The Verdict

Frank Galvin #1

by Barry Reed

Attorney Frank Galvin is determined to resuscitate his failing career with a controversial malpractice suit, but first he will have to take on the Catholic Church and the city of Boston.

Genres: Fiction, Legal Thriller, Thriller, Courtroom Drama, Media Tie In, Legal, Mystery

246 pages, Paperback

First published July 21, 1980

About the author

Graduate of Holy Cross and Boston College Law School.

Boston attorney who was a recipient of the Clarence Darrow Award for trial excellence, was a past president of the Massachusetts Trial Lawyers Association, a former governor of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Lawyers and a co-founder of the American Society of Law and Medicine.

Reviews

[Mel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could’ve been a good book with the help of a good editor. Some authors can write courtroom thrillers with riveting transcripts...others lose me when they think every word they write is a major clue and then proceed to write hundreds of pages trying to prove their theory.

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just ok. A quick read, a good courtroom drama. But the movie made from it is so much better. David Mamet, Sidney Lumet and Paul Newman took a so-so thriller and turned it into a work of art. They changed much and every change was for the better, deepening the story, upping the tension, fashioning a deeper and more believable story. And Paul Newman’s Frank Galvin makes the portrayal of the main character in the novel seem a cardboard cut-out (though I do like this description of Galvin from the novel: “He is one of nature’s noblemen. The luckiest of the luckless. He falls off the end of the world and snags his shirt on a limb.”)

[Anthony · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of those rare cases like The Godfather where the movie is far superior to the book.

[anastasia · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5?? eh?

[Cliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of the movie, and I've wanted to read the book. This book was quite good, a real page turner (I finished it on one stormy Saturday), but I was a bit surprised that, while all of the superficial elements of the movie are there, it's really quite different. Rather than a burned-out, borderline PTSD'ed alcoholic, the protagonist Frank Galvin, is essentially just a scrappy rogue who gets himself into trouble. The "Prince of Darkness" Kincanon from the big law firm, while he uses skulduggery, is portrayed as a man who is a victim of his own clients as much as his own ethics. Shockingly to me, a major plot point about the movie (spoiler alert) of a woman who betrays Galvin who was really a stooge for Kincanon, is a relatively small plot point that Galvin accepts almost as a cost of doing business. So while the basic plot remains the same, the emphasis and the motivations of the characters are almost entirely different.

Anyhow, well worth reading, as the movie is worth seeing. In one sense, the movie is certainly better, it's directed by a truly great director and has a truly exceptional cast, and written by one of the best screenwriters in history, while the book is a pulp-novel, it's still a really interesting book in some ways because it's plot is so similar while its tone is so different.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a similar vibe to The Rainmaker. An underdog lawyer takes on a big case that will save his career if only he can beat the church run hospital that turned his client into a vegetable. He's up against the most famous law team in the city but luckily he discovers the one witness who could change everything. While The Rainmaker is pretty great, The Verdict felt incredibly predictable and poorly conceived. Things just sort of fell in the lawyer's lap and a lot of strings were left loose. It was certainly a quick and easy read, but it didn't really give me the satisfaction of a great law/suspense novel. I read it because the film adaptation won an oscar for best adapted screenplay. I guess they won because the original material didn't give them much to work with.

[John Mccullough · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Verdict is a courtroom drama. The plaintiff is a woman turned into a vegetable at the birth of her third child by medical sloppiness. The defendants are two doctors, a nurse, a hospital and the Boston Catholic diocese that owns it. The movie, starring Paul Newman Frank Galvin as the woman’s failing, alcoholic, bad-boy loser lawyer and James Mason as the precise, cold, calculating, never-lost-a-case sky-priced lawyer, was a great movie. It made me want to read the book, which I have. Glad to have done so.

If you need a short, well-written exciting book that pretty much satisfies as a complete story, try this book. It would be good on a long flight or train trip, a beach day or a rainy day.

[Bob Box · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in 1981. Terrific courtroom thriller. Lawyer takes on the Catholic church and the city of Boston in a case he has to win or else. One of my favorites that year. Later a terrific film with Paul Newman.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting, engaging court room drama!!

