Misdemeanor Man: A Novel - Softcover

Schaffer, Dylan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1582345694 ISBN 13: 9781582345697

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2005

Synopsis

Gordon Seegerman is a reluctant public defender by day and the Barry-obsessed singer in a Manilow cover band by night. When a routine misdemeanor case exposes corruption among his city's most prominent citizens, Seegerman finds himself having to act like a real lawyer for the first time in his life. Irresistible and irreverent, Misdemeanor Man will have you on the edge of your seat, rooting for the underdog and believing in the magic of Manilow.

About this title

Review:

Gordon Seegerman is a public defender whose somewhat lackadaisacal attitude toward his job is understandable--misdemeanors don't have the inherent drama of big-time felonies, and the arena in which Seegerman plies his trade is the criminal equivalent of small claims court--jaywalkers, graffiti artists, sidewalk spitters and willy wankers. It's one of the latter--Harold Dunn, arrested for exposing himself to an eight-year-old girl in the women's dressing room of a local department store--whose refusal to cop a plea comes at a very inconvenient time for our hero, conflicting as it does with his real career opportunity--performing with his Barry Manilow tribute band, the Mandys, in front of the Great Man himself.

There's more to Dunn than a dirty raincoat--he's an accountant with a charity called G.O.D., an ex-alcoholic who owes his second chance to the group, especially its founder, a saintly woman whose son, Dunn implies, has set him up as a patsy to cover his own sins, which run to embezzlement, shady real estate deals, and money laundering. That may explain why Dunn's being held in a high security area of the local jail, and why the prosecuting attorney--who happens to be Gordon's former girlfriend--stubbornly refuses a deal of any kind. Then a wealthy stranger bails Dunn out of jail, a witness in his case turns up dead, murder charges are filed against him, and Gordon suddenly has to act like a real lawyer. Schaffer tosses in a few subplots in case this one doesn't catch the reader's interest, but they don't do anything to pick up the pace. --Jane Adams

About the Author:

Dylan Schaffer is a criminal-defense lawyer who has served as appellate counsel in more than fifty murder cases, including death penalty matters. He lives in Oakland, California. Television rights to Misdemeanor Man have been optioned by Paramount, with Fox developing the pilot.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1582345694
• ISBN 13: 9781582345697
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352