Refusing to believe that her Russian mother's death had been an accident, Lara Patrick returns to Russia to uncover the truth, but Lara herself is charged with murder, and in this legal system with no jury, Lara is presumed to be guilty
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Praise for Presumed Guilty:
"A Time to Kill meets Gorky Park, when an American woman fights for her life in a brutal Moscow courtroom. A wild, rocketing thriller!" --Harold Robbins
"Presumed Guilty [is] intricately plotted, reads like a whirlwind. Inevitably, the title will call to mind the debut novel of another lawyer-writer, Scott Turow." --The Arizona Daily Star
"Absolutely spellbinding." --The Mystery News
Torturously contrived, wildly improbable woman-in-peril/legal procedural set in a darkly perverse post-Communist Moscow, from mystically inclined lawyer-author Podrug (Frost of Heaven, 1992). Predictably pretty San Francisco prosecutor Lara Patrick opens her morning mail to find a grainy, unmarked black-and-white photograph, postmarked from Moscow. The picture shows what appears to be the mutilated corpse of Lara's American antiwar activist mother, who, according to what Lara was told as a child, died in an automobile accident in what was then the Soviet Union after she had ingested too much LSD. Lara, who was born in Russia but raised in America and who still speaks fluent Russian, hops the next available plane to Moscow, where creepy things quickly begin to happen. At St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square, she falls in with a daft bag-lady who seems to recognize her. Then, as the guide rambles on about Ivan's murderous rampages, Lara barely escapes an attack by a demented priest. She bribes various perverted Slavic types for information about how her mother really died. Just about everybody she meets drops veiled hints before perishing horribly. Finally, Lara encounters the suave but skeptical Detective Yuri Kirov, passes out in bed with the wealthy Alexi Bova, and finds herself framed for the slasher murder of one of Bova's paramours, Nadia Kolchak. Beyond his relentless, over-the-top depictions of how unabashedly awful Moscow is, Podrug uses Lara to examine the grim severity of the modern Russian legal system, where defendants are presumed guilty and must engineer an almost miraculous manipulation of facts and procedures to escape conviction. Of course, Lara has a willing accomplice in Detective Kirov, who falls in love with her but even so must withhold from her the vile secret surrounding her mother's death until a climax that, thanks to Podrug's penchant for telling more than he shows, remains unconvincing. An interesting examination of alien jurisprudence, overwhelmed by campy melodrama, kinky theatrics, and cartoon violence. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 3.60
Within U.S.A.
Seller: Hastings of Coral Springs, Altamonte Springs, FL, U.S.A.
Mass Market Paperback. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. First Mass Market Paperback. 566 pages. The spine is heavily creased as is the front cover. The spine is torn at the base. The rear cover is moderately worn. A couple of pages have small nicks on the edges. The text is clean and bright. Seller Inventory # 7047
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Wonder Book, Frederick, MD, U.S.A.
Condition: Very Good. Very Good condition. Seller Inventory # Q22K-00088
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: HPB-Movies, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
paperback. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_400950201
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: HPB-Emerald, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_289722573
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: HPB-Diamond, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Paperback. Condition: Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_249667905
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Montclair Book Center, Montclair, NJ, U.S.A.
Mass Market Paperback. Condition: USED Good. Seller Inventory # 280834
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Montclair Book Center, Montclair, NJ, U.S.A.
Mass Market Paperback. Condition: USED Fair. Seller Inventory # 575624
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: HPB-Ruby, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Mass Market Paperback. Condition: Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_247370726
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: HPB-Ruby, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Mass Market Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_403921743
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: R Bookmark, Youngtown, AZ, U.S.A.
Mass Market Paperback. Condition: Used - Acceptable. Shelf and spine wear -- reader's copy. Seller Inventory # 13480
Quantity: 1 available