I used to love legal thrillers. They were the first crime books I got into when I was a teenager. There was a mystery but there was also an argument to made and refuted. Unlike other crime stories the legal thriller must get down to the bones of right and wrong, innocence and guilt. The […]
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Blog: Perpetually Adolescent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: politics, houston, legal thriller, pleasantville, legal thrillers, Book Reviews - Fiction, attica locke, Black Water Rising, Jay Porter, Books, book review, Add a tag
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Blog: Starting Fresh (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Hatchette Book Group, legal thrillers, Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent, Add a tag
The blurb:
When a beautiful lawyer from the prosecuting attorney's office Carolyn Polhemus, is brutally murdered, assistant prosecutor Rusty Sabich is entrusted with the case. But he and Carolyn were much more than colleagues, and zealous fellow prosecutor Tommy Molto becomes convinced that Sabich is guilty of the crime. Soon Rusty's passion for a woman who was not his wife has put everything he loves and values on trial -- including his own life -- in a story that lays bare a shocking world of betrayal, murder, and corruption. . . as well as the hidden depths of the human heart.
Review:
I first read Presumed Innocent almost fifteen years ago. I'd been thinking of going to law school and Presumed Innocent is on the list of books that many law schools send you the summer before you begin studying. I remember thinking that the book spent more time on legal technicalities than the other thrillers that I'd read. Reading Presumed Innocent with an eye to joining the profession gave it a certain air as well.
Now after years as an entirely different sort of lawyer, the detective work, legal technicalities and procedural law aspects continue to delight me. Though I've read the book and watched the movie and am vaguely aware that a twist is sure to come, Presumed Innocent draws me in as though it were completely new. Scott Turow's writing remains fresh and engaging.
Other reviewers have mentioned that the book has lost its impact for them, that they're not as impressed by it years later. I have a very different reaction to the book -- years later and after close to 15 years studying and practicing law, I find that Presumed Innocent has grown to be even more gripping and entertaining. Though you might have expected me to figure out the ending given that I'd read the book before and seen the movie, but the enjoyment comes from how Turow built up the suspense and described the trial. It's the execution of the concept that makes Presumed Innocent a legal thriller that will last for years to come. I'm very much looking forward to reading Turow's next book Innocent that comes out on May 4, 2010 -- next week!
ISBN-10: 0446676446 - Paperback $14.99
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (December 1, 2000), 512 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
About the Author, courtesy of Amazon: Scott Turow was born in Chicago in 1949. He graduated with high honors
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Blog: Starting Fresh (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Hatchette Book Group, legal thrillers, Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent, Add a tag
I'm very excited - Valerie and Hatchette Book Group are sponsoring a giveaway of Scott Turow's legal thriller, Presumed Innocent to celebrate the expected release of Presumed Innocent's sequel Innocent on May 4, 2010.
About the Book, courtesy of the publisher:
ow available in trade paperback, "Presumed Innocent" brings to life our worst nightmare: that of an ordinary citizen facing conviction for the most terrible of crimes. Prosecutor Rusty Sabich is transformed from accuser to accused when he is handed an explosive case--that of the brutal murder of a woman who happens to be his former lover.
Audio and Video
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Blog: Starting Fresh (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: legal thrillers, Among Thieves by David Hosp, Scott Finn, art theft, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Add a tag
The blurb:
Inspired by the true story of the biggest art theft in the twentieth century, bestselling author David Hosp returns with his latest blockbuster thriller featuring attorney Scott Finn.
In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990 two men dressed as police officers entered Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, tied up the guards, and escaped with 500 million dollars' worth of paintings. The heist provoked a massive search for both the thieves and the lost masterpieces. But the paintings never resurfaced and the mystery remained unsolved. Now, almost twenty years later, the case threatens to break wide open.
When attorney Scott Finn agrees to help an old friend from Southie, Devon Malley, he has no idea of the trouble he is bringing upon himself. Members of Boston's criminal underworld start turning up dead, and the M.O. of the attacks suggests the involvement of someone trained by the IRA. But when Finn learns of Malley's role in the heist, he's quickly drawn into the crossfire, and into the renewed hunt for the missing artwork. . . A hunt that may cost Finn and his colleagues their lives.
Review:
I've been fascinated with the theft at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, so I was intrigued by the storyline of David Hosp's latest novel. Fortunately, Among Thieves did not disappoint!
Location is as much a character in the novel as the people; David Hosp captures the atmosphere of Boston well from Gardner Museum in the Fenway area to South Boston and the streets of Boston.
