A Good Effort for a First Novel

Every once in awhile I find a novel by someone I never heard of, then end up wishing they had more books. This book was such a book. It's not a terribly long book, with about 360 pages in the paperback version. But the author hits the ground running practically on the first page and keeps on going.

Arch Gold is an attorney in the public defenders office of New York. He has a lot of experience and has defended mostly those that were guilty. But this time he is convinced that it is truly a case of mistaken identity and his client is innocent. His client is Damon Tucker, an 18-year-old black college student. He was on his way home from work, running an errand (literally), when he is grabbed by the police. They take him over to a woman who has been shot, who positively identifies him as the man who shot her.

What? Arch considers this kind of identification unreliable and imperfect. She is suffering from shock and other physical symptoms that he doesn't figure she can clearly see who she is looking at. Plus, he's standing with police officers, why wouldn't he be who they say he is? The police make a lot of his fingerprints being on a video in her purse and her prints being on some money that he has. But she entered his video store and rented a video from him, in which case money was exchanged, just before she was killed.

Arch knows that he was either set-up or just was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the real killer is just letting him take the fall. The victim Charlotte King was an executive in a large private investigation firm and the firm was about to offer its stock to the public. King was also having an affair with the CEO. Arch thinks he looks good as a potential murderer. Arch and his co-counsel Roberta Stevens, an expert in death penalty cases, battle for his Damon's life, and risks his own, plus his license to practice law.

The book is very fast paced with very little digression or description. What is there is just enough to give the reader enough information to understand the intricacies of the law that the lawyers are dealing with. There is enough their to understand the personalities of the lawyers and judges described in the trial and how their personal opinions on issues sway how they behave in court. Otherwise, the story clicks right along, with each chapter Damon and Arch feeling just a little more desperate as their case seems to crumble around their feet.

This type of book is nothing new. Lawyer/court/trial books are written all the time. Books are often set in New York City, also nothing new. But what made this book different is its pacing and having just the right amount of details. Some similar types of books also have way too many characters and you lose track of why those characters were important and sometimes they are not important at all except as page fillers. This book does not have that flaw either. There's nothing in the book that isn't related to the main story. There are twists and turns, especially towards the end--just when you think it is resolved, its not.

The author also makes the reader care about the characters. Arch Gold is portrayed as a knowledgeable attorney, with good trial skills. He knows the ins and outs of the law. He knows the personalities of the judges and how they will rule and what he can get away with. The title refers to court procedure whereby if you are going to give an alternate theory to the prosecution's accusation of guilt, you have to have proof that the alternate theory is true. In this case Gold thinks the CEO did it, but he has nothing concrete. Unfortunately Damon's unwillingness to understand court procedure causes him to blurt it out when he is on the stand. Once introduced then the prosecution can refute it. And of course they do. It just makes Damon look even more guilty. Arch understands all this and tries to give the best advice he can. The characterization of Damon is carried out well too. Though a little bit of a hot head its in character. Anyone who is innocent, would be a little upset. Plus, he's only 18 years old and not exactly mature, so this is acceptable and in line with how you would expect such a person to act.

The book is more focused on resolution of the crime and the trial, so little attention is paid to forensic details. As such there is very little of the actual violence described and nothing about autopsies. Well now real reason to everyone knows how the victim died. Since male/female relationships are almost totally absent from the book there is nothing in it even vaguely sexual in it. There is very little profanity in it. The book would be acceptable for teens to read, especially since the accused is a teen, it might give them an idea of the trauma you go through when accused of a crime. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope this is not the author's first and last book. This one was written in 2003 and I have not found another one.