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The Substitution Order: A novel
From Martin Clark--praised by Entertainment Weekly as "our best legal-thriller writer"--comes a wickedly clever, tenderhearted, and intricately plotted novel about a hard-luck lawyer's refusal to concede defeat, even as fate, the court system, and a gang of untouchable con artists conspire against him.
Kevin Moore, once a high-flying Virginia attorney, hits rock bottom after an inexplicably tumultuous summer leaves him disbarred and separated from his wife. Short on cash and looking for work, he lands in the middle of nowhere with a job at SUBstitution, the world's saddest sandwich shop. His closest confidants: a rambunctious rescue puppy and the twenty-year-old computer whiz manning the restaurant counter beside him. He's determined to set his life right again, but the troubles keep coming. And when a bizarre, mysterious stranger wanders into the shop armed with a threatening "invitation" to join a multimillion-dollar scam, Kevin will need every bit of his legal savvy just to stay out of prison.
A remarkable tour of the law's tricks and hidden trapdoors, The Substitution Order is both wise and ingenious, a wildly entertaining novel that will keep you guessing--and rooting for its tenacious hero--until the very last page.
Kevin Moore, once a high-flying Virginia attorney, hits rock bottom after an inexplicably tumultuous summer leaves him disbarred and separated from his wife. Short on cash and looking for work, he lands in the middle of nowhere with a job at SUBstitution, the world's saddest sandwich shop. His closest confidants: a rambunctious rescue puppy and the twenty-year-old computer whiz manning the restaurant counter beside him. He's determined to set his life right again, but the troubles keep coming. And when a bizarre, mysterious stranger wanders into the shop armed with a threatening "invitation" to join a multimillion-dollar scam, Kevin will need every bit of his legal savvy just to stay out of prison.
A remarkable tour of the law's tricks and hidden trapdoors, The Substitution Order is both wise and ingenious, a wildly entertaining novel that will keep you guessing--and rooting for its tenacious hero--until the very last page.
352 pages, ebook
First published July 9, 2019
307 people are currently reading
3963 people want to read
About the author
Martin Clark
6 books552 followersEntertainment Weekly called Martin Clark “hands down, our finest legal-thriller writer.” The New York Times stated that he is “the thinking man’s John Grisham.” The Winston-Salem Journal declared that he has set “the new standard by which other works of legal fiction should be judged,” and David Baldacci praised him as “a truly original writer.” A retired circuit court judge from Patrick County, Virginia, Martin is a cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Davidson College and attended law school at the University of Virginia. When he was appointed to the bench in 1992 at age thirty-two, he became one of the youngest judges in the history of the commonwealth. His novels have appeared on numerous bestseller lists, and the audio version of The Substitution Order was a number one national bestseller. Additionally, his novels have been chosen as a New York Times Notable Book, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a Washington Post Book World Best Book of the Year, a Bookmarks Magazine Best Book of the Year, a Boston Globe Best Book of the Year, a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, a finalist for the Stephen Crane First Fiction Award, and the winner of the Library of Virginia’s People’s Choice Award in 2009, 2016 and 2020. Martin received the Patrick County Outstanding Community Service Award in 2016 and the Virginia State Bar’s Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award in 2018. His wife, Deana, is a photographer, and they live on a farm with dogs, cats, chickens, guinea fowl and three donkeys.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 390 reviews
April 12, 2021
I liked this book very much. This is Grisham but with tighter, richer prose. Substitution Order has the most complicated plot I think I have ever read and yet I followed it without any problem. The character voice and point of view was great. The character has a pretty heinous flaw but Clark still manages to endear the reader. What was truly amazing was how Clark wrapped the book up in the final chapter. He fooled me on a large scale. The only critical point was the method in how he did it. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed this book immensely. This is a first person story and we are tight in the character's point view. The complicated wrap up in a complicated story is shielded from the reader even though the character knew what was going to happen.
Highly recommend.
This is another author who I wish would write faster. :-)
David Putnam author of the Bruno Johnson series.
Highly recommend.
This is another author who I wish would write faster. :-)
David Putnam author of the Bruno Johnson series.
November 12, 2023
Right at the beginning of The Substitution Order, the narrator lets us know where he is. He is working at a dump of a fast food restaurant making sandwiches for grimy low-lifes. He is on probation for a drug arrest. He is being divorced, and he will soon be exploited by criminal scammers. And worse. And though he doesn't tell us directly, we know he had a part in putting himself into his current state of bad luck.
Kevin Moore is a lawyer, or was a lawyer, and his past life had the potential to be a stand-out one. But he knows that his own poor choices were at the start of the disasters that followed. It's a shifting loneliness, told in clear, and entertaining writing. Yet somehow, it is redeeming to read, while also being a wild hoot of a story that untangles as it rapidly progresses.
