Fool for a Client

by David Kessler

The pinnacle of Sean Murphy's career as a revolutionary was the blowing up of a doctor and a three-year-old child in a busy shopping mall. But when he fled to New York and thwarted attempts to extradite him, he set in motion a chain of events that not even he could have anticipated.
Now Murphy is dead, and a 23-year-old American medical student stands trial for his murder in a case which has become a cause celebre in the the People of the State of New York versus Justine Levy. Against all advice, Justine insists on conducting her own defence, proceeding to alienate jurors and refusing to co-operate with Rick Parker, a young, inexperienced black lawyer whom the judge has appointed to act as standby counsel.
In a case that polarises public opinion, some see Murphy's death as the execution of a terrorist while others see it as the murder of a freedom fighter. But was Justine a vigilante who acted as the avenging angel for society or was her motive more personal? As cracks begin to appear in the prosecution's case another question did Justine, in fact, kill him at all?

Genres: Mystery, Crime

242 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1997

About the author

I was born in the UK and grew up on a council estate in central London.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am the author, so I can't really review it. This was my first published thriller and it evolved and gestated over the course of about 15 years. It emerged out of several different story ideas, some of which I wrote in short stories. I am still quite proud of it although when I wrote it I was very naive about things like drugs and guns.

[Amanda Sheridan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still have an old, well-read copy of this book, signed by the author. It is one I pick up and re-read every few years. That is how good this book is.

[Lianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book - a well written legal thriller with a reasonably good pace to it. The novelty of someone conducting their own defence, vigilante justice, the beliefs of the terrorist and the forgotten victims and consequences of their actions all add up to an interesting mix. The only thing that stopped the book being really good for me was the fact there was no real structure to the bits where the story went back in time, it was a little confusing. Also, there were a few typos, I came across a few “¾” in the middle of sentences that I couldn't always make sense of? Otherwise, it'd have been a definite 4 star book for me.

[L.T. Fawkes · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Kessler $2.99 on Kindle *** A thorough edit would earn this clever legal novel another star. That's the nice thing about Kindle - the author has the option of fixing the problems.

Aside from the errors, this is a nicely paced novel with a compelling main character - a young med student, determined to represent herself at trial, accused of poisoning a terrorist who has escaped extradite via a friendly judge and a legal technicality. Nice twist.

[Alma]

Loved this as it is a very interesting topic. Well written tho some of the legal stuff was a bit boring and interesting sub plot

[Muriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, good storyline.Do not give 4 stars very often,almost a 5.