The Insider by Reece Hirsch

Book:  The Insider 


Author:  Reece Hirsch 


Grade: B-/C+  (maybe I should start giving % ratings out of 100)  This would be 72%


Recommended To:  Legal Thriller and action fans.  Outsiders. 


I tried to win this book on Goodreads, failed and waited forrrevaaaa to get it on paperbackswap.com.  Finally it comes, and I read it in a day.  It is the fastest I've read a book this year that is of any substantial length.  It seems that the font used for this book was especially huge; I might have gotten the "large print" version.

This book follows big law firm associate/partner Will Connelly in his short journey through the world of insider trading, the Russian mafia, and a potential murder charge.

Here's what I liked:  This was a quick book and what I classify as a "train read."  Super fast, easy, doesn't require a lot of thought.   This is the first book by Reece Hirsch and it was a solid first effort.  He probably has a promising future as an author as long as he sticks to what he knows, cuts down some of the character dialogue, and doesn't try to cram too much stuff in one book.

The plot was okay.  It often seemed like a HUGE stretch that a partner at a big firm would be knocked for insider trading, possible terrorism, murder, and connections to the Russian mob and all because he was set up to take the fall.  This could probably have been four books instead of one.  With all of the plot lines and twists it was hard to keep track of what was going on.

Here's what I didn't like:  The main character!  He was so dumb sometimes.  If the Russian Mob tells you that they are going to extort you, then you DO NOT under any circumstances leave your busy law office with them.  What is wrong with this guy.  He's so smart sometimes because he figures out all of the tenuous connections between terrorists, mobsters, partners, etc.  but he does some mega dumb things, like go to the Russian restaurant that serves as the headquarters of the mafia.  Alone.  As in -  by himself.  Foolish.

Connelly was also a very flat character.  Hirsch tried to give him dimension, but sometimes in these action based novels it is better not to pretend that the characters are substantive. The effort at substance highlighted that Connelly was flatter than ever.  Jack Bauer - not very substantive.  Excellent show?  Yes. 

I also didn't like the fight scene at the end.  Without giving too much away at one point the main dude and some other guy are circling each other with a hammer and a screwdriver respectively.  What?  The mental image I got from this was so funny I had to laugh out loud. 

I get that this is a first novel - and it was a solid first effort by Hirsch, but I think there were some serious plot fails that took away the story as a whole.  I enjoyed reading this book overall and if you are looking for something fast from a new and promising author - then you should check out this book.

Happy Reading!!

The Confession by John Grisham

Book:  The Confession 

Author:  John Grisham 

Grade: B 

Recommended To:  Law fans, John Grisham Fans, Confessors. 

The Confession is John Grisham's latest book.  I waited forever for it on paperbackswap and it took me an entire week to finish it because my commute is extremely short, which means I get through about 8 pages and then have to quit.  Taking the fast train is not boding well for my blog. 

This book follows the fictional story of Donte Drumm a high school football hero who is convicted of murder and sent to death row.  The story opens with the real killer contacting a Keith, a Lutheran Minister and confessing to the crime.  That confession spurs a frantic dash to Texas to stop the Drumm execution before it takes place 

This story is very well done.  It is Grisham's first about the death penalty, I believe, and he captures some incredible detail about an inmate's struggle in solitary confinement, the tortuous last days and hours leading up to an execution, the appeals process, and the racial tension surrounding the death penalty. 

I love how Grisham writes.  He wraps up every single story line at the end of the book and his writing is fact based.  He includes some emotion, but for the most part, he writes like a lawyer.  His books are one fact after another.  This is quite a bit different from some of the other books I've been reading lately and it was refreshing to know exactly what was going on at all times.  

This story was reminiscent of Dead Man Walking by Helen Prejean, the nun who befriended a death row inmate and watched him die.   Dead Man Walking launched me firmly into the anti-death penalty camp, (if I wasn't there already), and as a fictional novel, The Confession has the ability to do much of the same.  Grisham casts an evil glow over the proponents of the death penalty and ends up writing a fairly believable and well-written novel.  This story is also resonant because of the recent abolition of the death penalty in Illinois by Governor Pat Quinn. 

I gave this book a B, it should have been a fast read for me and probably will be for someone with a little more time, it was well -written and it was about a great subject.  You should check out this book!

Happy Reading!!

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

Book:  The Lincoln Lawyer

Author:  Michael Connelly

Grade:  B

Recommended To:  Grisham Fans, Car Enthusiasts, Nebraska Residents.

This was the first Michael Connelly book that I was given by a friend and after reading it I was hooked on his characters and his story lines. (You can check out said friend's bread blog here).

Connelly writes about Mickey Haller, an attorney, who conducts most of his criminal defense legal practice from the back of a Lincoln Towncar equipped with a computer, fax, and phone line.  In the first few chapters, Haller lands a huge case defending a rich guy who is accused of murder. 

