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Делото срещу Уилям
Адвокатите трябва да се примирят с факта, че по-голямата част от клиентите им са виновни.
Уилям Тъкър, известната и егоцентрична футболна звезда, е внезапно арестуван и обвинен в брутално изнасилване и убийство на студентка.
Отчужденият му баща, Франк Тъкър, бивш адвокат и настоящ алкохолик, не вярва, че синът му е виновен. Никой баща не би го повярвал.
Сега Франк трябва да събере сили да се пребори със своята зависимост и да спаси сина си от смъртно наказание.
Баща и син си дават сметка, че само три неща в живота са сигурни: смъртта, данъците и бащината любов.
Уилям Тъкър, известната и егоцентрична футболна звезда, е внезапно арестуван и обвинен в брутално изнасилване и убийство на студентка.
Отчужденият му баща, Франк Тъкър, бивш адвокат и настоящ алкохолик, не вярва, че синът му е виновен. Никой баща не би го повярвал.
Сега Франк трябва да събере сили да се пребори със своята зависимост и да спаси сина си от смъртно наказание.
Баща и син си дават сметка, че само три неща в живота са сигурни: смъртта, данъците и бащината любов.
413 pages, Paperback
First published March 2, 2014
356 people are currently reading
845 people want to read
About the author
Mark Gimenez
19 books498 followersMark Gimenez grew up in Galveston County, Texas, and attended Texas State University and Notre Dame Law School. He practiced law and was a partner in a large Dallas firm. He is the author of ten novels—The Color of Law, The Abduction, The Perk, The Common Lawyer, Accused, The Governor's Wife, Con Law, The Case Against William, The Absence of Guilt, and End of Days (Con Law II)—as well as a children's novel, Parts & Labor: The Adventures of Max Dugan. His books have received critical acclaim around the world. They have been bestsellers in the UK, Ireland, Australia, India, and South Africa and have been translated into fifteen foreign languages. The Perk won a spot in Books to Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels, edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 181 reviews
December 22, 2016
Absolutely loved it!! One of a kind.
The author manages to write a compelling legal thriller but adds a splash of humor that leaves you with several laugh out loud moments.
William Tucker, the highest ranked college quarterback in the country, is arrested for rape and murder of a college cheerleader, and his one phone call is to his father. At one time his father, Frank Tucker, was the top trial attorney in Houston. Unfortunately Frank had a fall from grace and is now suspended from the bar and living day by day. Frank needs to pull himself out of the gutter and with the help of his motley crew of misfit friends, attempts to do whatever he can to prove his son's innocence. Humor is dispersed throughput as Frank's 'so called’ defense team searches for the truth.
The story flashes to the past, to the rise and stardom of William as a promising top draft pick in the NFL and the fall of his father Frank from the legal profession.
It is timely in its mention of other athletes that have recently been in the news with legal troubles. The book deals with how society tends to put athletes on a pedestal, and how their lives can quickly spin out of control. Do we look the other way? Do they live by a different set of rules than the rest of us?
Outstanding! Could not put it down.
Highly recommend.
Helps if you love football too!
The author manages to write a compelling legal thriller but adds a splash of humor that leaves you with several laugh out loud moments.
William Tucker, the highest ranked college quarterback in the country, is arrested for rape and murder of a college cheerleader, and his one phone call is to his father. At one time his father, Frank Tucker, was the top trial attorney in Houston. Unfortunately Frank had a fall from grace and is now suspended from the bar and living day by day. Frank needs to pull himself out of the gutter and with the help of his motley crew of misfit friends, attempts to do whatever he can to prove his son's innocence. Humor is dispersed throughput as Frank's 'so called’ defense team searches for the truth.
The story flashes to the past, to the rise and stardom of William as a promising top draft pick in the NFL and the fall of his father Frank from the legal profession.
It is timely in its mention of other athletes that have recently been in the news with legal troubles. The book deals with how society tends to put athletes on a pedestal, and how their lives can quickly spin out of control. Do we look the other way? Do they live by a different set of rules than the rest of us?
Outstanding! Could not put it down.
Highly recommend.
Helps if you love football too!
July 20, 2024
Успях да прочета този роман докрай, въпреки че ми беше пределно ясно, какво ще се случи в него от самото му начало.
Хареса ми единствено как е създаден образът на Уилям, но всичко останало в тази книга е немощно и твърде захаросано за моя вкус.
Все пак, може да научите доста за месомелачката наречена професионален спорт в САЩ и по-конкретно за американския футбол. Зад всеки един боготворен младеж надничат хилядите разрушени животи, на тези които не са успели…
Цитат:
"В момента имаме едно цяло поколение от шибани самовлюбени глупаци. Те са такива, защото майките им са им казали, че са специални."
Не ми допада как пише този автор - силно ми напомня на франчайза с книгите на Гришам. 🤷🏻♂️
Хареса ми единствено как е създаден образът на Уилям, но всичко останало в тази книга е немощно и твърде захаросано за моя вкус.
Все пак, може да научите доста за месомелачката наречена професионален спорт в САЩ и по-конкретно за американския футбол. Зад всеки един боготворен младеж надничат хилядите разрушени животи, на тези които не са успели…
Цитат:
"В момента имаме едно цяло поколение от шибани самовлюбени глупаци. Те са такива, защото майките им са им казали, че са специални."
Не ми допада как пише този автор - силно ми напомня на франчайза с книгите на Гришам. 🤷🏻♂️
Read
October 16, 2015Couldn't finish this one. It might have gotten better but for me, there was too much American football lingo that I didn't understand or care about.
July 28, 2014
I have to say I am a little disappointed in this book. This is certainly not one of Mark Gimenez's better works. Don't get me wrong, the book is not bad. I found several parts that dragged and parts that kept me turning the page. The whole idea of centering the story around a football player was interesting. In our society, sports stars make the headlines on a variety of crimes they have allegedly committed. In some cases, those allegations are nothing but lies. Such as the Duke Lacrosse team accusation of rape.
Let me get back on point with the book. The whole idea of the Dad and his team of drunks, investigating the case, was a reach for me. The ending was very abrupt and again hard to believe that one moment the main character is in front of the judge about to plead guilty to a crime he didn't commit and the next moment he is on the beach, a free man. What happened in between? The ending was incomplete. There is no mention what happened to the son. Did he go into the NFL? Did the father every clean up his act or are we suppose to believe his new love accepted him as a drunk. Hard to believe. There is very little court room drama and I wouldn't consider this a thriller. It was predictable.
From what I said above, it does sound like I am really hammering this book. Certain parts, yes. However the story did keep me wanting to know what happened next.
