Review: Fast-Paced Legal Thriller
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 22, 2014
This is a well-written legal thriller the grabs the interest from the start and is (to use a reviewer’s cliché) hard to put down. It is constructed of short chapters, mostly dialogue, that build momentum and suspense. The author, a lawyer, writes authoritatively about legal matters but with enough clarity for the layperson.The plot: A crooked mortgage brokerage defrauds a couple, they complain and are physically assaulted, the wife dies but husband survives (barely), and the daughter links the fraud and assault and hires the novel’s lawyer-protagonist (Brent Marks) to make things right.Marks investigates with the help of private detectives, draws in local law authorities and the FBI, fends of thugs, and takes the mortgage company to court. Most of what follows occurs in court or between court sessions. It unfolds mostly as courtroom drama that could easily be transformed into a screenplay. The separate chapters are like the rounds in a prizefight between contending parties, sprinkled with quotations (e.g., Voltaire, Jack London, law school), and involve planning and strategy sessions, parades of courtroom witnesses, interplay between parties, suspenseful ups and downs, negotiations, and the final outcome.The story is set in Santa Barbara, and includes a romance and a subplot involving a religious lunatic. The novel should appeal especially to fans of courtroom dramas.