Synopsis
Paraplegic reporter Stick Foster tries to figure out who killed Rodney Ketchum of the law firm of Ketchum, Latham, & Bennet right in the middle of a party at the firm.
Reviews
Readers will root once again for Stick Foster, the paraplegic detective journalist from Orlando last seen in Mall Rats , even though his case fails to deliver all the pleasures of its premise, namely that someone is killing lawyers. Stick's wife Sam, also a paraplegic, is an attorney at a well-regarded law firm where the senior partner suddenly keels over at a formal dinner, the apparent victim of a malfunctioning pacemaker. Then a young associate dies when his head is crushed by a bronze bust. Searching for motives behind the deaths that he's sure are murders, Stick looks for possibilities of partner rivalry and also examines the background of a pending lucrative case involving a death precipitated by a faulty exercise machine. Stick's determination and spirit offer a refreshing change from more laconic gumshoe types. Like his protagonist, Robinson is also wheelchair-bound.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Wheelchair-bound paraplegic Stick Foster, an Orlando, Florida, reporter, attends a fancy shindig at the law firm his wife Sam (another ``para'') works for when the senior partner drops dead. With derring-do and a little B&E, Stick uncovers a murder-by- rigged-statue scheme that leads to two more deaths and could have had any of several motives--revenge for cuckolding? a quick ascent to partnership for an impatient associate? a rival law firm's means of insuring winning the multimillion-dollar Fraiser case? Early on, Stick enlists the aid of former girlfriend Ellie and the young high-schoolers from Mall Rats (1992), but when someone sets fire to their house, Sam takes up pistol shooting, and it's her skill that will save them when a seriously disgruntled lawyer decides on a final payback. Lawyers, who are seen here as--no surprise--ruthlessly competitive, morally slippery, and venal, may wince at this authorial drubbing. More readers will be put off, though, by the mean-spirited sallies among Sam, Stick, and his ever-so idiosyncratic chums. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Stick Foster is an Orlando, Florida, reporter and amateur sleuth. He's also a paraplegic, as is his wife, Samantha. She's a lawyer in the small but successful firm of Ketchum, Latham and Bennett. At a firm banquet, Ketchum, the founder of the firm, dies of an apparent heart attack. Stick is contacted by Ketchum's cardiologist and lover, who believes Ketchum was murdered. His pacemaker was in excellent repair, and he was in basically good health. With the help of a coterie of computer hackers, shady characters, and tough guys, Stick delves into the death. The "Old Man" may have been the victim of an ambitious, impatient partner; he may have been murdered as a result of a huge personal injury suit he was on the verge of winning; or he may have been the target of one of many jealous lovers. The more Stick probes, the more complex the case becomes, and the more bodies pile up. This is a solid mystery, the third in a series, that may have first attracted attention because of the unique physical disability of the protagonist, but which now stands on its own merits. Wes Lukowsky
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