Let me get back on point with the book. The whole idea of the Dad and his team of drunks, investigating the case, was a reach for me. The ending was very abrupt and again hard to believe that one moment the main character is in front of the judge about to plead guilty to a crime he didn't commit and the next moment he is on the beach, a free man. What happened in between? The ending was incomplete. There is no mention what happened to the son. Did he go into the NFL? Did the father every clean up his act or are we suppose to believe his new love accepted him as a drunk. Hard to believe. There is very little court room drama and I wouldn't consider this a thriller. It was predictable.
From what I said above, it does sound like I am really hammering this book. Certain parts, yes. However the story did keep me wanting to know what happened next.
May 3, 2014
Most of this book is about the the popular cult of American Football and the immense impact on male youths who excel in the sport. As an Aussie I am not familiar with American Football, just as most Americans are not familiar with Cricket, so a lot of this book went over my head and hindered my understanding and enjoyment of this book.
At an early age it is clear that William Tucker has the athletic skills to excel on the football field. His father, Frank, then a successful defence lawyer, is persuaded by an eminent football coach to move his son from a top academic private school to a tough integrated public school to allow him to fully develop his footballing skills and have a chance of a college football scholarship and then at earning megabucks if he is selected to play for one of the top AFL teams.
While this sounds wonderful, William changes from a normal teenager into an over-muscled selfish prima donna who expects everything in the world, especially from the myriad of female football groupies who will do anything to please him. William is on the cusp of being selected for a star AFL career when, without warning, he is arrested for the rape and murder of a cheerleader two years earlier. The evidence is damning with a DNA match to blood on the body.
Frank's life meanwhile has gone downhill badly, impacted by his marriage breakdown and a case where his client had lied big time. He has become an alcoholic and has lost his licence to practice law. William is totally overconfident until he realises that he is only one step away from a death sentence, has no money and no one to help him. Will he let his father help him to avoid the death penalty?
What follows is a struggle for Frank to recover enough to help save his son's life, if his son will allow him to do so. The case is also an opportunity for a politically ambitious District Attorney to pay back a grudge he has had for years because Frank has usurped many of his prosecutions. Frank is supported by a fascinating, almost Camel Club, team of alcoholic friends, an ex-cop, and ex-football coach, and and ex-conman, supported by a court appointed female public defender who used to be a stripper.
Frank's battle to save William is an intense emotional challenge of a basically very good but sensitive man who has gone off the rails to save his son who has also gone off the rails.
Mark Gimenez is one of my favourite authors of legal thrillers, especially as he nearly always takes a shot at some aspects of life in the US - this time the cult of American football and elected judicial and legal officials. While I enjoyed some of the book it was not one of his best and my lack of knowledge of the American football system prevented me from really appreciating this book.
At an early age it is clear that William Tucker has the athletic skills to excel on the football field. His father, Frank, then a successful defence lawyer, is persuaded by an eminent football coach to move his son from a top academic private school to a tough integrated public school to allow him to fully develop his footballing skills and have a chance of a college football scholarship and then at earning megabucks if he is selected to play for one of the top AFL teams.
While this sounds wonderful, William changes from a normal teenager into an over-muscled selfish prima donna who expects everything in the world, especially from the myriad of female football groupies who will do anything to please him. William is on the cusp of being selected for a star AFL career when, without warning, he is arrested for the rape and murder of a cheerleader two years earlier. The evidence is damning with a DNA match to blood on the body.
Frank's life meanwhile has gone downhill badly, impacted by his marriage breakdown and a case where his client had lied big time. He has become an alcoholic and has lost his licence to practice law. William is totally overconfident until he realises that he is only one step away from a death sentence, has no money and no one to help him. Will he let his father help him to avoid the death penalty?
What follows is a struggle for Frank to recover enough to help save his son's life, if his son will allow him to do so. The case is also an opportunity for a politically ambitious District Attorney to pay back a grudge he has had for years because Frank has usurped many of his prosecutions. Frank is supported by a fascinating, almost Camel Club, team of alcoholic friends, an ex-cop, and ex-football coach, and and ex-conman, supported by a court appointed female public defender who used to be a stripper.
Frank's battle to save William is an intense emotional challenge of a basically very good but sensitive man who has gone off the rails to save his son who has also gone off the rails.
Mark Gimenez is one of my favourite authors of legal thrillers, especially as he nearly always takes a shot at some aspects of life in the US - this time the cult of American football and elected judicial and legal officials. While I enjoyed some of the book it was not one of his best and my lack of knowledge of the American football system prevented me from really appreciating this book.
March 3, 2016
I enjoyed this book and is really 3 1/2 or even a 4. Good story, well written with a good cast of characters. A little bit predictable at times. My main negative about it was the pacing, you know when you know something is going to happen it seemed to be dragged out to the absolute maximum. It is good though, and that's why I was torn over the rating. It tackles issues of American Football on young people in America from the soon to be superstar and the pressures that brings to not only the young person but the whole family. It also takes on alcoholism, rape and the insider dealings of the court system. Mark Gimenez is a very good author and he did keep me turning those pages.
July 25, 2015
Another really good legal thriller from Mark Gimenez.
I did think half way through the book that I might be looking at a five star rating but for me the ending slightly let the rest of the book down. But only slightly, it was still an excellent read and I very rarely let down by this author. He is always been compared to John Grisham but it's about time people judged him by his own standards and they are very high.
I did think half way through the book that I might be looking at a five star rating but for me the ending slightly let the rest of the book down. But only slightly, it was still an excellent read and I very rarely let down by this author. He is always been compared to John Grisham but it's about time people judged him by his own standards and they are very high.
August 30, 2018
Really enjoyed this book
I have read this author some years ago and enjoyed his books. This one was good too. Not hard to read. Kind of predictable in some ways but I still really liked it.
I have read this author some years ago and enjoyed his books. This one was good too. Not hard to read. Kind of predictable in some ways but I still really liked it.
August 15, 2018
Me parece que es la primera vez que leo un thriller legal. Hasta el momento no me había adentrado a la mente de un abogado y mucho menos alcohólico.
No se encuentra el libro en español aquí en Goodreads así que tuve que agregar la versión en inglés.
El caso contra William(traducido así al español), nos cuenta la historia de Frank un abogado penal. Es el mejor de Texas, es muy bueno y lo mejor de todo es que solo defiende a gente que ha sido injustamente incriminada; mejor dicho, solo trabaja para gente inocente.
Frank tiene una familia un tanto disfuncional pero, que aparentemente, es la familia más feliz del mundo; a su esposa solo le interesa vivir cómodamente, su hija, la mayor, es toda una cerebrito y es porrista y tenemos a William, el pequeño de la familia, es un chico estrella, es demasiado bueno en el futbol americano. El mejor.
A lo largo de las páginas conocemos a William desde que tenía diez o doce años, no recuerdo. Vemos cómo su habilidad por el deporte lo cambia por completo. Se vuelve arrogante, narcisista y cree que es una persona especial pero es solo un chico con suerte. Frank y William se separan por el terrible problema que su padre tiene con el alcohol, para desgracia de Frank le quitan la licencia de abogado y pierde todo su dinero.
