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Green 61
An Anderson Parker Legal Mystery
Cody Fowler Davis
Little Moose Press (Hardcover)
10-digit ISBN: 0972022732 (0-9720227-3-2)
13-digit ISBN: 9780972022736 (978-0-9720227-3-6)
Publication Date: April, 2006
List Price: $23.95
Synopsis (from
the
publisher): Justin Cartwright II is a real bastard of a lawyer and
he’s not much more attractive as a person. In court, he tends
to skate right up to the edge of what’s ethical and is not
averse to slipping over if it means winning a case. Anderson Parker is
just the opposite; bright, resourceful, and integrity is his middle
name. No wonder it’s so satisfying when Parker tells
Cartwright, who happens to be his boss, to take his job and…
well, you get the picture.
It’s also something like poetic justice when, after the rift,
these two attorneys face off on opposite sides of a legal battle in
which two young children and an adult man have been killed in a boating
accident. We know who’s responsible. What we don’t
know is whether they will be brought to justice. With
Cartwright’s nasty tactics, and a bungling third
party’s lawyer, we’re in suspense right up to the
end.
Green 61 is a real “I know it’s late, but I just
don’t want to put it down” kind of a book.
It’s all the more so because it was written by a successful
attorney who knows the legal system inside and out, and is well
acquainted with the tactics—savory and less so—of
those who work in it. It’s authentic, it’s
believable, and it’s absolutely engaging from the first
sentence through to the last.
Review: "Rules are for losers" sums up the approach the defense attorney takes in Green 61, Cody Fowler Davis' often riveting debut legal thriller with plaintiff attorney Anderson Parker. The title refers to a marker in the Intracoastal Waterway outside Tampa, the site of a tragic accident that is central to the plot of the book.
Many, maybe most, Americans think lawyers are either incompetent, blundering morons or ruthless, insensitive monomaniacs, but all have one thing in common: lining their own pockets at the expense of their clients. And Davis does little to dissuade the reader of this notion. One can only hope that the author is drawing his legal characters a little larger than life for dramatic effect, and that he doesn't intend them to be representative of the profession at large. (A disclaimer on the obverse of the title page would seem to confirm this.)
The case being decided in Green 61 is deceptively simple yet intriguing. No party is completely blameless, and the trial is a balancing act between what is morally right and what is legally right. Somewhat surprisingly, the book devotes more time to Parker's former employer and opponent in the case, Justin Cartwright. And while Parker seems to be going through the motions in preparing his case, Cartwright is actively and aggressively defending his client.
Despite some uneven passages and far too many irrelevant descriptive details in the early chapters, Green 61 is a compelling legal thriller and is recommended.
Special thanks to Author Marketing Experts for providing the ARC of Green 61 for this review.
Review Copyright © 2006 Hidden Staircase Mystery Books
Omnimystery keyword(s) for Green 61 ...
Locations referenced: Tampa.
