Crater County
Jonathan Miller
(Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan)
2004 Cool Titles
ISBN: 0967392047

A Southwest prosecutor worries that a defense attorney might be a serial killer.

Sr. Associate Reviewer Narayan Radhakrishnan writes:

I was right about Jonathan Miller. But wrong about Rattlesnake Lawyer & Attorney Dan Shepherd.

Didn't get it, right...? Well, this lawyer-author's fantastic debut work was one helluva book! I had remarked that there soon would be another Jonathan Miller legal thriller, & that Dan Shephered might become a series protagonist. Miller is back, but not with Shepherd. & thus I proved to be 50&per; correct.

Save for the New Mexico setting & taut narrative style, there is nothing to connect the two novels. Crater County starts with prosecutor Luna Cruz facing a tough time emotionally & professionally.

It seems she is on a verge of a breakdown, a case of lawyer burnout. A girl with high ambitions & aspirations, life has become dull of late for Luna. The only shining thing seems to be defense attorney Sam Marlow. A man who is liked by nobody. The local police force hates him… “hate” being an understatement.

Naturally, Luna is infatuated with this lawyer with a mystic aura. But he's on the opposite side of a homicide case, & when a series of murders strike rather too close to home, she's left wondering if Marlow is behind them, & worse, if he's imitating the style of his nefarious clients -- talk about Stockholm Syndrome in reverse. What follows is an exciting legal-psychological mystery that culminates in a fine, fine finish.

I enjoyed Crater County very much. It's not often that you get to read a somber legal novel. As in Rattlesnake Lawyer the narrative force in Crater County is superb, although I have one complaint -- I hated the cover -- it looks like a Harlequin romance. The somberness is missing. I mention this, because Rattlesnake Lawyer had an outstandingly jacket.

Except for this minor (personal) complaint, Crater County is highly recommended. Watch out for Jonathan Miller becoming the new voice in contemporary legal thrillers.
(07/03/05)

Narayan
2005©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