Lo peor está por pasar cuando William es acusado de asesinato y violación. Frank es el único que cree que su hijo es inocente, por lo tanto debe pelear contra la ley y su problema de alcohol.
El libro me ha gustado pero me costó mucho adentrarme a la historia, quería darme por vencida porque las primeras páginas habla del futbol americano y la verdad a mí no me gusta ese deporte, por lo cual me aburría horrores. Y entonces la parte de conocer a Frank y su familia fue igualmente tediosa pero entre más conocía a William más me interesaba la historia. Son 150 páginas del pasada de Frank, de ahí en adelante todo es sobre el presente.
Ha sido un libro entretenido. Con un final esperado y con unos personajes ocurrentes y William me recordó a esos personajes de películas americanas donde el chico cree que lo tiene todo, es muy interesante ver cómo cae y demás.
No se encuentra el libro en español aquí en Goodreads así que tuve que agregar la versión en inglés.
El caso contra William(traducido así al español), nos cuenta la historia de Frank un abogado penal. Es el mejor de Texas, es muy bueno y lo mejor de todo es que solo defiende a gente que ha sido injustamente incriminada; mejor dicho, solo trabaja para gente inocente.
Frank tiene una familia un tanto disfuncional pero, que aparentemente, es la familia más feliz del mundo; a su esposa solo le interesa vivir cómodamente, su hija, la mayor, es toda una cerebrito y es porrista y tenemos a William, el pequeño de la familia, es un chico estrella, es demasiado bueno en el futbol americano. El mejor.
A lo largo de las páginas conocemos a William desde que tenía diez o doce años, no recuerdo. Vemos cómo su habilidad por el deporte lo cambia por completo. Se vuelve arrogante, narcisista y cree que es una persona especial pero es solo un chico con suerte. Frank y William se separan por el terrible problema que su padre tiene con el alcohol, para desgracia de Frank le quitan la licencia de abogado y pierde todo su dinero.
Lo peor está por pasar cuando William es acusado de asesinato y violación. Frank es el único que cree que su hijo es inocente, por lo tanto debe pelear contra la ley y su problema de alcohol.
El libro me ha gustado pero me costó mucho adentrarme a la historia, quería darme por vencida porque las primeras páginas habla del futbol americano y la verdad a mí no me gusta ese deporte, por lo cual me aburría horrores. Y entonces la parte de conocer a Frank y su familia fue igualmente tediosa pero entre más conocía a William más me interesaba la historia. Son 150 páginas del pasada de Frank, de ahí en adelante todo es sobre el presente.
Ha sido un libro entretenido. Con un final esperado y con unos personajes ocurrentes y William me recordó a esos personajes de películas americanas donde el chico cree que lo tiene todo, es muy interesante ver cómo cae y demás.
November 26, 2016
One chapter into this book and I knew this author’s writing is in a different league. The dialogue is smart, the plotting practised and his story-telling ability flows with a natural ease.
The book is about William, a football prodigy, senior quarterback for the Texas Longhorns, so there’s an excess of football talk, most of which flew over my head. More to the point is the negative effect of fame and success on this young man – the girls, the media spotlight, the privileges.
The book is also about paternal love. When William is arrested for the rape and murder of a girl his father, Frank, a drunken ex-lawyer and beach bum, manages to drag himself out of his life of degradation to save William from a Texas death sentence when all the evidence is stacked against him.
Frank becomes the hero, a good, sensitive man broken down by a corrupt legal system. I felt for him as he made a comeback from alcoholism and self-doubt, laughed at the dialogue he shared with his equally socially-unacceptable but eccentric group of friends and enjoyed the blossoming romance between himself and Billy Jean, an ex-stripper turned attorney.
My only negative comment is that the ending seemed slightly rushed. I'm off to search for another of Gimenez’s books. I rate this one 4.5.
The book is about William, a football prodigy, senior quarterback for the Texas Longhorns, so there’s an excess of football talk, most of which flew over my head. More to the point is the negative effect of fame and success on this young man – the girls, the media spotlight, the privileges.
The book is also about paternal love. When William is arrested for the rape and murder of a girl his father, Frank, a drunken ex-lawyer and beach bum, manages to drag himself out of his life of degradation to save William from a Texas death sentence when all the evidence is stacked against him.
Frank becomes the hero, a good, sensitive man broken down by a corrupt legal system. I felt for him as he made a comeback from alcoholism and self-doubt, laughed at the dialogue he shared with his equally socially-unacceptable but eccentric group of friends and enjoyed the blossoming romance between himself and Billy Jean, an ex-stripper turned attorney.
My only negative comment is that the ending seemed slightly rushed. I'm off to search for another of Gimenez’s books. I rate this one 4.5.
October 1, 2017
This is the first book that i read from Mark Gimenez and I'm impressed. The story, the characters, everything was so well written and once I start reading i was not able to stop until the book was over.
I'm disappointed only from the first chapter (too much football terms) and from the fast ending. I think if the author added 1 or 2 chapters more it would've been better.
I rate it 4, could have been 5.
I'm disappointed only from the first chapter (too much football terms) and from the fast ending. I think if the author added 1 or 2 chapters more it would've been better.
I rate it 4, could have been 5.
November 11, 2015
Oversimplified.
That's the main adjective that comes to me when thinking of this book. The characters were unimaginative stereotypes, occasionally bordering on racially insensitive. The dialogue was often clumsy and unrealistic, the plot line fairly well telegraphed from the early going.
And while I appreciate that this book had a point of view, its existence is little less impressive when you're constantly beaten over the head with it. Characters, events and dialog frequently seemed boiled down to extremes to advance the theme, to the point of bludgeoning it to death. "We get it," I kept wanting to say, "we get it!"
The ideas in The Case Against William are fine, but the execution is severely flawed. In a genre full of gems, this book is a rock, in desperate need of polishing. It's not the worst book I've ever read, but it's the worst book I've read lately.
Two Stars. (because at least it had something to say)
That's the main adjective that comes to me when thinking of this book. The characters were unimaginative stereotypes, occasionally bordering on racially insensitive. The dialogue was often clumsy and unrealistic, the plot line fairly well telegraphed from the early going.
And while I appreciate that this book had a point of view, its existence is little less impressive when you're constantly beaten over the head with it. Characters, events and dialog frequently seemed boiled down to extremes to advance the theme, to the point of bludgeoning it to death. "We get it," I kept wanting to say, "we get it!"
The ideas in The Case Against William are fine, but the execution is severely flawed. In a genre full of gems, this book is a rock, in desperate need of polishing. It's not the worst book I've ever read, but it's the worst book I've read lately.
