon, we knew he wasn't going to hurt anyone and it just...dragged.
Book Description
The bestselling barrister is back—and ready to take on his most timely case yet
When Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders—John Mortimer's first Rumpole novel ever—debuted last year, devoted fans came to it in droves. Now, just in time for Christmas, Mortimer returns with another Rumpole novel to tackle a truly relevant topic with his signature wit and style.
While defending a mind-numbingly dull theft charge, Rumpole finds that the new terrorist laws have hamstrung his beloved courts. Meanwhile, a Pakistani doctor has been imprisoned without charge or trial under suspicion of aiding al Qaeda in its plans for a terrorist attack. With the doctor's wife begging him to help her husband, the Great Defender is determined to bring the case before a jury.
Trouble is also brewing at home as Hilda—She Who Must Be Obeyed—sits down to write her own memoirs describing her view of Rumpole and her own love life. Rumpole's battle on the home front threatens to derail his case but where there's a Rumpole, there's a way!
Customer Reviews:
Be Upstanding.......2007-10-08
Mortimer unleashes Horace on the forces of reaction and strikes a blow for the rule of law in this slim but amusing tale. Would that he could practice stateside.
Four Stars Mostly For Sentimentality And Great Characters.......2007-09-10
Since it dealt with the stunned and paranoid Britain of post 7-7-05 this was unquestionably the most topically modern Rumpole novel of all. For Mortimer to take on the crushing of civil rights in this decade was a departure from the lighthearted simplicity of most (note I am saying most) Rumpole cases we've been privileged to read about these many years. I loved seeing Horace Rumpole and the familiar gang set into modern times and knowing that this check-in finds them alive, well, and as true to form as ever, but let's face it, anyone who couldn't see where this plot was heading was a bit innocent in the faculties, and the conclusion to it all represented yet another in a long chain of deus ex machina style endings Mortimer has long favored. I had to get that much said but make no mistake I enjoyed the book a lot, just do wish John Mortimer would add a few twists here and there in these pleasant, character-driven tales of crime and courtrooms, law chambers and the goings on in the venerable Rumpole "mansion flat."
Another great read!.......2007-07-27
These books never fail to entertain me. There's nothing heavy or intellectual about them - just a terrific story, told with humor.
Rumpole and the Reign of Terror.......2007-07-04
I was a little disappointed in this later novel of my favorite character, Rumpole, and one of my favorite authors, John Mortimer. Somehow this book did not have the pace and crackling humor that the earlier novels had. Still, it was enjoyable and I am glad I read it. I imagine it must be difficult to think up new and hilarious plots after all this time.
John Mortimer Forges On.......2007-04-10
Sir John Mortimer is a source of wonder to me. Despite declining health, he still manages to put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard and compose new work. The latest installment of the "Rumpole" series is serviceable effort but has the feeling of a "paint by numbers" approach. Mortimer knows Horace Rumpole so intimately that he can almost channel him (no doubt employing the ghost of the inimitable Leo McKern to facilitate his efforts). Mortimer has long been a champion of civil rights, an outspoken defender of the golden rule of jurisprudence, that the accused is innocent until found guilty by a jury of his/her peers. Sir John's dismay at the increased police powers contained in Britain's onerous anti-terror legislation registers on every page and redeems and ennobles a lesser effort in a worthy, long-running series.
Book Description
Shows lawyers how to manage their practices in a more business-like manner. It explains how to determine both personal and law firm goals.
Book Description
How to Do Your Own Focus Groups, is an easy-to-follow book. Written by leading jury consultant and best-selling trial advocacy author David Ball, it shows you how to organize and direct your own focus group from deciding what kind of focus group best fits your case to selecting the focus-jurors, to analyzing your conclusions. The book is designed so that attorneys can easily start conducting their own focus groups or find trial consultants for hire to run them. The book comes with a CD-ROM that includes sample schedules, letters, forms and questionnaires that you can easily import to your own word processing program and adapt to your focus group.
Customer Reviews:
DIDN'T SEND ME THE CD THAT WAS PART OF THE BOOK.......2007-09-10
I bought this book for $65.00 and it was supposed to come with the CD which has all the documents for the focus group. I got jipped. Did not get it, just got the paperback book.
