The Advocate: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Quick, Entertaining and Well Written
Review: I generally find myself annoyed while reading legal books, they are either poorly researched attempts written by non lawyers who know nothing about how the legal world works or they are horrible ego strokes written by, well some of the big names out there in legal fiction and usually have dumb women who need to be saved by the super testosterone driven brilliant male attorney.

Thank goodness The Advocate is such a breath of fresh air. The look into the legal world is pretty accurate although it does come from a very specific perspective (that of the defense attorney). Despite that, I did think it provided a pretty balanced view of the foibles of both the prosecutorial mindset as well as the mindset of the defense attorney and neither is perfect to say the least.

Darcy Cole is a high profile Chicago defense attorney who has just won a murder case for cool as ice Lynn Tobias only to have a US Attorney with eyes on the Governor's mansion make an end run and charge her with insurance fraud with murder as a related offense.

Add to that the fact that a mob boss' out of control son has placed a hit on his life and a mid life crisis and you get several interesting and quirky characters and a strong main storyline with a few nice side threads to keep things moving.

The legal stuff is authentic and I've pretty much seen every single one of the characters in real life. From the no nonsense hardass judge to the grandstanding US attorney, I was impressed that the book lacked the superhero know it all attorney so common in other books.

The case was nicely written, enough technical stuff to satisfy picky people like me but not too much as to slow the story down. Good twists and turns. The end was surprising, although I'd already guessed part of it, but not a total and utter shock.

All in all, I really enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it to my friends in the legal community who are as tired as I am of the run of the mill legal thriller.

Rating:
Summary: The Advocate - Run, Do Not Walk To Buy This Book!
Review: If you are expecting the typical Grisham or Turow style legal thriller you in for a pleasant surprise! This is quite simply a great book.

As an attorney I have met every single one of Larry Axelrood's characters at one time or another in my career. They are written as three dimensional and quite human. Axelrood does an especially good job at portraying his gay character Patrick as a real person who happens to be gay. He does not stereotype Patrick or make him a victim. This is a refreshing change from the typical gay character who is written as either a monster or a wimp.

The book is fast paced and does not inundate you with overly descriptive narratives. Axelrood gives you a glimpse of the Chicago legal community and how it works without boring the reader or losing him in overly technical lingo.

The ending is a real surprise and from someone who prides himself on always being able to call the plot two chapters into a book I was thrilled to be caught unawares.

This is a great book to read on a plane because you will become so engrossed in the adventures of Darcy Cole you will have landed before you know it.

Bravo to Larry Axelrood and as I said earlier, Run ... do not walk to buy this book!

Rating:
Summary: The Advocate: An insider's view of the courtroom
Review: Larry Axelrood uses his years of experience in the criminal courtrooms of Chicago to give the reader a very realistic and exciting view into the criminal court system. His writing captures your attention through his ability to familiarize you with the characters. In an intense way, he places you into the minds of the main subjects.

There is an interesting twist at the end that caught this reader by surprise. I found the book a fast read as each particular segment of the story seemed to launch me into the next. There is excellent descriptive detail, for example, demonstrating how the slightest change in the facial expression of a juror can create havoc in an attorney's mind. There are the racing thoughts of a prosecutor versus a defense attorney that expose everything from pride to paranoia and the vicious extents an attorney will go to to defend his or her position.

I found the story quite interesting, while the use of the author's first hand experiences over time, his detailed observations, perhaps his own anxious moments, contribute greatly to the effectiveness of his ability to bring the reader directly into the story.