"The Substitution Order" reads like Danny Deck's confessional All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers, the 1972 novel by Larry McMurtry. Both books are stories that remind us to pinch ourselves when things go well, because good fortune is often just one burst blood vessel, one corrupt cop, or one poorly chosen love away from a drowning downward spiral.
Martin Clark and I both have respect (obvious from our stared ratings of the same books) for the late, great, James Crumley's writings. And Crumley's influence weaves through "The Substitution Order" shown by both novelist's protagonists using the gritty sadness of their plights to mirror a world that is mostly ignored by the lucky who have no clue what might be waiting behind painted cinder blocks. Like this description where Keven Moore finds himself in jail; though we know he doesn't deserve to be, Clark skillfully shows us that he does belong exactly where he is: "I'm a stranger at the jail... they're filled with tedium, pettiness, cardgame squabbles, pudding-cup disputes and a wholesale lack of imagination and ambition.... And here I am, same as they are, a jailbird, breaking bread and sharing a communal shower with them."
"The Substitution Order" is a fast, powerful read mixed with legal intrigue, southern red-neck injustice, and old-fashioned life-choice mistakes. Highly recommended. Five stars, with an extra side of mayo.
Kevin Moore is a lawyer, or was a lawyer, and his past life had the potential to be a stand-out one. But he knows that his own poor choices were at the start of the disasters that followed. It's a shifting loneliness, told in clear, and entertaining writing. Yet somehow, it is redeeming to read, while also being a wild hoot of a story that untangles as it rapidly progresses.
"The Substitution Order" reads like Danny Deck's confessional All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers, the 1972 novel by Larry McMurtry. Both books are stories that remind us to pinch ourselves when things go well, because good fortune is often just one burst blood vessel, one corrupt cop, or one poorly chosen love away from a drowning downward spiral.
Martin Clark and I both have respect (obvious from our stared ratings of the same books) for the late, great, James Crumley's writings. And Crumley's influence weaves through "The Substitution Order" shown by both novelist's protagonists using the gritty sadness of their plights to mirror a world that is mostly ignored by the lucky who have no clue what might be waiting behind painted cinder blocks. Like this description where Keven Moore finds himself in jail; though we know he doesn't deserve to be, Clark skillfully shows us that he does belong exactly where he is: "I'm a stranger at the jail... they're filled with tedium, pettiness, cardgame squabbles, pudding-cup disputes and a wholesale lack of imagination and ambition.... And here I am, same as they are, a jailbird, breaking bread and sharing a communal shower with them."
"The Substitution Order" is a fast, powerful read mixed with legal intrigue, southern red-neck injustice, and old-fashioned life-choice mistakes. Highly recommended. Five stars, with an extra side of mayo.
August 7, 2019
Excellent! Well written and not the usual and predictable "pretty little bow" ending. Very clever plot with a double-entendre title. Well deserved 5 stars!
June 14, 2019
“I’ve lost the love of my life, almost stroked out, forfeited my livelihood and most of my money, embarrassed my profession and been reduced to running a bad sandwich shop. My immediate friends are a mongrel dog and a pot-dealing coworker half my age.” That’s disgraced, disbarred Virginia litigation attorney Kevin Moore who is on probation for drug possession. Things aren’t going so well for him, but then a stranger drops by the SUBstitution sandwich shop and tries to persuade Kevin to go along with a complicated malpractice insurance scam. When Kevin refuses, his life gets a whole lot worse and no one believes that the mysterious stranger exists. “... the criminal justice system doesn’t calibrate well... a well-done hustle as rare and layered as this will usually overwhelm a creaky contraption built by bewigged rustics who’d never heard of penicillin and would ooh and aah at a lightbulb.”
The author has a light touch and has created a smart and very likable protagonist. He rescues a puppy, mentors his coworker and tries to do the right thing. I kept rooting for Kevin as he got mired in more and more predicaments and was thwarted repeatedly. While I like legal dramas, there was a little too much criminal law minutia in the book for me, but then Criminal Procedure was my least favorite class. Aside from that, nothing about the book bored me and there was an absolutely delicious, twisty ending. I will probably read more by this author.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. Also, after I requested a copy of this ARC I noticed that the author is a friend on Goodreads. Neither of those facts had any influence on my review.
The author has a light touch and has created a smart and very likable protagonist. He rescues a puppy, mentors his coworker and tries to do the right thing. I kept rooting for Kevin as he got mired in more and more predicaments and was thwarted repeatedly. While I like legal dramas, there was a little too much criminal law minutia in the book for me, but then Criminal Procedure was my least favorite class. Aside from that, nothing about the book bored me and there was an absolutely delicious, twisty ending. I will probably read more by this author.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. Also, after I requested a copy of this ARC I noticed that the author is a friend on Goodreads. Neither of those facts had any influence on my review.
