Legal Thrillers

July 6, 2008

Coel, Margaret. THE GIRL WITH BRAIDED HAIR. Berkley Prime Crime. October '07. $23.95. "In 1973, Liz Plenty Horses was accused of betraying the militant American Indian Movement, known as AIM, to the FBI after the death of one of their members. She went into hiding with her baby daughter, never to be seen again. Now, a skeleton with a bullet hole in the back of the skull has been discovered at the bottom of a ravine on the Wind River Reservation. The body was that of a woman who was murdered sometime in 1973. With the police reluctant to investigate, Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley must unravel the truth - even if it incites the malice of a long-dormant killer." Available in paperback. October '08. $7.99.

Fairstein, Linda. KILLER HEAT. Doubleday. April '08. $26.00. "It’s August in New York, and the only thing that’s hotter than the pavement is Manhattan D.A. Alex Cooper’s professional and personal life. Just as she’s claiming an especially gratifying victory in a rape case, she gets the call: the body of a young woman has been found in an abandoned building. The brutality of the murder is disturbing enough, but when a second body, beaten and disposed of in exactly same manner, is found off the Belt Parkway, the city’s top brass want the killer found fast, before the tabloids can start churning out ghoulish serial killer headlines. Between dodging the bullets of the gang members who are infuriated by Alex’s most recent courtroom victory and keeping a rendezvous with a charming restaurateur, a serial killer on the loose is the last thing she needs on her plate right now. Then a third victim is found, and it becomes clear to Alex and her team that time is not on their side. Through Alex’s peerless interrogation skills — and one big break — the search becomes focused on someone who has a twisted obsession with the military, and things grow increasingly dangerous when the chase leads to a chain of small, abandoned islands around New York harbor. Once again Linda Fairstein brilliantly orchestrates a page-turning mix of cutting-edge legal issues and forensics, New York City history, and spine-tingling suspense. And at the center of it all is Alex Cooper — stunning, single-minded, accomplished, and not to be trifled with whether she’s in or out of a courtroom."

Harris, Robert. IMPERIUM. Pocket Books. September '07. $14.00. A Novel of Ancient Rome. "A CAUTIONARY TALE OF CICERO, THE GREATEST ORATOR OF ALL TIME, AND HIS EXTRAORDINARY STRUGGLE FOR POWER IN ROME. When Tiro, the confidential secretary (and slave) of a Roman senator, opens the door to a terrified stranger on a cold November morning, he sets in motion a chain of events that will eventually propel his master into one of the most suspenseful courtroom dramas in history. The stranger is a Sicilian, a victim of the island's corrupt Roman governor, Verres. The senator is Marcus Cicero - an ambitious young lawyer and spellbinding orator, who at the age of twenty-seven is determined to attain imperium - supreme power in the state. Of all the great figures of the Roman world, none was more fascinating or charismatic than Cicero. And Tiro - the inventor of shorthand and author of numerous books, including a celebrated biography of his master (which was lost in the Dark Ages) - was always by his side. Compellingly written in Tiro's voice, IMPERIUM is the re-creation of his vanished masterpiece, recounting in vivid detail the story of Cicero's quest for glory, competing with some of the most powerful and intimidating figures of his - or any other - age: Pompey, Caesar, Crassus, and the many other powerful Romans who changed history."

Jacobs, Jonnie. THE NEXT VICTIM. Pinnacle Books. June '08. $6.99. Seventh in the series. "A Brutal Double Murder... When wealthy heiress Sloane Winslow is found murdered in her home along with the body of pretty college coed Olivia Perez, the evidence all points to one suspect. John O'Brien - San Francisco defense attorney Kali O'Brien's brother. The last time Kali spoke to her brother, John, he was desperate to tell her something but too drunk to get it out. Now he's dead, an apparent suicide by overdose... A Mysterious Photo... Although Kali wasn't close to her brother, she can't believe he was capable of murder. But when she finds a clue hidden in his dictionary - a photo of three attractive young women, one of whom is the slain Olivia Perez, she realizes her brother had many secrets. And when one of the other women in the photo - a stripper and porn actress - is found brutally murdered in a ditch, Kali wonders if her brother really did commit suicide... A Killer Who's Only Just Begun... As Kali digs deeper for the truth, her search plungers her deep into the sex industry's hidden underworld. Now her only hope for solving the case lies in finding the last girl in the picture, a witness who knows far more than she should, maybe too much to live - and Kali has to get to her before she becomes the next victim."