[Stephen Voorhees · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good, but coming from a plaintiff's medical malpractice lawyer, I am biased.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great courtroom drama. This novel is the basis for the award winning film starring Paul Newman.

[Daniela Sorgente · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting courtroom thriller. It was made into a film starring Paul Newman.

[Joy H.]

Added 5/2/15. I did not read the book. Instead I watched the movie which starred Paul Newman. Absorbing courtroom drama, well acted. Great performance by Paul Newman.
" The Verdict " (1982)
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084855/?...
"A lawyer sees the chance to salvage his career and self-respect by taking a medical malpractice case to trial rather than settling."

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Verdict-Paul-Ne...
"An alcoholic Boston lawyer takes on a hopeless medical malpractice case in a desperate attempt to pursue justice and redeem his honor."

Netflix: http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/600114...
"A washed-up, ambulance-chasing attorney gets a chance at redemption when his friend tosses him an open-and-shut medical malpractice case."
Streamable from Netflix.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barry Reed’s The Verdict opens with an introduction to Fracis Xavier Galvin, a down-and-out attorney who, it is quickly learned, is staking his future on a medical malpractice case he’s barely acquainted with. For the most part, Galvin is a scoundrel; he makes enemies easily and his mounting debt is about to sink his litigation practice. He certainly looks like the overwhelmed underdog going up single-handedly against a legal team led by J. Edward Cancannon, an undefeated attorney from one of Boston’s most prestigious firms. Yet, in the courtroom, Galvin is able to trump his opponent using grassroots tactics and a bit of luck. The victory does nothing to purify his character, but it does show that Galvin isn’t a man to be underestimated; he’s a survivor.

[R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Verdict is best remembered for Paul Newman's remarkable performance as underdog lawyer Frank Galvin, however, author Barry Reed crafted this Galvin character, along with his heroic and arch-believable opponent, and a dandy fem-fetal, fueling this spitfire of a courtroom drama. It's out of print so you'll have to look around for a copy. It kept me up reading till the wee hours two nights in a row, and I already knew what was going to happen. Fish one out of the dustbin. This is a keeper!

[Paul DiBara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, well told with satisfying ending. Story of a seriously flawed fellow who happens to be a lawyer forever living on the edge. But despite personality faults he is a man of principle with a penchant for fighting loosing causes. He has reached the brink of financial ruin when he takes on the biggest case of his life. He takes up the challenge even though the cards seem stacked against him despite holding the moral high ground.

[Christine Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently saw the movie starring the late great Paul Newman, so I wanted to read the book too. It's a great story, a courtroom drama with a heart. There were some minor changes made in the plot of the film, but even though I knew the outcome, the novel was still gripping. Wish I had read the book first (as usual) but both the movie and the book are worth a look. (Newman's closing argument is a tour de force.)

[Agatha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Galvin is a struggling lawyer in the midst of a medical malpractice case against the Catholic church and the city of Boston. He is under qualified to undertake the controversial case, especially against one of Boston's top legal team led by Concannon. The courtroom drama that ensues is depicted with suspense and ensnaring details. Overall, the book is a good read.

[Jenene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1980. Small-time Boston lawyer, Frank Galvin, up against the most powerful institutions of society. Galvin aims a shaky malpractice suit at the largest Catholic hospital in the country and risks everything to win against adversaries that would make even a brave man run for cover: the Church, the medical profession, and the legal establishment. Excellent read!!

[Tlingit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short read. Have you been to Boston? You'll be able to transport our self easily into the atmosphere of this book. I read this book then watched the movie. I wasn't really as impressed with the movie as I was with the book. It took me away from my current reality and that was really worth it.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not terribly well-written, this courtroom drama-turned into movie pits the Catholic Church with a capital C against a slovenly lawyer. Guess who wins?

[Bruna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un bel libro, ma uno dei pochi casi in cui il film è meglio.

[John Driscoll]

Very good book worth the read

A great courtroom drama (that served as the basis for the excellent Paul Newman movie of the same name) about a malpractice case involving a family & their down and out lawyer versus the powers of both the religious & medical establishments. Keeps ypu interested throughout and nice payoff at gives you confidence once again in humanity when you are done reading