June 22, 2020
In “The Substitution Order” Kevin Moore, a well-regarded attorney in Virginia, is working to rebuild his reputation while his law license is suspended for an unlikely and uncharacteristic drug binge. He’s managing a sandwich shop, meeting with his probation officer and providing urine samples, and maintaining a wealthy friend’s property in order to demonstrate his rehabilitation and have his license restored. A pending divorce from his wife, health and financial issues, and the nefarious actions of a con man bring additional complications and misery to his life.
“I’m bitterly unhappy, but after some practice, any new miseries surrender their full potency and have no incremental effect. I’ve lost the love of my life, almost stroked out, forfeited my livelihood and most of my money, embarrassed my profession and been reduced to running a bad sandwich shop. My immediate friends are a mongrel dog and a pot-dealing coworker half my age.”
But with Moore’s ingenious ideas (and the help of his ex-wife, a custom van builder, and various other colorful characters) he has an opportunity for liberation and revenge, if only he can pull off the intricate and cleverly designed plan.
Clark’s novels have been compared to John Grisham’s, but for my money, I think Clark’s are superior. This is to take nothing away from Grisham, but the humor, quirky and believable characters, evocative writing, and an ideal build up of suspense make Clark’s novels top notch legal thrillers. He deserves to be much more widely recognized than he currently is, and I hope this is the book that brings him that recognition (and substantial book sales!) Highly recommended.
“I’m bitterly unhappy, but after some practice, any new miseries surrender their full potency and have no incremental effect. I’ve lost the love of my life, almost stroked out, forfeited my livelihood and most of my money, embarrassed my profession and been reduced to running a bad sandwich shop. My immediate friends are a mongrel dog and a pot-dealing coworker half my age.”
But with Moore’s ingenious ideas (and the help of his ex-wife, a custom van builder, and various other colorful characters) he has an opportunity for liberation and revenge, if only he can pull off the intricate and cleverly designed plan.
Clark’s novels have been compared to John Grisham’s, but for my money, I think Clark’s are superior. This is to take nothing away from Grisham, but the humor, quirky and believable characters, evocative writing, and an ideal build up of suspense make Clark’s novels top notch legal thrillers. He deserves to be much more widely recognized than he currently is, and I hope this is the book that brings him that recognition (and substantial book sales!) Highly recommended.
January 21, 2020
Mistakes were made, justice subverted, revenge was the cleverest of all.
The premise pulled me in and I found the first few chapters absorbing, but it veers off in another direction before it all becomes clear. I know I sound a bit vague, but to say more is to ruin this cleverly-plotted tale. It’s a bit dense, however, so if you go in with the expectation of a legal ‘thriller,’ it’s not going to go well for you. Once I shrugged off the blurbs, I was able to settle into this well-crafted story and enjoy its literary merits.
The author points out the failings of humans and of the legal system and provides a rather satisfying ending, hints of which the shrewd reader will pick up along the way. However, I’d have enjoyed it more if the legal aspects hadn’t gotten so deep in the weeds. At times technically specific, the legal machinations are often incomprehensible to anyone without a law degree.
’The law’s an unforgiving bitch, isn’t it? Once you make a single mistake, everything else you do is viewed through a warped lens, and any new narrative begins with the assumption that you’re simply up to more of the same old criminal bullshit. Guilty, just like last time.’
I ended my 2019 reading year with this book and it seems a fitting end to what was a year of fits and starts. I can’t say I loved every minute of this, but I will definitely give this author another try because despite the deep dive into law, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and tricky bits and that bumped it to a solid 4.
Read December 2019
The premise pulled me in and I found the first few chapters absorbing, but it veers off in another direction before it all becomes clear. I know I sound a bit vague, but to say more is to ruin this cleverly-plotted tale. It’s a bit dense, however, so if you go in with the expectation of a legal ‘thriller,’ it’s not going to go well for you. Once I shrugged off the blurbs, I was able to settle into this well-crafted story and enjoy its literary merits.
The author points out the failings of humans and of the legal system and provides a rather satisfying ending, hints of which the shrewd reader will pick up along the way. However, I’d have enjoyed it more if the legal aspects hadn’t gotten so deep in the weeds. At times technically specific, the legal machinations are often incomprehensible to anyone without a law degree.
’The law’s an unforgiving bitch, isn’t it? Once you make a single mistake, everything else you do is viewed through a warped lens, and any new narrative begins with the assumption that you’re simply up to more of the same old criminal bullshit. Guilty, just like last time.’
I ended my 2019 reading year with this book and it seems a fitting end to what was a year of fits and starts. I can’t say I loved every minute of this, but I will definitely give this author another try because despite the deep dive into law, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and tricky bits and that bumped it to a solid 4.
