Corrupt Practices: A Parker Stern Novel
*Starred Review* Parker Stern’s promising career as a litigator at Macklin & Cherry ends abruptly when he’s stricken with paralyzing stage fright in courtrooms after the suicide of his mentor, Harmon Cherry. When the firm subsequently breaks up, Stern’s former partners are supportive: Manfred Mason, now associate dean at a law school, hires him as an adjunct professor, and occasional bedmate Deanna Poulos, now a coffee-shop operator, persuades him to represent another ex-colleague, Rich Baxter. When Baxter, accused of embezzling from his longtime client, the cultish Church of the Sanctified Assembly, is found hanged in his jail cell, Stern begins to believe the outlandish charges that Baxter has made against the church. Hired by Baxter’s father to fight the church over his son’s estate, Stern finds himself at risk, along with his student, Lovely Diamond, who is helping him with the investigation and with whom he becomes romantically involved. Rotstein’s debut is a tautly constructed, fast-moving narrative with an appealing protagonist—smart, articulate, and crafty—who nevertheless literally faints from fright in front of a judge. This promises to be a compelling series for legal-thriller fans. Get in at the start. --Michele Leber