Average customer rating:
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The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Work-Product Doctrine, 4th Edition
Editors of American Bar Association
Manufacturer: American Bar Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Guides
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| Business & Investing
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Civil Procedure
| Procedures & Litigation
| Law
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General
| Law
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| Law
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Civil Procedure
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ASIN: 1570738890 |
Book Description
This third edition has been greatly expanded.There is more pratical guidance, including, for example, precautions that can help ensure, as far as possible, protection of documents from forced discovery.
Book Description
A new job is scary for anyone. A new job as an attorney is scary times two: the challenges are both substantive (as in actually knowing the law), as well as procedural (as in knowing how to act like an attorney). In this professional transition, many, many new attorneys fall by the wayside. This book is a guide to keep the new attorney on track. It includes advice for the new law firm associate, written by a partner at Foley & Lardner, a well-regarded law firm. Written in a first- and second-person tense and filled with no-nonsense guidance from someone actually in the mentorship role in a real-world law firm
Customer Reviews:
Of Advice We Do Not Receive in Law School.......2007-07-16
The truth is: there are not many survival guides for law firms (as opposed to law schools).
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is actually going into practice. It's fully of practical advice that is only going to make your school-to-firm transition smooth and effective. It instills the proper mindset for firm life, and shows you how to navigate the most common pitfalls of most summer associates.
Great Book!.......2007-05-29
"Jagged Rocks of Wisdom" is a great book that I would highly recommend. A lot of the advice he gives is not only practical and wise, but applicable to many walks of life, not just those in Law. A couple examples of this include Rule 1 - Proofread and Rule 12 - Ask Stupid, Not Lazy Questions. Due to how brilliantly this book is written, I would recommend it to anyone looking for either a good or helpful book (or both).
Great Practical Advice.......2007-04-04
A must-read for summer associates and first-year associates working at law firms of any size. This book provides a set of advices in a humorous and concise manner (both of the adjectives quite rarely used to descibe a lawyer's writing). The author tells it like it is, without softening up the reality. I just wish I would have read this book earlier in my career! The price is right, too.
A Breath of Fresh Air.......2007-04-04
As a rising attorney, I couldn't be happier with Lund's book, Jagged Rocks of Wisdom. The book is written with a comforting style while still providing professional advice. The advice given is most certainly useful to any new attorney. Jagged Rocks of Wisdom has helped me pass through some rough spots in my career, unlike other books that were written for new attorneys. I would highly recommend this book for any rising attorney, or for anyone considering a job as an attorney.
Jagged Rocks combine together to create mountian of advice.......2007-04-04
Jagged Rocks of Wisdom: Professional Advice for the New Attorney, by Morten Lund, provides important, relevant, practical, and helpful advice that tends to be overlooked and left out of law school curriculum. Lund combines his advice with personal experiences which results in a highly satisfying read. The book is formatted into 21 chapters, each containing a new rule (or jagged rock of wisdom) which build upon each other and culminate into a mountain of wisdom. Although the title suggests the advice is aimed at a new attorney, most of the advice given within the pages of this book can also be applied by anyone who is working in a setting that requires interaction with other people.
Average customer rating:
- A must read!
- Excellent Legal Thriller
- Not his best, but still pretty good
- Brand new model Perry Mason, factory equipped with a/c, ex-wives and angst
- First Connelly book - excellent!
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The Lincoln Lawyer: A Novel
Michael Connelly
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Contemporary
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| Connelly, Michael
| ( C )
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Hardcover
| Connelly, Michael
| ( C )
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| Mystery & Thrillers
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The Camel Club
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The Closers
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Echo Park (Harry Bosch)
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Mary, Mary (Alex Cross Novels)
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The Hard Way (Jack Reacher Novels)
ASIN: 0316734934
Release Date: 2005-10-03 |
Amazon.com
Best-selling author Michael Connelly, whose character-driven literary mysteries have earned him a wide following, breaks from the gate in the over-crowded field of legal thrillers and leaves every other contender from Grisham to Turow in the dust with this tightly plotted, brilliantly paced, impossible-to-put-down novel.
Criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller's father was a legendary lawyer whose clients included gangster Mickey Cohen (in a nice twist, Cohen's gun, given to Dad then bequeathed to his son, plays a key role in the plot). But Dad also passed on an important piece of advice that's especially relevant when Mickey takes the case of a wealthy Los Angeles realtor accused of attempted murder: "The scariest client a lawyer will ever have is an innocent client. Because if you [screw] up and he goes to prison, it'll scar you for life."
