Synopses & Reviews
With his terrific first novel,
Special Circumstances, Sheldon Siegel delivered legal fiction so exciting, it drew comparisons with the very top tier of courtroom thrillers. Now he has a new challenge for defense attorney Mike Daley--ex-priest, ex-husband, ex-public defender--and its a high-profile zinger: a case he doesnt think he can win for a client he cant stand.
It starts with a phone call Mike Daley never expected to get, from District Attorney Prentice Marshall Gates III, San Franciscos chief law enforcement officer and front-runner candidate for California attorney general. Friends theyre not, but Gates needs Daley now--badly. Hes just been arrested. A couple of hours earlier he woke up in his hotel room and found the dead body of a young male prostitute in the bed. Prosecutors are already talking the death penalty, and theres nothing in the mounting evidence to convince Daley and his partner--and ex-wife--Rosie of Gatess innocence. But even if hes lying, its their job to defend him.
Sure enough, the deeper Mike and Rosie dig, the seamier their findings. From a shady Internet entrepreneur who trades flesh for cash to a prominent businessman who uses muscle to keep his enterprise prospering, Mike and Rosie chase down leads that take them from the depths of the Mission District, where drugs and bodies are always for sale, to the gated mansions of Pacific Heights, frantically trying to piece together the shocking truth of what actually happened, even as the trial itself is under way.
About the Author
Sheldon Siegel, a graduate of the University of California at Berkeleys Boalt Law School, has been in private practice in San Francisco for over seventeen years. He lives in Marin County with his wife and twin sons and is at work on his third novel.
From the Hardcover edition.