Murder in the First

by Dan Gordon

A warden without mercy. A prisoner with nothing left to lose. A lawyer in the ultimate gamble of his career. Exploding with the human drama of In the Name of the Father and the spellbinding courtroom action of A Few Good Men, Murder in the First is one of the most electrifying novels of the year. Now a major motion picture starring Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Oldman.

Genres: Plays, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Abdul Alhazred · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well made and acted courtroom drama about Henri Young, which is a real person and a real case that is much less sympathetic than the play (and movie) made him out to be. Like a lot of true crime and "based on a true story" fiction the truth needs to be massaged to be palatable, a murderer made into a perfect victim of the system who's only real crime before Alcatraz was stealing 5 dollars, because telling a story about how bad people can still be brutalized by a bad system is much harder.

Does fiction have an obligation to the truth? Or is anything in service of the better story ok? Questions for another day.

[Jenny Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fictionalized account of a real event. As a play, the characters are easy to understand: young idealist on his first big case, his successful and therefore open to corruption older brother, his beautiful and smart finance, his client as an example par excellence of how corruption in incarceration amounts to a torture strong enough to drive a person crazy. A little too on the nose perhaps, but effective.

[Denise Spicer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book based on a movie of the same name. The story is about a prisoner in Alcatraz who kills a fellow prisoner – a snitch – after being released from three years of solitary confinement. The story is a retelling of a (highly fictionalized) historical event in the 1930s. Idealistic young Defense Attorney befriends the murderer.

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!! What a powerful play about the inhumane effects of solitary confinement in Alcatraz!!! Highly recommend!! Kristi & Abby Taby

[Alvin Lewis Tham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very powerful story that is engaging to say the least. Suprisingly easy to read, perhaps because it was adapted from a movie. It was based on a true story though, and I'm a sucker for novels based on true stories.