Read December 2019
October 22, 2020
October 17,2020 --
THE SUBSTITUTION ORDER was announced as the winner of The Library of Virginia's People's Choice Award for fiction.
LEGAL PROCEDURAL STORY, A STAR IN THE GENRE!
Martin Clark is a master storyteller and I do not throw that term around randomly. This is multilayered marvel that I would not hesitate to call a masterpiece. It is a clever and witty, a truly unique story. The key character is the talented Kevin Moore, a lawyer, who is targeted by a criminal enterprise to assist them in defrauding an insurance company. He declines. Thus, the criminals threaten to target him and smear him instead forever ruining his already tarnished name. When they carry out their crime against him, his shouts for justice are flatly ignored by the system.
Things continue to unravel until things become a big mess. Kevin is in fact being destroyed by the very system, he treasures and believes in! His shock at this scam and his further discredited status, motivates Moore to take the law into his own hands. He uses the very rules meant to uphold the law to actually destroy the system, so that in turn, he will not be destroyed. It was fresh, clever and not at all confusing (which it easily could have been) happenstance. Anyone who enjoyed the Robert Redford and Paul Newman hit from the 1970's, "The Sting", will love this calculated tale of mischief and mayhem.
Clark's additions include very clever and often little humorous thoughts and actions that keep propelling the action forward. I found it a truly compelling read that held and maintained my interest throughout its telling. Clark obviously he loves the law but he realizes that it like everything else, it has its limitations and on occasion backfires. I wonder what sparked its creation. And further what thoughts of genius proceeded to devise such a finely tuned plot along with creating his characters.
It would have been a five star read with one exception, that perhaps, may not even be a blip on some people's radar. Kevin meets a nurse while on house arrest. Though he has repeatedly hit on her, he thinks he may be making progress in winning her over by wearing her down. He continues to pursue her despite his less than stellar status (facing disbarment and already fallen far from his perch of being financially successful and admired by the community). When he and she share some conversation one afternoon, then apropos to nothing, she mentions her tremendous hatred of Christians because their faith is hateful, critical and generally useless in her eyes. I do see this attitude gaining steam in the general community these days and I think it is truly unfortunate. Of course, the only Christian character in the story, is a bigoted pastor, who occasionally visits Kevin, after a medical event that makes him even more isolated during his probation. He is portrayed as pretty despicable thus affirming her point. I found her speech full of vitriol and in no way beneficial to forwarding storyline in its insertion. She doesn't seem to even serve much purpose to the story (she plays a very cardboard character) as a whole and I found this tangent unnecessary, except as a declarative statement by the author. Maybe it warmed some readers hearts, but I found it purposeless and angry. That aside, it was a good read and if that specific dig doesn't interfere with your pleasure, then this story will definitely be worthy of your attention.
THE SUBSTITUTION ORDER was announced as the winner of The Library of Virginia's People's Choice Award for fiction.
LEGAL PROCEDURAL STORY, A STAR IN THE GENRE!
Martin Clark is a master storyteller and I do not throw that term around randomly. This is multilayered marvel that I would not hesitate to call a masterpiece. It is a clever and witty, a truly unique story. The key character is the talented Kevin Moore, a lawyer, who is targeted by a criminal enterprise to assist them in defrauding an insurance company. He declines. Thus, the criminals threaten to target him and smear him instead forever ruining his already tarnished name. When they carry out their crime against him, his shouts for justice are flatly ignored by the system.
Things continue to unravel until things become a big mess. Kevin is in fact being destroyed by the very system, he treasures and believes in! His shock at this scam and his further discredited status, motivates Moore to take the law into his own hands. He uses the very rules meant to uphold the law to actually destroy the system, so that in turn, he will not be destroyed. It was fresh, clever and not at all confusing (which it easily could have been) happenstance. Anyone who enjoyed the Robert Redford and Paul Newman hit from the 1970's, "The Sting", will love this calculated tale of mischief and mayhem.
Clark's additions include very clever and often little humorous thoughts and actions that keep propelling the action forward. I found it a truly compelling read that held and maintained my interest throughout its telling. Clark obviously he loves the law but he realizes that it like everything else, it has its limitations and on occasion backfires. I wonder what sparked its creation. And further what thoughts of genius proceeded to devise such a finely tuned plot along with creating his characters.
It would have been a five star read with one exception, that perhaps, may not even be a blip on some people's radar. Kevin meets a nurse while on house arrest. Though he has repeatedly hit on her, he thinks he may be making progress in winning her over by wearing her down. He continues to pursue her despite his less than stellar status (facing disbarment and already fallen far from his perch of being financially successful and admired by the community). When he and she share some conversation one afternoon, then apropos to nothing, she mentions her tremendous hatred of Christians because their faith is hateful, critical and generally useless in her eyes. I do see this attitude gaining steam in the general community these days and I think it is truly unfortunate. Of course, the only Christian character in the story, is a bigoted pastor, who occasionally visits Kevin, after a medical event that makes him even more isolated during his probation. He is portrayed as pretty despicable thus affirming her point. I found her speech full of vitriol and in no way beneficial to forwarding storyline in its insertion. She doesn't seem to even serve much purpose to the story (she plays a very cardboard character) as a whole and I found this tangent unnecessary, except as a declarative statement by the author. Maybe it warmed some readers hearts, but I found it purposeless and angry. That aside, it was a good read and if that specific dig doesn't interfere with your pleasure, then this story will definitely be worthy of your attention.
