Misdemeanor Man: A Novel - Softcover

Schaffer, Dylan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1582344604 ISBN 13: 9781582344607

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2004

Synopsis

Gordon Seegerman is a reluctant public defender by day, and the wildly enthusiastic lead singer in a Barry Manilow cover band by night. Perfectly content to handle petty cases for the rest of his career, he dreams that Manilow-the real Barry Manilow-will one day show up at his band's gig.

When his boss sticks him with a misdemeanor flasher case, Seegerman thinks, no problem. He'll plead the case, caution his client to keep his trousers zipped, and rush back to rehearsal. No such luck. The flasher is rotting in a maximum security unit, and opposing counsel is the woman who stole, and refuses to return, Seegerman's heart.

When his client vanishes and a key witness winds up dead, Seegerman lands in the legal tangle of his career. His bandmates in tow, he uncovers corruption among his city's most prominent citizens. Like it or not, Seegerman has to act like a real lawyer. And, believe it or not, he's good at it.

A gripping, irreverent legal thriller, Misdemeanor Man will have you on the edge of your seat, routing 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 has represented defendants in the Billionaire Boys Club case, the repressed-memory murder case, and the John Gotti-Gambino Family prosecution. He lives in Oakland, California. This is his first novel.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1582344604
• ISBN 13: 9781582344607
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352