Two Stars. (because at least it had something to say)
September 24, 2018
I was unimpressed by this book. Yes, there are tons of gridiron football references and although I have no interest in the sport, I don't mind the context and it's not as if we're struggling to grasp "Integral Calculus Applied to Thermodynamics" here, so any unfamiliar game jargon can be safely ignored if the reader does not feel up to the task of interpreting it. As a comparison; I am not merely uninterested in horse racing, I dislike the entire culture surrounding horse racing - yet I can enjoy any Dick Frances novel, even though horse racing is the central theme in every one of his many books that I've read - because he knows how to write a good story.
The Case Against William relies on worn-out tropes and is just too exaggerated for the themes of lawyering, envy, family bonds, friendship, loyalty and stardom that it tries to deal with and the dramatisation is so artificial as to be ludicrous. However, the extents to which the author reaches are enough to keep me reading in something like amazement ...
The chief protagonist of the story is the derelict father (Frank) of accused football star, William. Introduced to us as an invincible lawyer who has never lost a case because he chooses to defend innocent people only, Frank becomes comprehensively traumatised by a crime that he "feels responsible for" because ... a client lied to him! It seems that the author is oblivious that the goal of a lawyer, even a "super ethical" one like our man here, is to argue-for-hire, as if he were the accused, except that as defendant by proxy, he also possesses, or has experienced access to, a vast knowledge-base of case law. So, when he obtains a favourable verdict for a client, then he has done the best job that he can do. Well done, case closed - literally!
Instead, since the innocent-sounding client, that Frank had defended successfully, had deceived him, thus going free to later murder his own fiancé (who perjured herself to provide his alibi after his first murder), Frank mentally collapses, blaming himself for the death of the murderer's fiancé, subsequently wimping out to plunge into alcoholic oblivion, consequently losing the proverbial "everything", including his home, his license to practice as well as his son's affection and respect.
Two exceptions to his utter downfall and disgrace are the ongoing loyalties of his dog and his faithful daughter, the only one in the family with a reliable brain. Even his ex-wife, a diligently gold-digging, ex-beauty queen, has long since moved on from this ex-millionaire ex-star ex-lawyer to a much older billionaire. Accordingly, the plot requires this poor sap to lose his billions, thus preventing Mom from being able to afford bail for her celebrity son - and equally thus: keeping Frank in the picture. Frank funds his drinking habit by dispensing advice to lawyers who charitably consult him for a hundred bucks a time, at appropriate intervals, at his haunt on the beach where he lives in a cottage with his dog. An example of these consultations shows them to be pathetically meagre events.
Then there is the accused, William, whom I prefer to call Superstud, due to the unbroken stream of cheerleaders and other groupies in micro skirts, vying for his unprotected sexual favours (a plot requirement) - aforementioned stream having steadily developed from the moment he entered puberty. Heck, even his male fans have been doing Superstud's household chores, since he was a young teen, washing dad's car and mowing dad's grass, as part and parcel of worshipping their football star. We are expected to believe that his manifestly awesome skills as the best amateur quarterback in his world make the difference between his team either winning repeatedly or failing to score a single point in an entire game! Yes, this applies to any team he plays for, once he leaves his posh-but-nerdy private school to enter public school, as advised by a knowledgeable AFL talent scout. At every mention of Superstud, the author pounds on our thick skulls with an example of the depths of the boy's vanity and how disconnected he is from reality by his fame and status.
Now in his early twenties, Superstud gets arrested after the DNA in traces of blood found two years previously, on a raped and strangled cheerleader, is finally identified as his. To up the ante, the prosecutor is a Really Bad Guy - because he resents Frank's previous success and remains envious of Frank having married a beauty queen, to the mediocre prosecutor's imagined loss - so he wants the death penalty for Frank's son. Yep, that all sounds legit!
Circumstances could do with a bit more pressure though - and consequently, the judge who will hear the case will probably sink Superstud because his honour's approaching re-election to the bench requires exactly that kind of attitude. Just to light the fuse on this bomb, bail is dialed up to "This is nuts!", making it unaffordable to anyone who might be cajoled into financing it (here, we're looking straight at Mommy's now ex-billionaire husband, whose financial status has been swiftly and radically adjusted downwards by his oil interests).
But all of this is still not sufficient fuel for a gripping thriller. Shortly, a basic tool favoured by "old women of both sexes" who crank out murder fiction, that rusty but trusty old malaise called Amnesia, is roped in because ... this is what the laziest of writers rely on as a plot device. Our poor, suspect-rapist suffered a concussion on the day of the crime, which, while preventing him from remembering the day's events, still allowed him to finish the game and then party into that particular night, providing witnesses and video footage of him groping the then-amorous victim intimately.
Obviously feeling that the story still lacks a certain "je ne sais quoi", the author makes an attempt to provide humour in the form of a "legal team" to support Frank's efforts to get his son vindicated. We meet a motley trio of fellow drunks with oh-so-conveniently apt credentials; Frank's poker buddies (their poker currency is, appropriately, sand dollars dug up from the beach they frequent) comprise an ex-cop, an ex-coach (football, obviously) and an ex-con-dope-smoking-fraudster. These "investigators" remain oblivious to any obvious evidence or event until it becomes imperative that said items be identified at the eleventh hour. Their antics and dialogue are intended to be funny - and the author clearly feels that his literary jokes bear repetition.
But where is the mandatory love interest? Where is the romance in this legal thriller?
I'm glad you asked.
Enter Billy Jean Crawford, the mature and lovely, court-appointed (thus, at no cost) Public Defender who joins Frank's impoverished team. So how does Frank retain his relevance and authority? Easy - because this is Billy Jean's FIRST case! She is sexy, superbly toned and she's a darling because she has just passed the bar exam at forty, after leaving her career as a stripper. In her proximity to this collection of four boozy old geezers, she quickly becomes attracted to daddy Frank and it's not that long before they're participating in, uh, "joint sessions of congress".
** SPOILERS AHEAD*** (Skip to End of Spoilers, if desired)
Now begins a headlong rush and the end is nigh, signalled by the author clumsily swinging some large, glaring spotlights onto the real rapist, a literally "dirty, stinkin', redneck on steroids" on the football team. Limited to the single redeeming feature of being a heavily-muscled football player, the cartoonishly bad villain, with even worse personal hygiene, predictably suffers from anger issues and likes the side-effects that the steroids provide in "letting his beast loose".
Now is the time for the bumbling team of drunks and their licensed lawyer to get their act together. Rapidly and expertly, they put two and two together and soon set up a watch "en masse" (no need for working shifts here) on the real culprit. While he is supposedly being watched, said culprit pounces on the team out of nowhere, and the entire gang of good guys gets marched into his house at gunpoint. Here, after a stereotypical review of "the facts of the case", the bad guy admits everything and (surprise!) blows out his own, limited, brains all over the wall. This time, the team are competent enough to record his confession. So everything should be all right from here on - am I right or amiright?