May 28, 2019
Clark offers us a gritty thriller featuring a down-on-his-luck soon-to-be-disbarred lawyer who lost his wife and gained an arrest in a cocaine-fueled weekend of debauchery with a stripper and now works in a sandwich shop putting extra mayo on sandwiches. Kevin Moore is in a downward spiral and floating down the drain quickly. And, he thinks there's a vast conspiracy out to lace his urine sample and plant things in his car. He's got legal troubles. He's got women troubles. He's got vocational troubles. But he's a clever lawyer with some tricks still up hid sleeve.
November 22, 2019
This is the story of organized crime raking millions out of an insurance company. They attack a lawyer who is well insured. If you are a John Grisham or a Richard North Patterson fan then this author will be a good choice for you. I found the lawyer who narrates the story to be an honest, brilliant and good natured man who has met real trouble through a plot by criminals practiced at bringing down well insured professionals. There is a great deal of wit in the writing of The Substitution Order and legal jargon as well. I will read future novels by the author.
January 16, 2024
First rate legal thriller. Try as I might, I could not have predicted that ending. I loved all the Easter eggs on the way (up to and including dog training). Huge payoff in the last couple chapters. And it's funny too.
May 10, 2020
What's the opposite of Chick Lit? Testosterone Tales? Bro Books? Well, that's what this is -- a Bro Book. I sit now, asking myself why I invested precious hours into finishing this book? Clark wrote this protagonist as a mixture of James Bond, Holden Caulfield, and Sun Tzu -- he is that certain kind of male narcissist who sees himself as smarter, stronger, more sensitive, more magnanimous, and infinitely superior to all others. If spending several hours of your life in this man's headspace sounds appealing to you, then this is the book for you. The female characters are there to serve as paper doll tropes -- sexy nurse who can't help but fall all over our Uber Man (despite the fact that he's a drug using, wife cheating, system manipulating felon with not a single redeeming quality), forgiving sexy ex-wife who is barely upset at her cokehead ex, sexy stripper with no personality (why write her a personality when she can just be a cliché?), sexy (but, of course, easily duped, because she's a woman and therefore obtuse) con woman, again with no personality. Seeing a pattern? The dog is written with more story and authenticity than all female characters combined. This book is 330 pages of mansplaining about our protagonist's superior qualities, how he feels cheated and outwits the world with his superior intellect, wins friends with his self-aggrandized magnanimity. A repellant character, predictable plot, and anachronistic dialogue begging to be spoken by Humphrey Bogart in a trench coat. Ick.
November 1, 2019
The Substitution Order is a totally entertaining and satisfying novel sort of in the legal thriller genre, but not really. I don't want to divulge any spoilers so I'll just say it is about a lawyer who loses his license because of some "indiscretions" and the ordeal he has to go through. It is very well written with great characters and is written by a former judge so the legal system descriptions are very realistic and accurate (I say that having been practicing law for over 50 years). I recommend it highly.
May 21, 2019
There are two things I can always count on: Dave Matthews shows and Martin Clark's books. The Substitution Order is the best thing Martin has ever written. I love, love, love Nelson the dog (the best canine sidekick ever) and literally cheered out loud at the end. As usual, all the characters, even the minor ones, are interesting and unique. The coolest thing about the book is how like Signs or Ocean's Eleven or The Usual Suspects, all the clues are right there in front of you, page after page, and you don't see what's coming until the very end, which is a master class in how to pull a plot together. As always, there's the wry humor, the grit, the great writing and the insights into the legal world you can only get from an insider. Most important for me is that when you finish reading, you've been given some real thoughtful truth about the world we live in and how to find joy and success even when things turn bad. Martin isn't just "our best legal thriller writer," but he's our best writer period. Wish I didn't have to wait four or five years for the next one. Got the Advance copy for ten bucks online, pre-ordered the hard-copy for my collection.
July 31, 2019
A very clever plot with a great main character. The book starts a little bit like “Better Call Saul” as the main character, a disbarred lawyer, is working as a supervisor at a fast food restaurant. The story has a lot of twists and some memorable characters that encompass the full range from good to evil. The only drawback is the speed at which the plot develops as the author uses some filler narrative that could have been avoided. This is my second book by this author and he is fast becoming one of my favorite legal mystery writers.
