Felony Murder - Hardcover

Klempner, Joseph T.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312134940 ISBN 13: 9780312134945

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1995

Synopsis

When his client, a homeless man accused of killing a New York City police commissioner, refuses to plea-bargain despite the overwhelming evidence against him, attorney Dean Abernathy is shocked by the odd facts surrounding the case.

About this title

Reviews

Despite its melodramatic, Perry Mason-like resolution, Klempner's first novel, a legal thriller set in New York City, is deeply satisfying. When the city's police commissioner dies of a massive heart attack during a mugging, the young and homeless perp, Joey Spadafino, is charged with felony murder because the death occurred during a robbery. Dedicated attorney Dean Abernathy is named Joey's public defender and hopes for a plea bargain. But Dean uncovers a number of anomalies in the case and, after some wonderful plot twists, comes across evidence of a widespread conspiracy that bears on the death. Meanwhile, Joey digs in, insisting on a trial and refusing ever more generous plea bargain offers. When Dean's new girlfriend is kidnapped by the conspirators, the lawyer attempts to rescue her in a climactic set piece in which he uses his rock climbing skills in an urban setting. Klempner's metropolis reeks with authentic New York flavor, from cameos by real-life personages to dead-on details of jails, courts and the streets. Dean is an appealingly earnest and honest hero; Joey, though neither nice nor bright, is a riveting figure; Klempner, a New York criminal defense attorney, is a writer to watch.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

With this suspenseful thriller, Klempner earns kudos for providing a host of unexpected plot twists and turns and for delivering often arcane and complex legal information in an entertaining manner. When Dean Abernathy, a dedicated, slightly unorthodox criminal defense attorney, agrees to represent the uneducated homeless man accused of fatally mugging the popular New York City police commissioner, it initially appears to be an open-and-shut case. Since Edward Wilson evidently suffered a major coronary during the robbery, Joey Spadafino is indicted on a charge of felony murder. As Joey continues to insist that Wilson was dead before he picked his pockets, Dean begins to suspect that both the district attorney's office and the police department are involved in a labyrinthine cover-up. Teaming up with a comely witness, Dean undertakes a quiet investigation that eventually explodes into a full-scale expose, placing his own life in grave and immediate danger. Realistically set in the courthouse, the jailhouse, and on the street, this tautly woven legal drama features enough action, tension, and romance to appeal to a wide variety of readers. Margaret Flanagan

Edition details

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312134940
• ISBN 13: 9780312134945
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 358