Well ... that would be too easy!
Superstud, still in detention, has been advised by his slick but skeptical newly-hired, currently-a-star, lawyer, to cop a plea, as the lesser of two evils at his looming arraignment. In a cheap, horribly over-used-and-done-to-death climax, the race is on to deliver the proof of his innocence before he utters the fateful confession (we are reminded that since the deal is with the prosecutor and not with the judge, the judge can - and probably will - still send him to trial, but now with a confession - and anyway, the football world will know that he really "dunnit", so his career is over!)
So, hot-ex-stripper-turned-public-defender is tasked to get the rapist's confession to court before Superstud makes a false confession. Superstud, in a last-minute epiphany, realises that he has unfairly rejected his loving, well-meaning, "drunken loser" of a dad and decides that he deserves to be punished for this as well as for being a world-class jerk and will confess to the crimes accordingly.
The judge is asking him questions now ... and the hot PD lawyer is in heavy traffic ... Frank phones his daughter in the court room, telling her to stall proceedings ... she tries - but is evicted from the courtroom ... apparently Frank can't think of anyone else to phone ... the once-studly William is going through the preamble to his actual confession ... traffic is now at a standstill and the hot lawyer is certainly not going to make it in time ... so, relying on her shapely legs, well muscled from a career of exotic dancing, she sets off on foot, racing through the streets, across traffic, more streets, more traffic, into the court building, through security ... the courtroom is three floors up, so she hits the stairs at speed! Will she make it in time? Wow, what a nail-biting climax. (*Yawn*)
*** END OF SPOILERS ***
Almost everybody in the author's imagination is an exaggerated caricature. After this exhausting effort, the author throws in a few hastily typed sentences to provide an ending that smacks of "I'm fresh out of ideas but hope to sell the movie rights as it stands!"
I rate this book at two out of five stars because I was interested just enough in the horrible writing to finish the book without skipping - as much as I was tempted to skip lots of the idiotic dialogue. The good news is that this is still not the worst book I've ever read from cover to cover.
The Case Against William relies on worn-out tropes and is just too exaggerated for the themes of lawyering, envy, family bonds, friendship, loyalty and stardom that it tries to deal with and the dramatisation is so artificial as to be ludicrous. However, the extents to which the author reaches are enough to keep me reading in something like amazement ...
The chief protagonist of the story is the derelict father (Frank) of accused football star, William. Introduced to us as an invincible lawyer who has never lost a case because he chooses to defend innocent people only, Frank becomes comprehensively traumatised by a crime that he "feels responsible for" because ... a client lied to him! It seems that the author is oblivious that the goal of a lawyer, even a "super ethical" one like our man here, is to argue-for-hire, as if he were the accused, except that as defendant by proxy, he also possesses, or has experienced access to, a vast knowledge-base of case law. So, when he obtains a favourable verdict for a client, then he has done the best job that he can do. Well done, case closed - literally!
Instead, since the innocent-sounding client, that Frank had defended successfully, had deceived him, thus going free to later murder his own fiancé (who perjured herself to provide his alibi after his first murder), Frank mentally collapses, blaming himself for the death of the murderer's fiancé, subsequently wimping out to plunge into alcoholic oblivion, consequently losing the proverbial "everything", including his home, his license to practice as well as his son's affection and respect.
Two exceptions to his utter downfall and disgrace are the ongoing loyalties of his dog and his faithful daughter, the only one in the family with a reliable brain. Even his ex-wife, a diligently gold-digging, ex-beauty queen, has long since moved on from this ex-millionaire ex-star ex-lawyer to a much older billionaire. Accordingly, the plot requires this poor sap to lose his billions, thus preventing Mom from being able to afford bail for her celebrity son - and equally thus: keeping Frank in the picture. Frank funds his drinking habit by dispensing advice to lawyers who charitably consult him for a hundred bucks a time, at appropriate intervals, at his haunt on the beach where he lives in a cottage with his dog. An example of these consultations shows them to be pathetically meagre events.
Then there is the accused, William, whom I prefer to call Superstud, due to the unbroken stream of cheerleaders and other groupies in micro skirts, vying for his unprotected sexual favours (a plot requirement) - aforementioned stream having steadily developed from the moment he entered puberty. Heck, even his male fans have been doing Superstud's household chores, since he was a young teen, washing dad's car and mowing dad's grass, as part and parcel of worshipping their football star. We are expected to believe that his manifestly awesome skills as the best amateur quarterback in his world make the difference between his team either winning repeatedly or failing to score a single point in an entire game! Yes, this applies to any team he plays for, once he leaves his posh-but-nerdy private school to enter public school, as advised by a knowledgeable AFL talent scout. At every mention of Superstud, the author pounds on our thick skulls with an example of the depths of the boy's vanity and how disconnected he is from reality by his fame and status.
Now in his early twenties, Superstud gets arrested after the DNA in traces of blood found two years previously, on a raped and strangled cheerleader, is finally identified as his. To up the ante, the prosecutor is a Really Bad Guy - because he resents Frank's previous success and remains envious of Frank having married a beauty queen, to the mediocre prosecutor's imagined loss - so he wants the death penalty for Frank's son. Yep, that all sounds legit!
Circumstances could do with a bit more pressure though - and consequently, the judge who will hear the case will probably sink Superstud because his honour's approaching re-election to the bench requires exactly that kind of attitude. Just to light the fuse on this bomb, bail is dialed up to "This is nuts!", making it unaffordable to anyone who might be cajoled into financing it (here, we're looking straight at Mommy's now ex-billionaire husband, whose financial status has been swiftly and radically adjusted downwards by his oil interests).
But all of this is still not sufficient fuel for a gripping thriller. Shortly, a basic tool favoured by "old women of both sexes" who crank out murder fiction, that rusty but trusty old malaise called Amnesia, is roped in because ... this is what the laziest of writers rely on as a plot device. Our poor, suspect-rapist suffered a concussion on the day of the crime, which, while preventing him from remembering the day's events, still allowed him to finish the game and then party into that particular night, providing witnesses and video footage of him groping the then-amorous victim intimately.
Obviously feeling that the story still lacks a certain "je ne sais quoi", the author makes an attempt to provide humour in the form of a "legal team" to support Frank's efforts to get his son vindicated. We meet a motley trio of fellow drunks with oh-so-conveniently apt credentials; Frank's poker buddies (their poker currency is, appropriately, sand dollars dug up from the beach they frequent) comprise an ex-cop, an ex-coach (football, obviously) and an ex-con-dope-smoking-fraudster. These "investigators" remain oblivious to any obvious evidence or event until it becomes imperative that said items be identified at the eleventh hour. Their antics and dialogue are intended to be funny - and the author clearly feels that his literary jokes bear repetition.