The drama unfolds quickly and culminates in a shocking and exciting finale that would never actually happen in real life.  I like this book and the way that Connelly writes because there are some excellent courtroom scenes that are fairly accurate.  Of course the scenes are trumped up a bit for the sake of the novel, but compared to my courtroom experience they were accurate enough.

I mostly wanted to write this post because of the new movie coming out starring Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Philippe (Hello, Cruel Intentions!).   The movie comes out next month - March 18th - and unfortunately it might be terrible.  I'm certainly going to go see it in theaters - but who casted McConaughey, most famously know for surfing - as an Attorney? 

For Connelly's sake, I hope the movie is great and that he got paid big money for the movie rights.  Who knows, I might even include a review of the movie on this blog!

Happy Reading!!

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Book:  In Cold Blood 

 Author:  Truman Capote 

Grade:  A 

Recommended To:  Everyone + my law geeks

I realize that I'm a bit late to the In Cold Blood phenomenon since this book was published when my Aunt was a child and she read it at the age of 12.  But, my dear Aunt thought I would enjoy this book and popped it under the tree for me for Christmas.

She was so RIGHT!  I don't usually read nonfiction unless it is something that I'm super interested in, like Mormons or Mount Everest, but this true story of the Clutter family and their murderers captured me right from the beginning and didn't let go.   I must give a bit of a warning though, it is a terrifying book.  It isn't really a secret, so I don't consider this a spoiler, but Capote tells the story of two ex-cons who murder an entire family of four in hopes of finding thousands of dollars.  They walk away with 40 bucks.

One of the most powerful scenes comes at the end where a well known attorney is giving the rebuttal closing argument and asks the jury whether each of the four lives was worth 10 dollars.  Wowza.  That's the sort of thing that you don't stop thinking about for several days afterward.

I really liked how this book really spelled out the various tests for insanity.  These murders happened at a time when the M'Naghten test was failing in the federal courts in favor of the much less restrictive Durham/product test.  Honestly, the way the author described the controversy surrounding these insanity defenses made them clear to me for the first time.  Oy.  Thanks In Cold Blood for teaching me something that law school couldn't.

Finally, this book doesn't read like a regular non-fiction.  Capote does such a good job of researching his "characters" that it feels like he was right there with the killers on their travels around the US, or with Nancy, the all-star daughter, as she ran her many errands on the last day of her life. 

As you can see, this is the only book that I've given an A to so far and it was well worth it.  I recommend this book to anyone who needs a refresher on the insanity defenses and to anyone who wants to read a creepy, true-crime, thriller.

Happy Reading!

The Reversal by Michael Connelly

Book: The Reversal

Author: Michael Connelly

Grade: B -

Recommended To: Michael Connelly Fans

I have read a lot of Connelly's books and he writes about a series of three characters: Mickey Haller, Harry Bosch, and Jack McEvoy, a reporter. This is Connelly's third book about Mickey Haller, but the story also includes Harry Bosch's character and the FBI agent Rachel Walling who has made an appearance in several previous novels.

Without giving too much away, in this book, Haller, a well-known defense attorney is asked to be an independent prosecutor for a retrial of a previously convicted child-killer. Haller agrees to switch sides and most of the book centers around Haller's preparation for trial and the trial itself with brief sidebars for Bosch's investigation into the past of the defendant.

Here's what I like about this book:

Connelly hits the ebb and flow of a criminal courtroom right on the head. He doesn't draw out the cross examinations and he has a knack for describing the impatience of judges and the difficulty of persuading a jury. I also like how Connelly makes an effort to highlight the reasons why an attorney would choose a particular strategy for the case. This makes the story interesting and gives a novice legal readers some background on case strategy.

Further, I like these characters, they lead interesting lives and I feel like after reading several of Connelly's novels about both Haller and Bosch, that I really know them well and can guess what they are going to do next. I feel like the characters have depth and Connelly has worked to give them dimension instead of just writing them as a stereotypical cop and lawyer. Just a note, it is completely unnecessary to read Connelly's books in order. He writes distinct stories that merely feature the same characters. They are not a series and do not build upon one another.

Here's what I wish Connelly had done better:

I don't want to give away the ending, but Connelly needed about 50-100 more pages to really create some suspense and drama at the end of the book. The end is pretty shocking, but the most shocking events happen with only 30 pages to go! That's not nearly enough time to really give the reader closure. Plus, the book ends without answering all of the questions posed during the preceding 389 pages. I suppose Connelly might want this story line to continue and will be writing another book with the answers, but for me, I wish he had just wrapped it up.

Ultimately, I gave this book a B- because of the ending. I will definitely be reading Connelly again, but this book wasn't as good as The Brass Verdict or The Lincoln Lawyer which are his two previous books that feature Mickey Haller. If you haven't read Connelly, I suggest you start there.

Happy Reading!