Lescroart, John. BETRAYAL. Dutton. March "08. $26.95. "John Lescroart’s millions of fans have been waiting three years for the return of San Francisco defense attorney Dismas Hardy and his buddy, detective Abe Glitsky — and in that time John Lescroart’s popularity has continued to soar. Now, Hardy and Glitsky reunite in a story filled with the big themes that are worthy of them — the intersection of love, betrayal, and a desperate search for the truth in a critical matter of national security. When Dismas Hardy agrees to clean up the caseload of recently disappeared attorney Charlie Bowen, he thinks it will be easy. But one of the cases is far from small-time — the sensational clash between National Guard reservist Evan Scholler and an ex-Navy SEAL and private contractor named Ron Nolan. Two rapid-fire events in Iraq conspired to bring the men into fatal conflict: Nolan’s relationship with Evan’s girlfriend, Tara, a beautiful school teacher back home in the states, followed by a deadly incident in which Nolan’s apparent mistake results in the death of an innocent Iraqi family as well as seven men in Evan’s platoon. As the murky relationship between the US government and its private contractors plays out in the personal drama of these two men, and the consequences become a desperate matter of life and death, Dismas Hardy begins to uncover a terrible and perilous truth that takes him far beyond the case and into the realm of assassination and treason. From the treacherous streets of Iraq to the courtrooms of California, BETRAYAL is not only John Lescroart’s most ambitious and provocative novel, it is a magnificent tour de force of pure storytelling."

Liebman, Ron. DEATH BY RODRIGO. Simon & Schuster. September '07. $24.00. "When El Salvadoran crime boss Rodrigo Gonzalez is finally nabbed in Camden, New Jersey, for high-volume drug trafficking, he hires criminal defense attorneys Mickie Mezzonatti and Salvatore 'Junne' Salerno, Jr. He's been told they're the best and that, as former Camden police officers, they know all the blind spots and loopholes (read: the ins and outs) of the local courts. All Rodrigo asks of Junne and Mickie is that they get him out on bond so he can jump bail and escape back to the comforts of El Salvador. Problem is, the judge denies bail. Soon Mezzonatti and Salerno are receiving a few unwelcome guests - friends of Rodrigo - asking questions. And the boys need to find answers, fast. Mickie and Junne have an enviable professional success rate. With their street smarts and learned-on-the-job courtroom skills, the blue-collar boys enjoy trouncing self-righteous, Ivy-educated district attorneys. But they also know when they need help. Like with Rodrigo. So they approach Professor Mumbles, a brilliant though eccentric former white-shoe lawyer who suffered a spectacular corporate burnout. As Junne and Mickie duck and dive to make Rodrigo's case (or at least fake it with Mumbles's help), they're also juggling their regular caseload - like local drug lord Slippery Williams, whose badass nephew may have turned informant; and the gorgeous hooker Little Chip, whose prostitution bust leaves her pimp hopping mad. And through it all, the boys attempt to keep a happy home life. That's no sweat for Mickie, a natural Casanova, but it may prove to be trickier than Junne ever imagined. 'Cause he's got a secret. And if Rodrigo does not kill him, his family just might.... The first installment of a hilarious new series, DEATH BY RODRIGO is a romp through the seamy side of criminal law by one of the foremost attorneys in America (who also has a wicked sense of humor)."