But where is the mandatory love interest? Where is the romance in this legal thriller?
I'm glad you asked.
Enter Billy Jean Crawford, the mature and lovely, court-appointed (thus, at no cost) Public Defender who joins Frank's impoverished team. So how does Frank retain his relevance and authority? Easy - because this is Billy Jean's FIRST case! She is sexy, superbly toned and she's a darling because she has just passed the bar exam at forty, after leaving her career as a stripper. In her proximity to this collection of four boozy old geezers, she quickly becomes attracted to daddy Frank and it's not that long before they're participating in, uh, "joint sessions of congress".
** SPOILERS AHEAD*** (Skip to End of Spoilers, if desired)
Now begins a headlong rush and the end is nigh, signalled by the author clumsily swinging some large, glaring spotlights onto the real rapist, a literally "dirty, stinkin', redneck on steroids" on the football team. Limited to the single redeeming feature of being a heavily-muscled football player, the cartoonishly bad villain, with even worse personal hygiene, predictably suffers from anger issues and likes the side-effects that the steroids provide in "letting his beast loose".
Now is the time for the bumbling team of drunks and their licensed lawyer to get their act together. Rapidly and expertly, they put two and two together and soon set up a watch "en masse" (no need for working shifts here) on the real culprit. While he is supposedly being watched, said culprit pounces on the team out of nowhere, and the entire gang of good guys gets marched into his house at gunpoint. Here, after a stereotypical review of "the facts of the case", the bad guy admits everything and (surprise!) blows out his own, limited, brains all over the wall. This time, the team are competent enough to record his confession. So everything should be all right from here on - am I right or amiright?
Well ... that would be too easy!
Superstud, still in detention, has been advised by his slick but skeptical newly-hired, currently-a-star, lawyer, to cop a plea, as the lesser of two evils at his looming arraignment. In a cheap, horribly over-used-and-done-to-death climax, the race is on to deliver the proof of his innocence before he utters the fateful confession (we are reminded that since the deal is with the prosecutor and not with the judge, the judge can - and probably will - still send him to trial, but now with a confession - and anyway, the football world will know that he really "dunnit", so his career is over!)
So, hot-ex-stripper-turned-public-defender is tasked to get the rapist's confession to court before Superstud makes a false confession. Superstud, in a last-minute epiphany, realises that he has unfairly rejected his loving, well-meaning, "drunken loser" of a dad and decides that he deserves to be punished for this as well as for being a world-class jerk and will confess to the crimes accordingly.
The judge is asking him questions now ... and the hot PD lawyer is in heavy traffic ... Frank phones his daughter in the court room, telling her to stall proceedings ... she tries - but is evicted from the courtroom ... apparently Frank can't think of anyone else to phone ... the once-studly William is going through the preamble to his actual confession ... traffic is now at a standstill and the hot lawyer is certainly not going to make it in time ... so, relying on her shapely legs, well muscled from a career of exotic dancing, she sets off on foot, racing through the streets, across traffic, more streets, more traffic, into the court building, through security ... the courtroom is three floors up, so she hits the stairs at speed! Will she make it in time? Wow, what a nail-biting climax. (*Yawn*)
*** END OF SPOILERS ***
Almost everybody in the author's imagination is an exaggerated caricature. After this exhausting effort, the author throws in a few hastily typed sentences to provide an ending that smacks of "I'm fresh out of ideas but hope to sell the movie rights as it stands!"
I rate this book at two out of five stars because I was interested just enough in the horrible writing to finish the book without skipping - as much as I was tempted to skip lots of the idiotic dialogue. The good news is that this is still not the worst book I've ever read from cover to cover.
August 16, 2017
This book, whilst not the finest I have ever read by this author was nonetheless a fantastic read. I found myself very emotionally connected to Frank Tucker, father of William (the accused). I really wanted him to reform and was rooting for him constantly throughout the book. It seems as he became weaker, losing his ability to practise law - William became more of a star on the football field.
As the book reached its closing pages, I was totally gripped and the one memorable court scene at the end of the book was outstanding. I actually had tears in my eyes as William's sister stood up in the court to confront the judge and legal teams in order to buy some time.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of legal thrillers. However the story is slightly far fetched and it does end rather abruptly.
As the book reached its closing pages, I was totally gripped and the one memorable court scene at the end of the book was outstanding. I actually had tears in my eyes as William's sister stood up in the court to confront the judge and legal teams in order to buy some time.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of legal thrillers. However the story is slightly far fetched and it does end rather abruptly.
June 14, 2014
I haven't read a book by Mark Gimenez that I didn't love.
This was a great read and just kept you turning pages.
This one is about William Tucker. He grows up with a loving father - Frank and a self-centered Mother. Frank is a well known lawyer who only takes cases for clients that are innocent..He prides hisself on this fact. William is in his teenage years and is already showing promise of being a best quarterback ever! When a scout contacts Frank and tells him that William must transfer to another school, begin training for the his football career - Frank is hesitant, but gives into William and starts him on his way.
Frank takes a case for a client that he feels is not guilty and gets him off. When he later finds out this client was guilty, it throws Frank into a spin and he loses everything by drinking.
Meanwhile William is now in College and the star. But he forgets his family values and grows to hate his drunk father. But times are not all good for the great William - he has everything he wants, all the women, money, and everyone worshiping him until - he is arrested for the rape and murder of a cheerleader.
Franks wife ultimately left him (all she ever wanted him for was the money) for another man. When William contacts his father to help him and get in touch with his mother to get him out of jail (5 million dollars for bail), they find out his Mother and her new husband are broke.
William has no alternative but to ask his father for help.. But Frank has to get sober first..
I loved the characters that Frank gets for his "legal team" and I think you will love the public defender - that falls in love with Frank.
What a great book. Not to be missed..can't wait for the next one.
This was a great read and just kept you turning pages.
This one is about William Tucker. He grows up with a loving father - Frank and a self-centered Mother. Frank is a well known lawyer who only takes cases for clients that are innocent..He prides hisself on this fact. William is in his teenage years and is already showing promise of being a best quarterback ever! When a scout contacts Frank and tells him that William must transfer to another school, begin training for the his football career - Frank is hesitant, but gives into William and starts him on his way.
Frank takes a case for a client that he feels is not guilty and gets him off. When he later finds out this client was guilty, it throws Frank into a spin and he loses everything by drinking.
Meanwhile William is now in College and the star. But he forgets his family values and grows to hate his drunk father. But times are not all good for the great William - he has everything he wants, all the women, money, and everyone worshiping him until - he is arrested for the rape and murder of a cheerleader.
Franks wife ultimately left him (all she ever wanted him for was the money) for another man. When William contacts his father to help him and get in touch with his mother to get him out of jail (5 million dollars for bail), they find out his Mother and her new husband are broke.
