Bad Lawyer (Otto Penzler Books)

This was a great read and very tough to put down. Cray did a fantastic job of creating wonderful characters like Sid Kaplan that seemed to come to life on the page.

Manhattan criminal defense attorney, Sid Kaplan, lost everything, his big law practice, money and fame when drugs and booze sent him from the pinnacle of his career to the very bottom of the barrel. Now sober, he's spending his days plea bargaining and defending petty criminals. What he wants is a chance to be on top again. He needs a high profile, big media case to get him started and one walks in the door. Pricilla Sweet is accused of killing her dope dealing husband. She's claiming self defense, he beat and abused her for years. The police say it was cold blooded murder, she was skimming profits and wanted the drug business and money for herself. Sid realizes early on that Pricilla isn't telling him everything, some things don't add up and there are holes in her story. But, it's the right case; he knows he can win this one and it will be his ticket back to the top. When drug dealers show up at his office demanding their "stolen" money, 150 large, the case takes on a whole new deadly dimension and winning may turn out to be the least of Sid's problems..... David Cray has written a suberb legal thriller that has it all...compelling, intricate plot, vivid, riveting scenes and terrific, original characters with strong voices. His writing is spare and gritty and Mr Cray has a wonderful ear for dialogue. With suspenseful twists and surprises and a stunning ending that will knock your socks off, Bad Lawyer is a novel that mystery/thriller fans shouldn't miss.

A character like no other, a courtroom drama like no other, a surprise ending like no other. This is an intelligent, believable thriller. Once you pick it up, you won't be to put it down.

This book is not a light "popcorn" novel -- I wouldn't want to be a protagonist in one of Cray's novels. Yet it was a page-turner. I had to read and find out if her story was true, and I never predicted the ending.

Bad Lawyer is one of the most realistic courtroom dramas I've ever read. It cuts through all the usual nonsense about innocent, middle-class (or worse, rich) defendantrs and gets down in the pits where success is measured in verdicts of guilty or not guilty. The climax just blew me away.