Macomber, James. A GRAVE BREACH. Oceanview Publishing. October '07. $24.95. "Sometimes the best kept secrets are best kept secret. This intense international thriller opens with secret video footage. A war crime. Northwest Bosnia. Prisoners stripped naked and savagely brutalized by their captors. Consumed with shock, horror, and outrage, John Cann and Arthur Matsen view the grim footage. But Matsen, Cann's friend, mentor, and senior partner at Washington D.C.'s most prestigious and controversial law firm, is about to make a startling request. For reasons he cannot disclose, Matsen asks Cann to to the unthinkable and defend the madman they are both watching. But why would Matsen ask Cann to carry out this repugnant task? The reasons lie deep in Matsen's past. A GRAVE BREACH is an unforgettable story that seamlessly alternates between Matsen's WW II past, and Cann's present-day struggle with complex legal, ethical, and moral issues. But even in the present, Cann's past is never far behind. He is haunted by thoughts of Janie Reston, a young coed viciously beaten and left for dead because of her connection to him. As past, present, and future threaten to intersect, Matsen, Cann, and a small circle of close friends are held in a death grip. What starts out as Matsen's closely held secret and Janie's forgotten trauma, becomes the epicenter of international intrigue and justice. Now, five fragile lives hand in the balance. And memory has both the power to transform - and the power to destroy."

Manchee, William. ACT NORMAL. Top Publications. September '07. $14.95. Eighth in the series. "Mired in the debilitating grief and depression over the abduction of his son Peter, Stan Turner struggles to continue the practice of law. Only fear and dread of what might happen to Peter if he doesn't cooperate keeps him focused on his first assignment, the defense of a woman accused of murdering her husband and family. While Stan is busy with his CIA project, Paula must defend the accused in the arson-murder of a prominent scientist, Chester Brown. While a bitter feud between Brown and neighbor Walter Stanley appears to be the motive for the crime, Paula discovers other suspects with even better motives for wanting the scientist dead. In the midst of these two trials Stan in lured into a dangerous relationship with a intern assigned to keep an eye on him. While valiantly trying to resist her, he soon discovers he's powerless to stop her from getting exactly what she wants."

Martini, Steve. SHADOW OF POWER. William Morrow. June '08. $26.95. Twelfth in the Paul Madriani series. "The Supreme Court is one of our most sacred — and secretive — public institutions. But sometimes secrets can lead to cover-ups with very deadly consequences. Terry Scarborough is a legal scholar and provocateur who craves headline-making celebrity, but with his latest book he may have gone too far. In it he resurrects forgotten language in the U.S. Constitution — and hints at a missing letter of Thomas Jefferson's —that threatens to divide the nation. Then, during a publicity tour, Scarborough is brutally murdered in a San Diego hotel room, and a young man with dark connections is charged. What looks like an open-and-shut case to most people doesn't to defense attorney Paul Madriani. He believes that there is much more to the case and that the defendant is a pawn caught in the middle, being scapegoated by circumstance. As the trial spirals toward its conclusion, Madriani and his partner, Harry Hinds, race to find the missing Jefferson letter — and the secrets it holds about slavery and scandal at the time of our nation's founding and the very reason Scarborough was killed. Madriani's chase takes him from the tension-filled courtroom in California to the trail of a high court justice now suddenly in hiding and lays bare the soaring political stakes for a seat on the highest court, in a country divided, and under the shadow of power."

Patterson, Richard North. EXILE. St. Martin's Press. September '07. $9.99. "From one of America's most compelling novelists comes the mesmerizing story of a lawyer who must defend the woman he loves against a charge of conspiring to assassinate the prime minister of Israel. David Wolfe's life is approaching an exhilarating peak: he's a successful San Francisco lawyer, he's about to get married, and he's being primed for a run for Congress. But when the phone rings and he hears the voice of Hana Arif - the Palestinian woman with whom he had a secret affair in law school - he begins a completely unexpected journey. The next day, the prime minister of Israel is assassinated by a suicide bomber while visiting San Francisco; soon, Hana herself is accused of being the mastermind behind the murder. Now David faces an agonizing choice: Will he, a Jew, represent Hana - who may well be guilty - or will he turn away the one woman he can never forget? The most challenging case of David's career requires that he delve deep into the lives of Hana Arif and her militant Palestinian husband, both of whom have always lived in exile. Ultimately, David's quest takes him to Israel and the West Bank, where, in a series of harrowing encounters, he learns that appearances are not at all what they seem. Culminating in a tense and startling trial with international ramifications, EXILE is that rare novel that both entertains and enlightens. At once an intricate tale of betrayal and deception, a moving love story, and a fascinating journey into the lethal politics of the Middle East, this is Richard North Patterson at his most brilliant and engrossing."