July 14, 2019
This is a very clever and smart book. I enjoyed all of the characters, both human and otherwise, and the author kept me guessing until the end.
June 17, 2019
What a great book - I read it in a day!
Completely didn’t see what Kevin had up his sleeve - what a treat!
Kevin is an attorney on probation for drug charges, serving subs while serving his time, just trying to get past it all. He is approached by a man who wants him to lie about mis-handling a case while he was impaired. When Kevin refuses, his life spirals downward, threatening his freedom & his future.
I don’t want to say any more for fear of spoilers. If legal thrillers are your thing, pick this up!
My thanks to Penguin & First Reads for an ARC of this book.
Completely didn’t see what Kevin had up his sleeve - what a treat!
Kevin is an attorney on probation for drug charges, serving subs while serving his time, just trying to get past it all. He is approached by a man who wants him to lie about mis-handling a case while he was impaired. When Kevin refuses, his life spirals downward, threatening his freedom & his future.
I don’t want to say any more for fear of spoilers. If legal thrillers are your thing, pick this up!
My thanks to Penguin & First Reads for an ARC of this book.
July 15, 2019
An engaging, entertaining story set in the legal world, a literal shaggy dog story, and I laughed out loud a time or two. The rare book where I wouldn't change a thing. Highly recommended.
June 7, 2020
Have to give this the full five, since I gave both Plain Heathen Mischief and The Legal Limit four stars, and this was just downright better. And in rereading my reviews of those earlier books, I was surprised to see that most everything I had planned on saying here were all things I had said previously regarding those works:
A story that centers on "basically good people who early on make one truly bad decision, and then spend the rest of the book trying to make things right"? Check. "Realistically flawed characters, including his damaged protagonist"? Check. Plus, this entire paragraph from my review of Mischief which applies equally to The Substitution Order:
Clark writes like a true Southern Virginia gentleman, taking his time, savoring the atmosphere, observing and sharing the smallest details, and remaining generally polite to even his most loathsome characters. A “big city” writer might have told the same story in 100 less pages, but in my opinion this slower pacing works well in delineating the various threads of his story, all of which pretty much weave back together by the end.
And yet, while still working within the limitations of the greater legal genre (as well as his chosen sub-genre of "good man who fucked up,"), these three books could not have been more different. So kudos all around - great story, great writing, and an honorary "sixth star" for managing to work in a reference to Galax, one of southern Virginia's small "cities,"* and previously known to me only as the hometown of my son's Virginia Tech roommate.
* Yeah, I too was totally surprised to learn that Galax is actually a city - although apparently just barely. Checking it out, turns out it ranks 173 out of 179 cities in Virginia, being just slightly larger than Chamberlayne, Bellwood, Buena Vista, Carrollton, Crosspointe, and Massanetta Springs.
A story that centers on "basically good people who early on make one truly bad decision, and then spend the rest of the book trying to make things right"? Check. "Realistically flawed characters, including his damaged protagonist"? Check. Plus, this entire paragraph from my review of Mischief which applies equally to The Substitution Order:
Clark writes like a true Southern Virginia gentleman, taking his time, savoring the atmosphere, observing and sharing the smallest details, and remaining generally polite to even his most loathsome characters. A “big city” writer might have told the same story in 100 less pages, but in my opinion this slower pacing works well in delineating the various threads of his story, all of which pretty much weave back together by the end.
And yet, while still working within the limitations of the greater legal genre (as well as his chosen sub-genre of "good man who fucked up,"), these three books could not have been more different. So kudos all around - great story, great writing, and an honorary "sixth star" for managing to work in a reference to Galax, one of southern Virginia's small "cities,"* and previously known to me only as the hometown of my son's Virginia Tech roommate.
* Yeah, I too was totally surprised to learn that Galax is actually a city - although apparently just barely. Checking it out, turns out it ranks 173 out of 179 cities in Virginia, being just slightly larger than Chamberlayne, Bellwood, Buena Vista, Carrollton, Crosspointe, and Massanetta Springs.
September 14, 2019
4.5 stars! A very clever legal thriller written by a retired VA circuit court judge. An intricate plot which focuses on Kevin Moore, who hits rock bottom after a brief whiskey and cocaine addiction. Disbarred and separated from his wife, he finds work at SUBstitution, a sandwich shop. I was rooting for this guy throughout the book, even though his troubles kept on coming.
Highly recommended
Highly recommended
July 15, 2019
I just finished The Substitution Order this weekend. While the genre is not one I read a lot, I really enjoy Martin Clark's writing style. I genuinely care about his characters. That's always been important to me in any narrative.
