From the Publisher
Final Argument is the startling story of a prosecuting attorney who, twelve years after condemning a convicted murderer to Death Row, returns to the same courtroom to try to save that same man's life. Best-selling author Clifford Irving has crafted a masterly tale of murder, guilt, and infidelity, set in Florida and featuring that rarest of heroes - a lawyer with a conscience and an all-abiding belief in justice. When state attorney Ted Jaffe gives up his prosecutorial job in Jacksonville in favor of a partnership with a prestigious Sarasota law firm, he does it for the security of his family. But in leaving Jacksonville, he also turns his back on the memories of his love affair with Connie Zide, a hauntingly beautiful older woman, and the subsequent trial of a young black man whom Ted Jaffe prosecuted for the murder of Solomon Zide, Connie's billionaire husband. A decade later, living the good life in Sarasota, Jaffe hears from a client an admission of perjury that draws him inexorably back into the Zide murder case, and toward the nightmarish belief that Darryl Morgan, the man he banished to Death Row - and now only days away from execution - may be innocent. Can a lawyer represent a murderer he once prosecuted? The legal establishment insists that he can't. But Ted Jaffe refuses to accept that verdict. Final Argument is the story of his war - at the risk of his career, his marriage, his personal safety, and the survival of his troubled teenage son - to save the lifeblood of a man he believes he has grievously wronged. What he uncovers about the events surrounding the murder of Solomon Zide, and the truths he learns about his own sexual conduct and emotional denial, combine to make Clifford Irving's Final Argument a superior suspense story, an incisive tale of the consequences of lust, and a penetrating portrait of a modern man caught in a web of conflicting emotions. Its climactic cross-examination - in that same Jacksonville courtroom
Publishers Weekly
Irving's 11th novel (after Trial ) is a fast-moving legal thriller noteworthy for its virtuoso interweaving of story lines, numerous plot twists and superior characterizations. At age 48, Ted Jaffe seems set for life: he's a partner at one of Florida's most prestigious law firms, and has a devoted wife and two children who love him. Then Elroy Lee, arrested on a cocaine charge, phones Jaffe because his name looks familiar in the Sarasota Yellow Pages. Lee testified 12 years earlier in a case involving the murder of rich Floridian Solomon Zide; Jaffe, then a state prosecutor, obtained the conviction of a young black man named Darryl Morgan who still sits on death row. Facts now suggest that Lee lied on the stand, but if the trial is reopened, Jaffe's wife would find out that he was having an affair with Zide's socialite wife, Connie. Jaffe ponders why he became a lawyer and races for a new trial before Morgan's fast-approaching execution date. Culminating in an edge-of-the-seat courtroom showdown with plenty of surprises, this superior thriller is a top example of the genre.
Final Argument is the startling story of a prosecuting attorney who, twelve years after condemning a convicted murderer to Death Row, returns to the same courtroom to try to save that same man's life. Best-selling author Clifford Irving has crafted a masterly tale of murder, guilt, and infidelity, set in Florida and featuring that rarest of heroes - a lawyer with a conscience and an all-abiding belief in justice. When state attorney Ted Jaffe gives up his prosecutorial job in Jacksonville in favor of a partnership with a prestigious Sarasota law firm, he does it for the security of his family. But in leaving Jacksonville, he also turns his back on the memories of his love affair with Connie Zide, a hauntingly beautiful older woman, and the subsequent trial of a young black man whom Ted Jaffe prosecuted for the murder of Solomon Zide, Connie's billionaire husband. A decade later, living the good life in Sarasota, Jaffe hears from a client an admission of perjury that draws him inexorably back into the Zide murder case, and toward the nightmarish belief that Darryl Morgan, the man he banished to Death Row - and now only days away from execution - may be innocent. Can a lawyer represent a murderer he once prosecuted? The legal establishment insists that he can't. But Ted Jaffe refuses to accept that verdict. Final Argument is the story of his war - at the risk of his career, his marriage, his personal safety, and the survival of his troubled teenage son - to save the lifeblood of a man he believes he has grievously wronged. What he uncovers about the events surrounding the murder of Solomon Zide, and the truths he learns about his own sexual conduct and emotional denial, combine to make Clifford Irving's Final Argument a superior suspense story, an incisive tale of the consequences of lust, and a penetrating portrait of a modern man caught in a web of conflicting emotions. Its climactic cross-examination - in that same Jacksonville courtroom
Publishers Weekly
Irving's 11th novel (after Trial ) is a fast-moving legal thriller noteworthy for its virtuoso interweaving of story lines, numerous plot twists and superior characterizations. At age 48, Ted Jaffe seems set for life: he's a partner at one of Florida's most prestigious law firms, and has a devoted wife and two children who love him. Then Elroy Lee, arrested on a cocaine charge, phones Jaffe because his name looks familiar in the Sarasota Yellow Pages. Lee testified 12 years earlier in a case involving the murder of rich Floridian Solomon Zide; Jaffe, then a state prosecutor, obtained the conviction of a young black man named Darryl Morgan who still sits on death row. Facts now suggest that Lee lied on the stand, but if the trial is reopened, Jaffe's wife would find out that he was having an affair with Zide's socialite wife, Connie. Jaffe ponders why he became a lawyer and races for a new trial before Morgan's fast-approaching execution date. Culminating in an edge-of-the-seat courtroom showdown with plenty of surprises, this superior thriller is a top example of the genre.
Great book, smooth read.
Lawyers, capitol murder & saving some one else...I liked it.
