Half-Moon and Empty Stars

by Gerry Spence

Abner Hill, a principled small-town lawyer, risks everything to save his client, Native American Charlie Redtail, from the gas chamber, after he is falsely accused and convicted of murder on the basis of perjured testimony, in a backwater, prejudiced Wyoming town. A first novel. 50,000 first printing.

Genres: Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Gerry Spence is a trial lawyer in the United States. In 2008, he announced he would retire, at age 79, at the end of the Geoffrey Fieger trial in Detroit, MI. Spence did not lose a criminal case in the over 50 years he practiced law. He started his career as a prosecutor and later became a successful defense attorney for the insurance industry. Years later, Spence said he "saw the light" and became committed to representing people, instead of corporations, insurance companies, banks, or "big business."

Reviews

[Dianna Shimizu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a strange book, but I really liked it. It's part philosophy, part mystery, part social commentary about the plight of Native Americans. The author is a famous lawyer, so I was expecting a legal thriller, but there's no way I could categorize this book as that--it defies most literary slots. It tells the story of an Arapaho man accused of murder, but we readers know who the real killer is, as the case is investigated.

[Susan S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this as a book on CD and finally had to bring it in from my car I was so absorbed. After reading this I'm definitely going to read the author Gerry Spence's autobiography.

[Jerry Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spence is a gifted storyteller. He draws on his lifetime as a defense lawyer in creating this story of murder and resolution. If you like tales of western justice, you will enjoy this book.

[Fay Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book while I was reading it, and then I found I couldn't start another book for almost 10 days, I wasn't ready to let this one go.

[Jon Christie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My old man is a retired trial attorney and ever since I can remember has raved about Gerry Spence. Long before he was ever a talking head on Court TV and other channels. My dad still talks about going to his seminar. He owned all of his non-fiction literature. Suffice it to say I was really looking forward to reading this when I found it on our bookshelf. But it presents a very negative and I dare say depressing view of Native Americans. For example, throughout the novel I kept questioning the reason why a group of people isolated from the societies that developed the fermented beverage wouid have such a disproportionate percentage of its population with a predisposition to alcoholism. An okay yarn otherwise but due to my father's enthusiasm I was hoping it was going to be as outstanding as a Fire and Ice novel!

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully written and heartbreaking.

[Gertrude Whitman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Pretty good novel for a first time novelist (but already a non-fiction writer). Not your usual happy ending. I bought this book in Virginia at the Orange County Book Sale and Flea Market. It was a discard from the Wilderness Library. I have had it for years - my mother was still living in Locust Grove. I have finally read it. Note to self: Paragraph on page 306. The mother wishes to be called Mimi when she becomes a grandmother - same as the name my daughter and I picked out for me after AJ born.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, I seem to not have the best of luck with book choices as of recently. Since finishing Glass Sword, I am on the second book that I will not be completing. The synopsis sounded awesome and right up my alley, but I got 70 pages into it, re-read the synopsis again, and realized the story still had not gotten to the main storyline; it had been all backstory up to that point. It’s one thing if the backstory is necessary (which some of it was), but there’s a lot that I felt could have easily been left out. I am one of those people that enjoys detail when it’s important to the story but cannot deal with an excessive amount of it. I realize I probably could have also skimmed through it to get to the main storyline, but I was not enjoying the author’s writing style enough to do that. Overall, if there had been less backstory at the beginning, I feel like I might have been able to finish this novel and may have given it a relatively high rating.

[Michelle]

Good book, but depressing.

[Neil Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Good. Excellent tale of modern Native American man railroaded for murder.