Kevin Moore has messed his life up in a big way. But being a decent man, he's doing all he can to put things back together. His efforts are thwarted by an unlikely and mysterious stranger who turns up and offers him a deal many people would not refuse. In spite of Kevin's foibles and past mistakes, he is a man who knows exactly where his moral compass points and fraud and perjury don't fall in that direction. The story tells how Kevin, a brilliant lawyer, deals with the twists and turns thrown his way because of his refusal take up the offer.
Like all Clark's books, this one is satisfying because it's a pleasure to read about clever people accomplishing amazing things. The characters are believable. Parts of the book, like the scene where two gentlemen who enter the restaurant in Civil War garb, made me laugh out loud. I like that I've never found his endings to be predictable. Another important element his books share is a sense of decency. It's not enough that the story is good and well-written. I always finish Martin Clark's books happy that good triumphs--especially when that good takes an unexpected form.
I highly recommend it!
Kevin Moore has messed his life up in a big way. But being a decent man, he's doing all he can to put things back together. His efforts are thwarted by an unlikely and mysterious stranger who turns up and offers him a deal many people would not refuse. In spite of Kevin's foibles and past mistakes, he is a man who knows exactly where his moral compass points and fraud and perjury don't fall in that direction. The story tells how Kevin, a brilliant lawyer, deals with the twists and turns thrown his way because of his refusal take up the offer.
Like all Clark's books, this one is satisfying because it's a pleasure to read about clever people accomplishing amazing things. The characters are believable. Parts of the book, like the scene where two gentlemen who enter the restaurant in Civil War garb, made me laugh out loud. I like that I've never found his endings to be predictable. Another important element his books share is a sense of decency. It's not enough that the story is good and well-written. I always finish Martin Clark's books happy that good triumphs--especially when that good takes an unexpected form.
I highly recommend it!
August 25, 2019
Latest from a favorite author -- often compared to John Gresham as they both have law degrees (well, Gresham's popularity as an author made it unnecessary for him to pursue a career in law), Clark has had more hands-on experience and took up penning excellent thrillers after retiring from the bench. Here we have a truly sympathetic protagonist who is caught in a web. His rescue of his beloved dog from a litter abandoned in a dumpster tells you all you need to know about his character. The truly involved plotline, proving that there is life after a stroke, kept me turning pages until the end.
May 8, 2020
Loved this one, it was a fast moving and frustratingly suspenseful story. Good characters and smart writing brought it up to five stars for me.
September 7, 2019
3.5 stars. Clever and entertaining story. The main character (including his dog Nelson) was very likable and I also liked how it ended. My biggest problem with the story was that he had this severe drug and alcohol addiction that started and ended all in a 3-4 month timeframe. Seemed too unrealistic that he would have no tendency before and no lapses after. But overall it was a well-written & enjoyable book that I recommend. A couple lines I liked:
The devil’s greatest strength is convincing people that he doesn’t exist.
After ninety minutes of 1-800-quicksand, the Obamacare lady promised I was enrolled in a health-care plan, but I never received my confirmation e-mail…and I might as well have mailed my premium to Mars.
I haven’t bent and separated a glued, waxy carton spout since elementary school, and the nostalgia distracts me for a moment.
[I]f angels exist, I think to myself, this is how they’d appear, haloed, strong and charged with happy revelations.
I’m bitterly unhappy, but after some practice, any new miseries surrender their full potency and have no incremental effect.
The devil’s greatest strength is convincing people that he doesn’t exist.
After ninety minutes of 1-800-quicksand, the Obamacare lady promised I was enrolled in a health-care plan, but I never received my confirmation e-mail…and I might as well have mailed my premium to Mars.
I haven’t bent and separated a glued, waxy carton spout since elementary school, and the nostalgia distracts me for a moment.
[I]f angels exist, I think to myself, this is how they’d appear, haloed, strong and charged with happy revelations.
I’m bitterly unhappy, but after some practice, any new miseries surrender their full potency and have no incremental effect.
August 10, 2019
I will state at the outset I am a retired attorney who practiced litigation. That fact may strongly influence my opinion of this book, as it was very accurate procedurally, to the extent the legal statutes and regulations applicable to this area of Virginia are generally reflective of those in other jurisdictions, with a couple of notable exceptions. It saved me the usual eye rolls I often engage in when reading legal thrillers. Clark writing is crisp, spare, and his character development is excellent. The plot can seem a bit far fetched, as can the attempted solution, but both are sufficiently credible to keep me not only interested but not wanting to put the book down. The "good guys" are quite likable, warts and all, and the bad ones are, well, bad. But the book is more nuanced than this. There is a lovable barely trained miscreant puppy; a well-drawn conflicted woman struggling with her feelings; another woman, also a divorcee, who is hilariously looking to party; a gruff but big hearted millionaire relative; several colorful Virginia country people; some smart techie 20 somethings; a soon to be ex wife working to convince herself, and her son t0 be ex-husband, that divorce is a sure thing; an old, extremely cranky judge; and friends of the main character that we all hope we will still have in our corner if we behave badly and have to suffer the consequences. I highly recommend this book.