Louis Roulet, Mickey's "franchise client" (so-called becaue he's able and willing to pay whatever his defense costs) seems to be the one his father warned him against, as well as being a few rungs higher on the socio-economic ladder than the drug dealers, homeboys, and motorcycle thugs who comprise Mickey's regular case load. But as the holes in Roulet's story tear Mickey's theory of the case to shreds, his thoughts turn more to Jesus Menendez, a former client convicted of a similar crime who's now languishing in San Quentin. Connelly tellingly delineates the code of legal ethics Mickey lives by: "It didn't matter...whether the defendant 'did it' or not. What mattered was the evidence against him--the proof--and if and how it could be neutralized. My job was to bury the proof, to color the proof a shade of gray. Gray was the color of reasonable doubt." But by the time his client goes to trial, Mickey's feeling a few very reasonable doubts of his own.
While Mickey's courtroom pyrotechnics dazzle, his behind-the-scenes machinations and manipulations are even more incendiary in this taut, gripping novel, which showcases all of Connelly's literary gifts. There's not an excess sentence or padded paragraph in it--what there is, happily, is a character who, like Harry Bosch, deserves a franchise series of his own. --Jane Adams
Book Description
Best-selling author Michael Connelly, whose character-driven literary mysteries have earned him a wide following, breaks from the gate in the over-crowded field of legal thrillers and leaves every other contender from Grisham to Turow in the dust with this tightly plotted, brilliantly paced, impossible-to-put-down novel.Criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller's father was a legendary lawyer whose clients included gangster Mickey Cohen (in a nice twist, Cohen's gun, given to Dad then bequeathed to his son, plays a key role in the plot). But Dad also passed on an important piece of advice that's especially relevant when Mickey takes the case of a wealthy Los Angeles realtor accused of attempted murder:"The scariest client a lawyer will ever have is an innocent client. Because if you [screw] up and he goes to prison, it'll scar you for life."Louis Roulet, Mickey's "franchise client" (so-called becaue he's able and willing to pay whatever his defense costs) seems to be the one his father warned him against, as well as being a few rungs higher on the socio-economic ladder than the drug dealers, homeboys, and motorcycle thugs who comprise Mickey's regular case load. But as the holes in Roulet's story tear Mickey's theory of the case to shreds, his thoughts turn more to Jesus Menendez, a former client convicted of a similar crime who's now languishing in San Quentin. Connelly tellingly delineates the code of legal ethics Mickey lives by: "It didn't matter...whether the defendant 'did it' or not. What mattered was the evidence against him--the proof--and if and how it could be neutralized. My job was to bury the proof, to color the proof a shade of gray. Gray was the color of reasonable doubt." But by the time his client goes to trial, Mickey's feeling a few very reasonable doubts of his own. While Mickey's courtroom pyrotechnics dazzle, his behind-the-scenes machinations and manipulations are even more incendiary in this taut, gripping novel, which showcases all of Connelly's literary gifts. There's not an excess sentence or padded paragraph in it--what there is, happily, is a character who, like Harry Bosch, deserves a franchise series of his own. --Jane Adams
Customer Reviews:
A must read!.......2007-09-18
This book was EXCELLENT. It kept me interested from beginning to end; you will not want to put it down. All the characters played excellent roles in the book; you know exactly what their purpose is for without any confusion. This is my 1st Michael Connelly book, and I am so impressed that I will continue to read more of his books. The twist, suspense, everything keeps you wanting to read more.
Excellent Legal Thriller.......2007-08-22
This was my first Michael Connelly book to read and I was very impressed. The first half of the book starts out a little slow building the facts of the case, but the second half of the book is where all the twists are. The book definitely gives you insight into criminal defense strategy and how the "system" works.
Definitely an entertaining read. I would highly recommend this book. I reserve 5 stars for only the most outstanding books.
Not his best, but still pretty good.......2007-08-03
I've enjoyed Michael Connelly since he wrote the early Harry Bosch stuff, Black Echo and Black Ice and so forth. I especially like some of the later Bosch books, and The Poet and Blood Work are among my favorite detective novels of the last 20 years or so. Sometimes I think his off-Bosch stuff only sort of works (Void Moon was only OK, Chasing the dime more mediocre) but generally I'm happy with one of his books. The Lincoln Lawyer falls into this category, not as bad as Chasing the Dime, probably about on the level of Void Moon and maybe a bit above it.
