3 Review(s)

Tim Junkin's fast-paced insider novel tracks a moral journey. Jack Stanton began his career as a public defender in the Washington, D.C., "Agency." A quick study and a charismatic trial lawyer, Jack believed wholeheartedly in indigent clients' rights to the best legal defense possible. He worked tirelessly and won some tough cases against the District's corps of prosecuting attorneys. His reputation for expert client preparation grew alongside his passion for winning. Ultimately, however, Jack pays for that reputation with his integrity. And, for his workaholism, he pays with his marriage. By the time he decides to leave the Agency to establish his own private law practice, his line between truth and manipulated fact has thinned to almost nothing. And so, specializing in medical malpractice cases, Jack succeeds brilliantly until he obscures that thin line altogether and is charged with lying under oath. He runs, hiding out in a secluded house on the Chesapeake Bay. It's there that he encounters an idealistic young woman plotting to avenge her father's murder by terrorists. Her plight leads Jack to act once again on behalf of an underdog and to regain-at least for himself-his own idealism and honor. With its intriguing cast of the accused and their defenders, Good Counsel dramatically illustrates the process and practice of litigation. It's a knowing, taut, suspenseful novel that confronts the high price of professional success.