July 3, 2019
My review of The Substitution Order featured in the July 2019 issue of Midlothian (Virginia) Lifestyle magazine: https://issuu.com/lifestylepubs/docs/...
Author Martin Clark draws on his nearly thirty years of experience as a (now retired) Virginia circuit court judge to create a meticulously plotted novel full of legal traps and tricks that will have you rooting for its underdog main character while wondering how he will outsmart everyone conspiring against him. After being disbarred and separating from his wife, Kevin Moore trades in his suits and legal pads for an apron and a hairnet—to work at SUBstitution sandwich shop. His days are mind-numbingly full of preparing complicated phone orders for nearby factory staff and dealing with problematic locals. Determined to set his life right by quietly passing his days working at SUBstitution, Kevin initially refuses a mysterious man’s proposition to profit off a multimillion-dollar scam built around Kevin’s own disbarment. Days later Kevin realizes the proposition wasn’t actually an option but a threat. Armed with his legal savvy, a twenty-year-old computer-whiz coworker, and a rambunctious rescue puppy, Kevin fights to clear his name, retaliate against an onslaught of blackmail, and stay out of prison while attempting to expose a crew of high-powered con artists. Cleverly written and packed with frustrating legal loopholes and court system roadblocks, The Substitution Order is a whip-smart page turner that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Author Martin Clark draws on his nearly thirty years of experience as a (now retired) Virginia circuit court judge to create a meticulously plotted novel full of legal traps and tricks that will have you rooting for its underdog main character while wondering how he will outsmart everyone conspiring against him. After being disbarred and separating from his wife, Kevin Moore trades in his suits and legal pads for an apron and a hairnet—to work at SUBstitution sandwich shop. His days are mind-numbingly full of preparing complicated phone orders for nearby factory staff and dealing with problematic locals. Determined to set his life right by quietly passing his days working at SUBstitution, Kevin initially refuses a mysterious man’s proposition to profit off a multimillion-dollar scam built around Kevin’s own disbarment. Days later Kevin realizes the proposition wasn’t actually an option but a threat. Armed with his legal savvy, a twenty-year-old computer-whiz coworker, and a rambunctious rescue puppy, Kevin fights to clear his name, retaliate against an onslaught of blackmail, and stay out of prison while attempting to expose a crew of high-powered con artists. Cleverly written and packed with frustrating legal loopholes and court system roadblocks, The Substitution Order is a whip-smart page turner that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
November 21, 2019
This s the first time that I have read one this authors novels. The other novels have some editorial complains or were not rated high enough for me to spend time on them. I liked the start of the book and it was easy to read not to many complaints on that front. I did have several problems with the book. I found it somewhat hard to believe that this lawyer was shocked that he would get set up if he did not go along with the bad guys-seems very naïve. This book had a little bit if the Firm by John Grisham to it, which in most cases is not bad that was that authors best book. I just felt that this book the author felt that he had a great slick ending to it and the middle part was just to take space until we got to the end. The middle section did not drag to bad but it just felt hollow-it lacked punch.it felt like it was just killing time. To me the ending was ok but did not move me. I also felt in the middle section this main character lacked urgency in trying to solve his problem but was very slick in the end-it plays out weird. It is not a bad read to past time but would I read another from him-maybe but I would not be in a rush I give this one around a 3.4
February 22, 2020
Written by a retired VA circuit Judge turned best selling author, he engages the reader easily. My actual rating is 3.5 stars instead of 4,due to the deluge of legal mumbo jumbo which for me, bogs the story down. But Kevin Moore, the central character is well developed and unlike most attorneys, someone of integrity. Better yet, the pacing is extremely well done as are the curve balls so the reader is kept on his toes. While similar legal genre authors can be engaging, Clark's stories are top notch and I plan to read a few more.
July 2, 2019
Awesome. Great ending.
September 14, 2019
Excellent first two chapters, and then, insipid and uninspired.
December 20, 2019
4.5 stars
The story of Kevin Moore, lawyer extraordinaire, who, despite having lost his marriage and his law practice is an honourable man. And that’s the problem; he refuses to take part in a scam or to listen to the threats of what will happen. So things go from bad to worse to worst possible. But at least he has his dog...
I love legal mysteries, but often they are sooo predictable. This has all the legalese without the expected delivery. I loved it.
The story of Kevin Moore, lawyer extraordinaire, who, despite having lost his marriage and his law practice is an honourable man. And that’s the problem; he refuses to take part in a scam or to listen to the threats of what will happen. So things go from bad to worse to worst possible. But at least he has his dog...
I love legal mysteries, but often they are sooo predictable. This has all the legalese without the expected delivery. I loved it.
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