|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
A cynical and brash young lawyer takes on the appeal of a convicted murderer on death row at the request of the lawyerıs father, who had been the District Attorney who got him convicted. There was a legitimate technical reason for the appeal, but Andy Carpenter began to believe that Willie Miller was truly innocent. When Andyıs father died, he discovered some information that made him think that something that had happened in his fatherıs past was related to this case. Whether that was true or not, it was quite clear someone wanted him to stop what he was doing. The story is told in the first person and the character of Andy Carpenter is most engaging. He pulls idiosyncratic stunts in the courtroom, he doesnıt seem to take anything seriously, he cracks jokes at the most inappropriate of times, and yet this man is strangely the defender of our constitutional rights. It becomes his goal to force a new jury to find Willie innocent and there are many people who are angered by this attempt. This is an authentic, realistic, believable character, one with faults and virtues, one with whom I would love to sit down to dinner although he would probably infuriate me before the dinner is over. The other characters are less completely drawn although all of them are appealing people. The Judge who sounds like a hanging judge actually is quite fair. We really do not get enough time to get to know Andyıs father, but we wish we could. Willie is believable as a man who is still, seven years later, insisting that he was wrong convicted, but tiring of trying to convince anyone of this. Andyıs investigator and erstwhile lover is quite feisty, but his wife is really more of a cipher. The story was fascinating. We follow the quest for the past as well as the legal battle in the present. There is just enough of the courtroom drama to pull the reader in without boring her with too much of the nitty gritting dull events that make up the bulk of a trial. The revelations were intriguing. My only caveat is that I would have been frightened off long before. The opposition to the investigation was pretty persistent. The book is well-written and the prose never pulls the reader out of the story. It is intriguing and attractive and was most enjoyable to read. This was nominated for an Edgar in the ³best first novel² category and it well deserves the nomination. Rosenfeltıs second book should be coming out soon and I will be eager to see what happens to Andy Carpenter next.
Reviewed by Sally A. Fellows, March 2003
This book has more than one review. Click here to show all.
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