Sansom, C.J. SOVEREIGN. Penguin Books. April '08. $15.00. Third in the Matthew Shardlake series. "Autumn 1541. A plot against the throne has been uncovered, and Henry VIII has set off on a spectacular progress from London to York, along with a thousand soldiers, the cream of the nobility, and his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, to quell his rebellious northern subjects. Awaiting his arrival are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his loyal assistant, Jack Barak. In addition to processing petitions to the king, Shardlake's task is to protect a dangerous conspirator until he is transported back to London for interrogation. But when a local glazier is murdered, things get a little more complicated as the murder seems to be not only connected to Shardlake's prisoner but also to the royal family itself. Then Shardlake stumbles upon a cache of secret papers that throws into doubt the legitimacy of the entire royal line, and a chain of events unfolds that threatens Shardlake with the most terrifying fate of the age: imprisonment in the Tower of London."

Sherratt, Jeff. THE BRIMSTONE MURDERS. Echelon Press. April '08. $12.99. Third in the Jimmy O'Brien series. "Robbie Farris stabbed his junior college professor twenty-seven times. At his arraignment, Robbie pulls a gun and escapes. After his mother is found murdered in her shabby house trailer, Robbie's lawyer, Jimmy O'Brien, is led into the seemingly unrelated worlds of high-profile, religious evangelism and old-fashioned Mojave Desert borax mining. Jimmy fights the clock, the cops, and the DA in his effort to find and return Robbie before he himself is charged with Section 187-murder in the first degree."

Tallman, Shirley. THE CLIFF HOUSE STRANGLER. Minotaur. August '07. $24.95. Third in the series. "Nineteenth-century attorney Sarah Woolson is still trying to get her life together. Against her family's wishes, she opens her own San Francisco law firm, only to find that clients - paying clients, that is - are wary of allowing a woman to manage their legal affairs. Just when her patience, as well as her money, are about to run out, Sarah and her friend and former colleague, Robert Campbell, attend a séance at San Francisco's Cliff House. Making their way through the worst storm of the season, they arrive at their destination to find themselves in for much more than, in Robert's words, 'silly parlor tricks.' After a dramatic display of spirit apparitions, flying trumpets, and phantom music, Madame Olga Karpova - a renowned Russian clairvoyant - and her guests make a grisly discovery: One of the twelve people seated at the table has been brutally strangled. Later, when two more seance participants are found slain, Sarah is pressed into defending the accused murderer. Working on her client's case, she quickly finds herself at the center of a complicated murder plot involving ghosts, gypsies, and City Hall, all the while facing off with Robert in a volatile legal battle and investigating her brother Frederick's shady political dealings. Hardly proper behavior for a nineteenth-century woman, but Sarah wouldn't have it any other way."

White, Jenny. THE ABYSSINIAN PROOF. W.W. Norton. February '08. $23.95. Second in the Kamil Pasha series. "Constantinople, May 1453. As seven thousand armed men prepare to defend Byzantium against the invading Turks, Isaak Metochites and his family are entrusted with a silver reliquary carved with the figure of a weeping angel and an inscription: Behold the Proof of Chora, Container of the Uncontainable. Four hundred years later, in Ottoman Istanbul, the local magistrate, Kamil Pasha is plagued by thefts of antiquities from mosques and churches, which quickly appear fro sale in Europe. Christians and Muslims blame each other for the desercrations, and the city is on the verge of riots. Adding to the tensions is a series of murders in which all the bodies bear the same distinctive mark. Sources lead Kamil to a hidden sect descended from Abyssinian slaves living in an abandoned cistern in Istanbul's gritty underworld. The reemergence there of the ancient reliquary and its subsequent theft set off a brutal race between those sworn to protect it and those who will stop at nothing to gain its explosive secret that could rewrite history. As Kamil uncovers the sect's secrets and its connection to the reliquary, his most cherished beliefs about his family and his past are also destroyed. Caught up in the savage struggle over the mysterious box, Kamil finds not only his life in danger but his moral compass as well" Simultaneous release on Audio Cassette and Audio CD from Blackstone Audio. Available in paperback. March '09. $13.95.

Linked books can be purchased online at a discount of 10 to 40%. To return here, use the back button on your browser.