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Book Review of The Advocate's Devil

The Advocate's Devil
artsyangel2007 avatar reviewed on + 99 more book reviews


A very intense yet great read!
From Books:
The Advocate's Devil
by Alan M. Dershowitz

hat do you do if you are a defense attorneyâ"and you suspect your client is guilty? From Alan M. Dershowitz, one of America's most celebrated legal tacticians, comes a riveting novel about a basketball player accused of rapeâ"and the defense lawyer who tries to save him.

Equally compelling, Dershowitz has crafted a brilliant legal investigation in to the ethical underpinnings of law. He shows how the imperatives of winning a case can sometimes blind the lawyer to the conflict between his duties in the courtroom and his responsibilities as a human being.

This is the story of Joe Campbell, a handsome and charismatic basketball star with the New York Knicks, known as the "White Knight," who is accused of raping a woman after she invites him up to her hotel room in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The athlete engages a prominent local attorney named Abe Rinvel to defend him. From the initial facts of the case, Abe believes he has found an easy victory to stop what has been a recent losing streak in the courtroom.

As the case unfolds, and the legal defense team performs its own investigation, Abe's associates become concerned that Campbell is concealing facts that may show him to be guilty and dangerous. Abe disagrees. To help sort through the issues, Abe calls upon his mentor, an aging lawyer and talmudic scholar named Haskel Levine. Together, these men explore the ethical dilemmas faced by a defense attorney who wants to win his case and serve justice at the same time.

On one level, Alan Dershowitz tells a pulse-pounding story, filled with courtroom drama and populated by a cast of memorable characters, including Abe's rebellious daughter, Emma, and his mysterious girlfriend, Rendi.

On another level, Dershowitz uses the fictional medium to dissect the mind of the defense attorney at work and to explore the inner soul of the law itself It is this additional dimension that gives The Advocate's Devil such resonance and power.