Hostile witness : a novel /

Philadelphia attorney and first-time novelist Lashner has written a dark, gut-wrenching thriller about a down-on-his-luck lawyer with a big chip on his shoulder. Victor Carl, who couldn't get into a top law school, couldn't get hired by a top firm, can't pay his bills, and can't get a break, seems destined to be one of life's losers--until William Prescott, partner at prestigious Talbott, Kittredge, and Chase, offers Victor the deal of a lifetime. Represent Chester Concannon, chief aide to Councilman Jimmy Moore, who, along with the councilman, has been indicted for extortion and racketeering. An easy case, Prescott assures Victor, since all Victor has to do is sit in the courtroom, keep his mouth shut, and let Prescott do the work. It sounds too good to be true, and of course, it is. Even as readers are crying out, "Victor, don't do it," the poor schmuck allows himself--despite the cries of his conscience--to be drawn into a world of flashy cars, dirty drug money, sleazy high rollers, and big trouble. By the time Victor recognizes he's in over his head, it's way past too late. In the tradition of his highly successful colleagues, Grisham and Turow, Lashner has written an absorbing legal thriller. What sets this one apart, though, is the dark, despairing view it takes of human nature. A superb, disturbing read. (Reviewed Mar. 15, 1995)0060391464Emily Melton

Murder, extortion, drugs, political corruption and base legal shenanigans animate this colorful debut from the latest attorney-turned-novelist. Victor Carl is a disillusioned protagonist whose foundering Philadelphia law practice only heightens his resentment toward the prestige law firms and WASP blue bloods who have kept him down. But when William Prescott III, managing partner of Talbott, Kittredge, and Chase, dangles a chance before him to make the big time, Victor grabs it. Prescott is representing antidrug crusading councilman Jimmy Moore, under indictment for extortion, murder and arson. Victor will represent Moore's lieutenant, Chet Concannon, in the high-profile case. Chet's previous attorney has died unexpectedly, and the trial begins in two weeks. Victor soon begins to suspect that his real job is to let his client take the fall for Moore. Lashner navigates the seamy side of the legal profession with skillful pacing, finding betrayals, both personal and professional, at every turn. While his narrative occasionally lacks subtlety-Victor's bitterness toward the city's elite is badly overplayed, and characters like the cannoli-baking Mafia don and the corpulent, orthodox Jewish private investigator are cartoonish-it is suspenseful. Comparisons to Grisham and Turow are premature, but this remains a promising debut. 75,000 first printing; author tour; audio by HarperAudio. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Debut thriller about a Philadelphia lawyer tired of being behind on his charge cards who agrees to join the defense team for an embattled city councilman and his aide--and then watches his slick new buddies sell him down the river. The feds have a tape of impassioned anti-drug councilman Jimmy Moore trying to shake down ballplayer-turned-restauranteur Zack Bissonette. They plan to rush Moore and his aide, Chester Concannon, to trial even before Bissonette dies from a professionally administered beating and his club is torched. Moore's defense is headed by blue-blooded William Prescott III, but Prescott needs a lawyer outside his firm to take the fall along with Concannon, and the call goes to Victor Carl, who jumps on the case--even though he's sure that Prescott means to defend Moore by feeding Concannon to the wolves--because he's so desperate for big money and success and the hot-sheets favors of Moore's drugged-out mistress Veronica Ashland. The defense, however, is a nightmare. Prescott bids Victor sit as mute as a crash-test dummy, and a cowed Concannon concurs. Convinced that Bissonette was killed because of the mysterious last woman in his athletic life, Victor calls on a burlesque Othodox Jewish shamus, borrowed from another, equally ignominious case, to review the evidence. But his spasmodic investigations just get him into deeper trouble with Prescott, Moore, the Citizens for a United Philadelphia, a scary drug-dealer, some serious mobsters--and then, finally, Veronica, whose apartment he drags himself to one last time to subpoena her as a hostile witness who is Concannon's only hope for vindication. Lashner, writing with a first- novelist's fearless grasp of clichés, still has a few surprises up his sleeve, and although Victor is a loser even so, it's not at all in the way he expected. Grisham fans will love the lawyer-baiting and righteous self-disgust, which will evidently continue indefinitely in a promised series. (First printing of 75,000; $150,000 ad/promo; author tour)