Legal Thrillers

February 3, 2012

Bennett, K. PAY ME IN FLESH: Mallory Caine, Zombie at Law. Pinnacle Books pbo. August '11. $6.99. "HUNGRY FOR JUSTICE - AND BRAINS. Meet Mallory Caine. Attorney at law. Zombie at large. She's not like those 'Living Dead' losers you see in the movies. She doesn't slobber, drool, or lurch - she's smart, stylish, and sexy. Sure, she's a zombie and a lawyer but, hey, a girl's got to eat. When Mallory's not in the courtroom, going head to head with her ex-boyfriend, killer-prosecutor Aaron Argula, she's in the seedy streets of Hollywood, hunting brain after brain. That is, until some psycho starts hunting zombie after zombie... 'The Defense Never Rests - In Peace': The undead are decapitated, a letter 'Z' carved in their flesh. Mallory doesn't want to lose her head, but she's worried. Like many lawyers in L.A., she doesn't have a soul - a side effect of being a zombie, not a defense attorney. If Mallory dies before she gets her soul back, she goes straight to hell. No appeals. Objection overruled. If the killer isn't stopped, it's case closed for zombies everywhere. But Mallory is an undying champion of justice, and she won't go down - without a bite..."

Connelly, Michael. THE FIFTH WITNESS. Little, Brown and Co. April '11. $27.99. "Mickey Haller has fallen on tough times. He expands his business into foreclosure defense, only to see one of his clients accused of killing the banker she blames for trying to take away her home. Mickey puts his team into high gear to exonerate Lisa Trammel, even though the evidence and his own suspicions tell him his client is guilty. Soon after he learns that the victim had black market dealings of his own, Haller is assaulted, too - and he's certain he's on the right trail. Despite the danger and uncertainty, Haller mounts the best defense of his career in a trial where the last surprise comes after the verdict is in." Simultaneous release on Audio CD from Hachette Audio. Kindle Edition. $12.99. Trade paperback edition. Grand Central. October '11. $14.99.

Fairstein, Linda. HELL GATE. Signet Select. April '11. $9.99. "Head of the Sex Crimes Unit of the district attorney's office in Manhattan for decades, Linda Fairstein is America's most visible legal expert on sexual assault and domestic violence - which is why she writes some of the most compelling crime thrillers of our time and why her Alexandra Cooper series has been topping bestseller list for more than a decade. Fans turn to Fairstein for ripped-from-the-headline crimes, cutting-edge investigations, and vindication for victims. Linda Fairstein brings readers inside a world of which they can't get enough, but one they hope to never see in real life. And for her twelfth novel, Fairstein takes Alexandra Cooper inside a world she'd rather not see. New York City politics have always been filled with intrigue and behind-the-scenes deals. In HELL GATE, Alex finds her attention torn between investigating a shipwreck that has contraband cargo - human cargo - and the political sex scandal of a promising New York congressman now fallen from grace. When Alex discovers that a woman from the wreck and the congressman's lover have the same rose tattoo - the brand of a 'snakehead,' a master of a human trafficking operation - it dawns on her that these cases aren't as unrelated as they seem and that the entire political landscape of New York City could hang in the balance of her investigation. As Alex looks on at the nameless victims in the morgue, she realizes she's looking at the present - day face of New York's long, dark tradition of human trafficking - a tradition that began hundreds of years ago with slave trade from Africa, now a multimillion-dollar industry that will stop at no cost, even if that cost is Alex's life."

Grisham, John. THE LITIGATORS. Doubleday. November '11. $28.95. "The incomparable master of the legal thriller takes us deeper into the labyrinth that is the American justice system, always drawing us in with an irresistible hook, pulling the thread of tension tighter and tighter, and then knocking us out with a conclusion that's never 'by the book.' Maybe that's why, after more than twenty years of consecutive #1 New York Times best sellers, a new novel by America's favorite storyteller is still a major publishing event." Simultaneous release on Audio CD from Random House Audio.

Leotta, Allison. LAW OF ATTRACTION. Pocket Books. April '12. $7.99. "As a newly minted Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., Anna Curtis has already developed thick skin to deal with the brutality she encounters with her daily stack of domestic violence cases. Yet when Laprea Johnson walks into Anna's life - battered by her boyfriend on the morning after Valentine's Day - there's something about this particular case that Anna can't quite shake, something that reminds the prosecutor of her own troubled past. At the trial, Laprea makes a last-minute reversal, lying on the witness stand to free her boyfriend. Shortly after he is freed, Anna is horrified to hear that Laprea's body has been found in a trash heap. Hastily assigned to prosecute the murder case alongside intimidating chief homicide prosecutor Jack Bailey, Anna's heart sinks when she learns that her own boyfriend, public defender Nick Wagner, is representing the accused. Torn between bringing the killer to justice and saving her personal life, Anna makes a series of choices that jeopardizes her career, her relationships, and her very life as she uncovers the shocking truth behind the murder. Weaving expert knowledge with deft storytelling, federal sex-crimes prosecutor and Harvard Law School graduate Allison Leotta takes readers on a thrilling ride through D.C.'s criminal justice system. From the back rooms of the U.S. Attorney's Office and the flirtations and machinations of Washington's Ivy League lawyers to the struggles of its poorest citizens on the gritty streets of Anacostia, LAW OF ATTRACTION is a gripping debut from an exciting new talent."

Levine, Paul. PAYDIRT. CreateSpace. January '12. $12.25. From the author: "Bobby Gallagher had it all. A beautiful, savvy wife he adored, a whiz kid son who amazed him, and a high-profile, high-prestige job that his law school classmates would have sued their mothers to land. So what the hell was wrong? That's the opening paragraph of PAYDIRT, and things are about to get a whole lot worse for Bobby Gallagher. Taking a stand on principle, Gallagher, general counsel of the Dallas Mustangs, 'America's Team,' loses his job, the people he loves, even his own self-respect. Now, he risks his life to get everything back. Assisted by his 12-year-old son, he takes on a seemingly impossible task: with the world watching, he must beat the mob at its own game...and fix the Super Bowl."

Maron, Margaret. THREE-DAY TOWN. Grand Central. December '11. $25.99. "Judge Deborah Knott and Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant are on a train to New York, finally on a honeymoon after a year of marriage. January in New York might not be the perfect time to visit, but they'll take it. The trip is a Christmas present from Dwight's sister-in-law, who arranged for them to stay in an Upper West Side apartment for one week. While in New York, Deborah has been asked to deliver a package to Lt. Sigrid Harald of the NYPD. Sigrid offers to swing by the apartment to pick up the box, but when they reach the apartment, they discover that it is missing and the doorman has been murdered. Despite their best efforts to enjoy a blissful getaway, Deborah and Dwight soon find that they've teamed up with Sigrid and her team to catch the killer before he strikes again."

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