Rating: 
Summary: LAUDABLE FIRST NOVEL
Review: While the question of guilt or innocence is always a quotient in courtroom thrillers Perjury, a debut novel by Michigan trial judge, Stan Latreille, puts an original spin on the norm. Once his fictional case has been set forth, Mr. Latreille generates and sustains a rapid paced narrative with injections of suspense, while also tossing out eye-opening, often disconcerting, observations about judges, juries, lawyers and our legal system.Responding to the invitation of Scott Sherman, an old college buddy, Jack Brenner, "a jaded lawyer on the wrong side of forty," joins Sherman's legal firm in one of the tonier suburbs of Detroit, Michigan A divorce and years as a justice-will-prevail believing public defender have left Jack cynical and disgruntled. Being appointed to handle the pro bono defense of an admitted perjurer does nothing to improve his state of mind. However, when Jack meets his client, Davey Alden, a young mother with the requistie tangle of red hair, blue eyes and luscious figure, he puts on his tarnished suit of armor and becomes her avid champion. It comes as no surprise that a romance blossoms between the two, but that predictable occurrence aside, the author offers some intriguing discoveries as Jack researches his case. Davey is to stand trial for perjury after claiming that her husband, Joel, had sexually abused their daughter, and then admitting in court that she had fabricated the charge. It seems there's no hope for Davey as she's an admitted liar, which has incurred the wrath of the entire community, many of whom are reliant upon the bounty of powerful and wealthy Joel. The fact that Davey was abused by her father as a child may win her some jury sympathy but, Jack thinks, not an acquittal. Any chance of winning his case becomes an even longer shot when Jack learns that Davey is promiscuous, and a handsome, too-smooth dentist is at the ready to testify that not only did he bed Davey the first time he met her but she wanted him to help her in a scheme to frame her husband for child abuse. Well, things always look darkest before the last fifty pages and such is the case with Perjury. In true Perry Mason style a surprise piece of evidence leaves a courtroom in shocked silence, and waiting for Jack's closing argument. Standing before the box of solid citizens, he cautions that the law is not some cold formula, but demands a human heart: "If you apply the law coldly, you will not render justice. You must apply it humanly." The verdict reached by the jury and the ensuing revelations remind us that in some lawsuits there are no victors. While the courtroom scenes sizzle with authenticity, dialogue, at times, seems tired, such as, ''The road to hell is paved with good intentions, my dear,' I said." Nonetheless, Perjury is a laudable first novel, indicating that the author's inventive mind may hold future surprises. - Gail Cooke
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