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Totally engrossing and suspenseful. Margolin is quite a writer. He makes you think while he's entertaining you.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
A brutal hatchett murder, a fatally ambitious lawyer, and a client that could pay with his life. Very good murder mystery.
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Courtroom thriller. Great story.
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Great book. Kept you guessing right up until the end
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Margolin offers another great read.
PETER HALE IS A YOUNG ATTORNEY WITH A LOT TO PROVE. CROSSING HIS FATHER, ONE OF PORTLANDS MOST POWERFUL LAWYERS, WAS A COSTLY MISTAKE. NOW, CUT LOOSE FROM HIS JOB AND FROM HIS INHERITENCE, PETER'S LANDED IN THE PUBLIC DEFENDERS OFFICE OF A SMALL OREGON TOWN AND IN THE MIDDLE OF A HIGH PROFILE CASE THAT COULD MAKE OR BREAK HIS CAREER. HIS MENTALLY RETARDED CLIENT, ACCUSED OF THE SAVAGE MURDER OF A COLLEGE COED, FACE THE DEATH PENALTY. AND PETER FACES A CHOICE BETWEEN THE PURSUIT OF HEADLINES AND THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH, BETWEEN THE COMPULSION TO SAVE HIMSELF AND THE COURAGE TO SAVE HIS CLIENT IN A DEVASTATING TRIAL BY FIRE.
Publisher's Note
From bestselling author Phillip Margolin, a fast-paced legal thriller packed with page-turning suspense. Peter Hale is a young attorney struggling to make his own mark in his fathers venerable law firm when he is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. During the trial of a multimillion-dollar case, Peters father, the lead counsel, suffers a heart attack and asks Peter to move for a mistrial until he's feeling better. Peter decides this is his only chance to prove to his father that he is the terrific lawyer he knows himself to be, and he chooses to carry on with the case against his fathers wishes. In his zeal to prove himself, Peter neglects his client and ends up losing everything--the case, his job, and his father. Unemployed and disinherited, Peter takes the only job he is offered--that of a public defender in a small Oregon town. He hopes that if he can make good there, he can reinstate himself in his fathers good graces. But his ambition again gets the best of him when he takes on a death-penalty case, representing a mentally retarded man accused of the brutal hatchet murder of a college coed. He's in way over his head, and it's only when Peter realizes that his greed and his ego may end up killing his client that he begins to understand what it really takes to be a good lawyer--and to become a man. The Chicago Tribune said "It takes a really crafty storyteller to put people on the edge of their seats and keep them there. But Phillip Margolin does just that."
From bestselling author Phillip Margolin, a fast-paced legal thriller packed with page-turning suspense. Peter Hale is a young attorney struggling to make his own mark in his fathers venerable law firm when he is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. During the trial of a multimillion-dollar case, Peters father, the lead counsel, suffers a heart attack and asks Peter to move for a mistrial until he's feeling better. Peter decides this is his only chance to prove to his father that he is the terrific lawyer he knows himself to be, and he chooses to carry on with the case against his fathers wishes. In his zeal to prove himself, Peter neglects his client and ends up losing everything--the case, his job, and his father. Unemployed and disinherited, Peter takes the only job he is offered--that of a public defender in a small Oregon town. He hopes that if he can make good there, he can reinstate himself in his fathers good graces. But his ambition again gets the best of him when he takes on a death-penalty case, representing a mentally retarded man accused of the brutal hatchet murder of a college coed. He's in way over his head, and it's only when Peter realizes that his greed and his ego may end up killing his client that he begins to understand what it really takes to be a good lawyer--and to become a man. The Chicago Tribune said "It takes a really crafty storyteller to put people on the edge of their seats and keep them there. But Phillip Margolin does just that."
Peter Hale is a young attorney with a lot to prove. Crossing his father, one Portland's most powerful lawyers, was a costly mistake. Now, cut loose from his job and from his inheritance, Peter's landed in the public defender's office of a small Oregon town --and in the middle of a high-profile case that could make or break his career. His mentally retarded client, accused of the savage murder of a college coed, faces the death penalty . And Peter faces a choice--between the pursuit of headlines and the pursuit of truth, between the compulsion to save himself and the courage to save his client-- in a devastating rial by fire.
MURDER AND AMBITIOUS LAWYERS
Peter Hale is a young attorney with a lot to prove. Crossing his father, one of Portland's most powerful lawyers, was a costly mistake. Now, cut loose from his job and from his inheritance, Peter's landed in the public defencer's office of a small Oregaon town-and in the middle of a high-profile case that could make or break his career. His mentally retarded client, accused of the savage murder of a college coed, faces the death penatly. And Peter faces a choice-between the pursuit of headlines and the pursuit of truth, between the compulsion to save himself and the courage to save his client.
Note from me: I thought this was a very good book. It was good to see the spoiled, egotistical Peter brought down and then watch him build himself into a decent person. It took a lot and for a while I thought it wouldn't happen.
Note from me: I thought this was a very good book. It was good to see the spoiled, egotistical Peter brought down and then watch him build himself into a decent person. It took a lot and for a while I thought it wouldn't happen.
Peter Hale, attorney, made the mistake of crossing his father, one of Portland's most powerful lawyers.
Now without an inheritance or job, he finds himself as a public defender in a small town.
His client, a mentally retarded man, is accused of homicide, and is facing the death penalty. Peter must find the strength to face his own demons and find the truth about his client.
Now without an inheritance or job, he finds himself as a public defender in a small town.
His client, a mentally retarded man, is accused of homicide, and is facing the death penalty. Peter must find the strength to face his own demons and find the truth about his client.
He was banished to a small town to stand on his own two feet when he botched a case.Would he have the courage to save a client or run for cover in his last chance?