( 4 reviews )
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 25 2005
Although I get the impression that the ABA choose this book for the general reader in order to cast some illumination on the criminal justice system, as a practicing prosecutor who enjoys this genre but finds little time to read it, I enjoyed this story very much and recommend it to the guild of prosecutors, especially assistant district attorneys. It is more in the style of Turow rather than Grisham, it is relatively short for the busy reader, and it treats the drug trial accurately, for I myself have tried drug possession cases and have dealt with the issue of knowing possession before a jury. I am going to recommend it to all my fellow prosecutors in my office.
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( 2 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Dec 5 2004
The Shadow of Justice is a tantalizing beginning for a new author. One can hardly wait to turn the pages to find out what happens next to Judge Clark and his cohorts in the Miami legal scene. The interspersing of cultural nuances that are so mandatory to the flavor of the city only whet one's appetite for the story to follow. Full of surprises, this book had me interested from the beginning to the end. Can't wait for the next book.
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( 3 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Nov 16 2004
A terrific novel. The main characters - the Miami trial judge who writes the first person narrative, a criminal defense lawyer whose moral ambiguity conflicts with his lawyerly competence and obligations, and a police officer (who, though dead as the novel begins, is brought to life through the recollections of the judge and attorney) - are as well crafted as the apparently simple plot, which leads to a complex moral dilemma and an unexpected, but understandable outcome. Equally well depicted are the tension between what law requires and justice demands, the scruffy not-quite-dignity of Miami's trial courts, and the course of a brief, "routine" drug possession trial, the intersection where the book's characters and themes collide. The book's lawyer-author clears away the resulting wreckage with skill and insight, while leading the reader to ponder what he would have done, had he been in the place of each of the three main characters as they chose the paths that the book has them follow.
