Motion to Kill
Joel Goldman
(Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan)
2002 Pinnacle Books
ISBN: 0786014474

Trial Attorney Lou Mason investigates the death of two partners in his law firm.

Sr. Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan writes:

Joel Goldman has become the latest addition to the growing list of lawyer-authors. It is obvious that he has been inspired by Grisham & Turow. All elements of an electrifying thriller-murder, corruption, sex & suspense are mixed in the right proportion in this magnificent debut legal thriller.

Smart & savvy attorney Lou Mason has just joined the legal firm of Sullivan & Christenson. A few months into his job, the senior partner's body washes up on a lake shore...dead, a short while after Sullivan had entrusted Mason with a couple of sensitive, very important documents in the case of one of their clients.

To add to the misery, the Attorney General's Office orders an investigation into the affairs of the firm on the grounds of fraudulent business dealings. Christenson assigns Mason to ward off the federal inquiry.

Mason's probings into the affairs of the firm, however, reveal some unholy secrets & he begins to realize that the majority of the partners of Sullivan & Christenson might indeed be guilty.

It is a no-win situation--compromise his legal ethics or lose his job. But more than that he finds he has become the killer's next target. What follows is Mason's struggle to bring the guilty to book at the same time keeping himself alive.

Motion to Kill is engaging right from the first page--Goldman has a way with the words that makes for an enthralling read. The first paragraph of the work would be interesting to quote over here:

“A dead partner is bad for business, even if he dies in his sleep. But when he washes ashore on one side of a lake and his boat is found abandoned on the other side, it is worse. When the sheriff tells the coroner to "cut him open and see what we've got," it is time to dust off the ésumé.” With an opening like that, who wouldn't be engrossed in the narration?

Mason is an enjoyable character who has all the makings of a series protagonist. The other characters, especially Blues, the Private Investigator, & Tuffy the dog, remain in the mind of the reader for a long time.

All-in-all Motion to Kill is a good whodunit but not a great whodunit. There is an obvious “Grisham touch”, in particular the work can be likened to Grisham's The Firm & The Partner.

A good debut--I look forward to the author's forthcoming works.
(06/29/03)

Narayan
2003©Narayan Radhakrishnan
A RebeccasReads.Com Sr. Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I am a 26 years old lawyer practicing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Along with my legal practice, I have finished post-graduate studies for both Business Law & Human Rights. I am a self proclaimed numero-uno legal thriller lover & am the proud owner of all of Grisham's & Turow's novels. I enjoy John Mortimer's Rumpole & relish an occasional Martini & a rare Scot(ch)t-oline with a Patterson on the side.

My work A FICTION OF LAW is now about 500 pages in length & features 500 lawyer authors & 2000 legal thrillers covering a 300 year period - inclusive of entries from the USA, UK, Asia, Europe, China, Middle East etc. Still in search of a publisher.
www.keralatourism.org