William has no alternative but to ask his father for help.. But Frank has to get sober first..
I loved the characters that Frank gets for his "legal team" and I think you will love the public defender - that falls in love with Frank.
What a great book. Not to be missed..can't wait for the next one.
April 16, 2017
A real page Turner. I love this author. William Tucker is a self centeredness star college football player. He is charged with the rape and murder of a college cord two years prior. His father was a top criminal defence attorney who only defended the innocent but after a case he tried believing in the innocence of the defendant only to find out he was guilty sent him on a guilt trip destroying his perfect family life. When his son is arrested he believes in his I innocence and fights to save his son from the death penalty. This is also his saving grace. Can a father's love for his son accused of murder save him from death? You will have to read to find out
August 5, 2015
I've deleted this 11% in as for me he may as well be writing in Swahili. All he talks about is American Football and almost every paragraph refers to it. I have glazed over and switched off. A shame as the story sounded promising but I can't be wading through that lot !!
I give you "in order to comply with Title Nine" and "He should've audibled into a hot route". It means nothing and I've absolutely zero interest in American Football and even less now after trying to wade through this.
However, I gave it an extra star because I hadn't happened across one mistake by the time I deleted it which is good news.
I give you "in order to comply with Title Nine" and "He should've audibled into a hot route". It means nothing and I've absolutely zero interest in American Football and even less now after trying to wade through this.
However, I gave it an extra star because I hadn't happened across one mistake by the time I deleted it which is good news.
June 6, 2016
William oh William
Enjoy ed this book because it started out with a typical boy, and a typical father relationship. Then it became something that could realistically change too. There were lots of roads the story/relationship could have gone, but the one the author choose made for a great story. I think most fathers would do about anything for their son, especially when the relationship has been a close one all the formative years of the child's life. I also think William's character was quite realistic, especially in this last jail scene when he is on the floor crying and talking to the guy in the next cell. Best written part of the book. Enjoyable read.
Enjoy ed this book because it started out with a typical boy, and a typical father relationship. Then it became something that could realistically change too. There were lots of roads the story/relationship could have gone, but the one the author choose made for a great story. I think most fathers would do about anything for their son, especially when the relationship has been a close one all the formative years of the child's life. I also think William's character was quite realistic, especially in this last jail scene when he is on the floor crying and talking to the guy in the next cell. Best written part of the book. Enjoyable read.
October 22, 2017
I'm unsure of why this book showed up on my Kindle without my having ordered it. I'm also unsure why I continued to read the book to the end after slogging through chapter after chapter about a dysfunctional and depressing family, foul language, alcoholism, and promiscuity beyond belief. On the bright side, there were some redeeming moments. And it was interesting to get a peek into the lives of football players and coaches (if all of this can be believed). Finally, I enjoyed the ways the author kept us guessing about "who done it." However, I cannot recommend this book.
December 18, 2016
This is the second book I've read by this author and I agree with the critics who say Gimenez has extraordinary ability as a writer. This story has a chilling plot and brings to mind the current publicity about football induced dementia and other brain anomalies. When College football star quarterback, William Tucker, is accused of the violent rape and murder of a cheerleader, what lengths will his lawyer father go to to prove his innocence.
May 9, 2017
Schmaltz , b grade , like Hollywood fodder . The ending was similar to the Graduate movie for cheap countdown excitement! Annoying football jargon and the meatheads that play it .
Along with I am a king of the universe attitude made this book a mediocre read .
Note to author what happened to William 's mum roaming Europe with a broke oil entrepreneur while her son was on death row ?
But it was all about daddy? On par with daytime TV
Along with I am a king of the universe attitude made this book a mediocre read .
Note to author what happened to William 's mum roaming Europe with a broke oil entrepreneur while her son was on death row ?
But it was all about daddy? On par with daytime TV
October 7, 2024
What a heartwarming story! I loved the storyline and every character in the story, although certain scenes seemed dramatic but still tolerable for me. The only thing that I wasn't interested and have no understanding is American football, but I understand that it was necessary for the story.
The Case Against William by Mark Gimenez.
The Case Against William by Mark Gimenez.
June 22, 2015
I was mostly disappointed by this book. The writing was mediocre, and the characters two dimensional. The bones were good, and some of the characters have potential, but it never really came together for me. A lot of reviews I read compare the author to John Grisham, and many think he's better. I'm not one of them.
July 6, 2015
Slow But Good
Not sure any of the characters were likable and a lot of the football descriptions felt off topic. I know football, but if you don't those passages are exhausting. But the last half of the book was exciting and engaging and almost made up for slow start.
Not sure any of the characters were likable and a lot of the football descriptions felt off topic. I know football, but if you don't those passages are exhausting. But the last half of the book was exciting and engaging and almost made up for slow start.
January 15, 2018
DNF way too much football talk-too boring and did not hold my attention.
April 25, 2020
Gimenez nailed the sport celebrity narcissistic personality disorder. But OMG, William was a self-entitled little jerk from his first appearance in the book at age 8. He was the classic arrogant asshole who was always allowed to get away with any and all misbehavior because he had incredible athletic ability. As extreme as he was, particularly in Texas, it was completely believable that he would have been given a pass on all level of misconduct, both personal and criminal. But as believable as William's sociopathy was, it did get to the point that I was pulling for him to be convicted and sentenced to death (and I oppose the death penalty!).
Fortunately, William's redemption was the point of the novel. It wasn't about saving him; it was about saving Frank. And therein lies the bigger problem with the book. I appreciate that Frank had made a career decision to never represent guilty defendants. But it is completely unrealistic. No criminal defense attorney is going to have much of a career if he insists on representing exclusively innocent clients. Given the Texas prosecution tendency to overcharge defendants in order to compel plea bargains, it's certainly possible to restrict your practice to those defendants who aren't guilty of the crime they're charged with. But innocent? That's a fast track to bankruptcy, not to River Oaks.
So I appreciate that Frank's successful representation of a defendant who convinced him that he was innocent, winning an acquittal for a self-entitled collegiate athlete who not only turned out to be guilty of that crime but then committed another crime at least as horrible sent him into a tailspin. It would have been perfectly understandable, under those circumstances, for him to question his career path. But to completely collapse into a literal drunken beach bum didn't strike me as believable.
And I thought the book was seriously weakened by having William's case near-identical to the case that had precipitated Frank's downfall.
So given so many things about this book that I thought strained credulity or were overdone, how did I manage to find a reason to give it three stars? For one, I really like Gimenez's writing style. But far more important, as in the author's Scott Fenney series, Gimenez populated this novel with fabulous peripheral characters, all of whom combined to give me a reason to root for Frank's team to exonerate William.