So the main character here is a bit different, and so is the plot. In this case we have Mickey Haller, a somewhat sleazy lawyer (what they used to call an ambulance chaser). He bought four Lincoln town cars so he could get the fleet rate, and uses them until they have 60,000 miles on them, then sells them to a friend. He has a driver, a former client who's working off his fee by driving for Haller, and his "case manager" is an ex-wife. The other ex is a prosecutor.
So we start the book and he's called to defend a Beverly Hills real estate salesman who's something of a playboy, and who's been accused of attempted rape. Haller is desperate for the case, thinking that it will be a "franchise", a case that goes on for a long time and will result in large fees for him. When things go wrong and someone close to Haller is killed in the course of the investigation, he has to figure a lawyer's way out of the predicament he's gotten himself into. The result is amusing, to say the least.
As I said, I enjoy Michael Connelly a lot, and while this isn't a Bosch book, it's pretty good, and fun. I recommend it.
Brand new model Perry Mason, factory equipped with a/c, ex-wives and angst.......2007-06-21
I have just skimmed through the previous 250(!) Amazon reviews. The great majority of them are extremely well-disposed toward this book--as am I--and most more than adequately set out both the main characters and the mainspring of the plot. I see no reason to repeat any of that in this 251st kick at the can.
It did, however, strike me as worth observing that as this is a book about a lawyer and as many of its scenes take place in a courtroom, the reviewers have made references to and comparisons with the works of contemporary literary legal eagles, such as John Grisham. No reviewer, so far as I noticed, seems to have hit on what appears to me to be a far more obvious model.
Throughout the book, author Michael Connelly follows normal current practice by allowing us to know the thoughts, plans, schemes, frustrations and short-comings of his lawyer hero, Mickey Haller. If, however, a reader subtracts Connelly's internalized dialogue and commentary from the book--thus cutting its length by half and increasing its narrative speed exponentially, "The Lincoln Lawyer" is transformed into a latter day Perry Mason novel. The very same core characters are there, albeit under different names: a dazzling, if sometimes taciturn master of courtroom wizardry; an adoring secretary/assistant, Mason's Della Street; an adversarial police investigator, Mason's Lieutenant Tragg; an on-call private detective, whose name in the Mason books eludes me for the moment; and most especially, a foredoomed but ever-game DA, Mason's Hamilton Burger. The relationships of the characters in Connelly's tale are virtually identical with those of Perry Mason's merry band.
Erle Stanley Gardner was utterly indifferent to such narrative go-slow zones as back-stories or internalized agonizing. He told us nothing about Mason's personal life, save that there was SOMETHING going on between him and Della Street and that for some reason he could not or would not formalize the relationship. We never heard of Mason's doubts or of his insecurities, nor were we shown his lapses from probity or other failings. Gardner quite intentionally showed us no more than Perry Mason's game face.
Here, in Michael Connelly's book, his lawyer's game face is so similar to Mason's that he might have bought it at the sale of the old-time mouthpiece's estate.
Now, before someone rises up to pounce, I admit that there are certainly differences between the books about the two lawyers. Connelly's characters, for example, pointedly lack the near-immunity from physical harm possessed by the continuing denizens of the Mason stories. Nevertheless, I maintain that the overall similarities are far greater than the differences.
I look forward to future battles between Connelly's updated, Mason-like defense attorney, Haller, and that ADA whose nose he figuratively bloodied in this book. (And maybe next time, Haller will even be able to convince a villain to confess on the witness stand!)
Four stars.
First Connelly book - excellent!.......2007-06-20
I always love a good thriller, mystery, lawyer "story" where the end really does surprise me. I thought this was a great read and I would also pick up more Haller stories.
Books:
- The Coming Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit from It: Make a Fortune by Investing in Gold and Other Hard Assets
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
- The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
- The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children
- The Empty Chair
- The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes from a Life
- The Far Side of the World (Aubrey Maturin Series)
- The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency 8)
- The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot
- The Key to The Name of the Rose: Including Translations of All Non-English Passages (Ann Arbor Paperbacks)
Books Index
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- TCP/IP Network Administration
- White Night
- Treatment Plans and Interventions for Depression and Anxiety Disorders
- Balance of Payments, Exchange Rates, and Competitiveness in
- The New Competitive Advantage: The Renewal of American Industry
- Innocent Erendira: and Other Stories