While attorney Scott Finn is a convincing and likable lead character, I was drawn in by Finn's colleagues Lissa Krantz and former detective Kozlowski. Lissa Krantz is a strong independent attorney from a privileged background who cares fiercely about her small circle. Tough and burly, Kozlowski ("Koz") built a reputation for integrity and competence in the Boston Police Department but hadn't gotten along with his superiors; after retiring from the police, Koz built a niche as the investigator of their group. When Finn, Koz, and Lissa take on Malley's case in the course of their practice, they approach his case with professional distance. But the three grow increasingly invested and Malley becomes more than a client as the story evolves.
Among Thieves is a satisfying and compelling escape - an art theft mystery and a legal thriller to enjoy.
ISBN-10: 0446580155; $24.99 - hardcover
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (January 11, 2010), 384 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
About the Author, courtesy of Amazon:
In addition to being a novelist, David Hosp is a lawyer and a partner in the Trial Department at Goodwin Procter LLP, one of Boston's oldest and largest law firms. He was born in New York and grew up primarily in Manhattan and Rye, New York. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and of The George Washington University Law School. During college, he also studied at the London School of Economics.
After graduating from Law School, Mr. Hosp returned to New York, where he practiced law at a large Wall Street law firm before moving to Boston and beginning his practice with Goodwin Procter. He spends a significant portion of his legal career working pro bono with organizations like The Boston Public Library and The New England Innocence Project. His third book, Innocence, was inspired by his representation of a man wrongly convicted of the attempted murder of a Boston police officer in 1997, who
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Blog: Rodents Of Unusual Size (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Books, Reviews, Horror, Christmas, Recovery, Disasters, Thrillers, Legal Thrillers, Add a tag
Life - Life carried on when we returned to Poky. I wouldn't say it got back to normal, but things weren't too bad. The main thing was my arm. I started getting extremely claustrophobic at times, I'd get shaky and nervous, sick to my stomach. I also noticed the cold a lot more, getting hot and cold flashes seemingly at random, with the cold always starting in my right arm. I suppose that it
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Blog: Rodents Of Unusual Size (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Now Playing - Beep Beep by The Playmates Life - Today was my first day back at work after an abbreviated rotation, putting me on a better schedule for the holidays. Because it was only three days off, rather than my typical six, I was scrambling to do all of the things I don't do when I'm working, not to mention the additional drama that we've been dealing with. To that end, I slept very
Oops! I forgot to say I'm a follower via GFC.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson. It's absolutely compelling and the characterization is real.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
I would love to win this book and I am a follower. Hopefully, lucky #1 will win, me.
The best thriller I ever read is Still Life by
Joy Fielding, a really great who done it.
cenya2 at hotmail dot com
I enjoyed The Associate by John Grisham. Another legal thriller - they write similar style books.
I'm already a follower.
msboatgal at aol.com
I would like to enter to win this book. I am a follower
[email protected]
The Court by William Coughlin is a book I picked up at the library sale and it was a great read.
I'm a follower. Please enter me in the contest. Turow is one of my favorite writers.
florida982002[at]yahoo.com
My favorite thriller is John Grisham's A Time To Kill. Who cannot relate to taking the law into your own hands, or wanting to atleast, when your child is brutally assaulted and justice is not done because of the color of skin you and the defendent have.
Thanks,
Colleen
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I like an oldie but goodie, John's Grisham's The Client. I didn't put down the book the whole time I read it.
I'm a follower and my email address is [email protected].
Bea
Though now a classic, "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee will always be my favorite legal thriller. Published when I was a young teen, it had a tremendous impact on my view of relations and life.
denny(dot)gill(at)gmail(dot)com
One that comes to mind is Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver. I liked it because it was intense and kept my interest. I follow.
pbclark(at)netins(dot)net
I liked the Associate very much but I am a fan of P D James and Patricia Cornwell.
mystica123athotmaildotcom
I recommend a Line of Vsion by David Ellis.
GFC follower
enyl(at)inbox(dot)com
A Time to Kill by John Grisham is a favorite.
janetfaye (at) gmail (dot) com
I like Patricia Cornwells books.
thanks
dcf_beth at verizon dot net
I really loved The Firm by John Grisham. My youngest brother is a lawyer who cannot talk about his client list or what kind of cases he is working on. I could never imagine him being the person that was played by Tom Cruise in the movie.
Thank you,
Christine
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I would say anything by John Grisham. I have not read a book of his that I didn't like.
I am a follower.
email bangersis(at)msn(dot)com