Fortunately, William's redemption was the point of the novel. It wasn't about saving him; it was about saving Frank. And therein lies the bigger problem with the book. I appreciate that Frank had made a career decision to never represent guilty defendants. But it is completely unrealistic. No criminal defense attorney is going to have much of a career if he insists on representing exclusively innocent clients. Given the Texas prosecution tendency to overcharge defendants in order to compel plea bargains, it's certainly possible to restrict your practice to those defendants who aren't guilty of the crime they're charged with. But innocent? That's a fast track to bankruptcy, not to River Oaks.
So I appreciate that Frank's successful representation of a defendant who convinced him that he was innocent, winning an acquittal for a self-entitled collegiate athlete who not only turned out to be guilty of that crime but then committed another crime at least as horrible sent him into a tailspin. It would have been perfectly understandable, under those circumstances, for him to question his career path. But to completely collapse into a literal drunken beach bum didn't strike me as believable.
And I thought the book was seriously weakened by having William's case near-identical to the case that had precipitated Frank's downfall.
So given so many things about this book that I thought strained credulity or were overdone, how did I manage to find a reason to give it three stars? For one, I really like Gimenez's writing style. But far more important, as in the author's Scott Fenney series, Gimenez populated this novel with fabulous peripheral characters, all of whom combined to give me a reason to root for Frank's team to exonerate William.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2022
This book reminded me a little bit of Playing for Pizza by John Grisham if for no other reason than it is about football. Also, Gimenez could have been Grisham's understudy as far as writing legal thrillers.
Frank Tucker is a criminal defense attorney. He is very selective about his clients, only taking those that he believes are innocent, and mostly white collar crime. That is until he represents a football player who, as it turns out, was actually guilty. This sends him in a downward spiral, losing the family he loves, the high profile clients, money, and his career.
A few years later, his own son William, Heisman trophy winner, football god, and the most entitled player you're ever likely to come across, is accused of rape and murder. He wants nothing to do with his father, regardless of the fact that his father could help him, and is assigned a public defender. But Frank and his fellow losers who have been living near the beach in Rockport won't take no for an answer and begin to unravel all of the clues leading to the real killer. Frank's believe in his son's innocence never wavers.
One thing I love about Mark Gimenez is he is a Texas man, born and raised, and his books are set in familiar places such as Austin, Lubbock, and Rockport in this case, but also Galveston, Houston, and Dallas. They are authentic. Football is a big deal in Texas and an outsider might not realize that "Friday Night Lights" is an actual phenomenon in much of the state. The settings make his books relatable for me.
Gimenez is also a writer who creates multi-layered, flawed characters, most of whom are good people, with the exception of William the Entitled in this book. But he had to create a somewhat unlikable character in William to move the plot forward and create change in the characters. They are not one-dimensional.
The outcome was a little far-fetched but fun nonetheless. If you like Grisham, I think you'll like Gimenez, and if you like Texas and football, you're sure to enjoy this book.
Frank Tucker is a criminal defense attorney. He is very selective about his clients, only taking those that he believes are innocent, and mostly white collar crime. That is until he represents a football player who, as it turns out, was actually guilty. This sends him in a downward spiral, losing the family he loves, the high profile clients, money, and his career.
A few years later, his own son William, Heisman trophy winner, football god, and the most entitled player you're ever likely to come across, is accused of rape and murder. He wants nothing to do with his father, regardless of the fact that his father could help him, and is assigned a public defender. But Frank and his fellow losers who have been living near the beach in Rockport won't take no for an answer and begin to unravel all of the clues leading to the real killer. Frank's believe in his son's innocence never wavers.
One thing I love about Mark Gimenez is he is a Texas man, born and raised, and his books are set in familiar places such as Austin, Lubbock, and Rockport in this case, but also Galveston, Houston, and Dallas. They are authentic. Football is a big deal in Texas and an outsider might not realize that "Friday Night Lights" is an actual phenomenon in much of the state. The settings make his books relatable for me.
Gimenez is also a writer who creates multi-layered, flawed characters, most of whom are good people, with the exception of William the Entitled in this book. But he had to create a somewhat unlikable character in William to move the plot forward and create change in the characters. They are not one-dimensional.
The outcome was a little far-fetched but fun nonetheless. If you like Grisham, I think you'll like Gimenez, and if you like Texas and football, you're sure to enjoy this book.
September 16, 2017
I've read other books by this author that I have liked more. There are two things about this book that prevented me from really enjoying it. Firstly, I know almost nothing about American football and do not find it interesting. Secondly, this book was too predictable, too lacking in credibility to really enjoy. The conversion of William from jerk to nice guy just didn't ring true. Frank's remorse (leading to self-destructive behaviour) is hard to believe when the victim he feels such guilty over, was herself largely responsible for her killer's escape from justice the first time he killed. She lied for him under oath. Why then, should the lawyer who defended him in good faith feel such guilt that he sets out on a path that will destroy his career and family? Unbelievable! The last minute race to save William in the court was also rather ridiculous and an obvious attempt to instill an element of tension in the story, but the readers all knew that William would be saved. Then there were several elements to the story that were left hanging. What happened to Frank's first wife? What happened to the DA who was his enemy? The judge who was hoping for re-election? So unsatisfactory!
October 19, 2021
A legal thriller but it's more about American football and super players, the facts very informative at times.
The book traces William tucker from the age of 12 as he progresses up in football, the fame, arrogance and success making him one with a big ego.
On the other side is his father, star criminal defence lawyer, Frank, very ethical and competent. While his son rises, Frank falls down the fame ladder, losing his legal license and becoming an alcoholic.
William is accused of the rape and murder of a cheerleader after a game with evidence against him. His estranged father works hard to get his acquittal.
It's a good read but the ending is too abrupt and unreal. The book has lot of humour, interpersonal relationships,. information about court politics. Another interesting book by Mark Gimenez.
The book traces William tucker from the age of 12 as he progresses up in football, the fame, arrogance and success making him one with a big ego.
On the other side is his father, star criminal defence lawyer, Frank, very ethical and competent. While his son rises, Frank falls down the fame ladder, losing his legal license and becoming an alcoholic.
William is accused of the rape and murder of a cheerleader after a game with evidence against him. His estranged father works hard to get his acquittal.
It's a good read but the ending is too abrupt and unreal. The book has lot of humour, interpersonal relationships,. information about court politics. Another interesting book by Mark Gimenez.
January 7, 2018
I love the book. It’s a bit hard to read though because I cannot relate to American Football and I had to google the specifics of the sport. I love the inspiration given by Frank and Billy Jean’s individual stories of surviving and getting back up to life and also the realization that the gangbanger hammered into William’s head about how he was blessed with a good family but still he ended up in prison. I like the short chapters and the funny conversations of the characters. This book tackled politics in the judicial system, American football pros and cons, the importance of family and friends and of course the value of being grounded. I hope a lot of athletes will read this book. I just wished there was one last chapter that detailed the DA’s defeat haha.
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