Looking for a great book that is not about the Holocaust, Israel’s protracted wars, or the pros and cons of the last Federal election? Nor anything about raising or lowing the debt ceiling, inflation, the economy and the spiraling cost of eggs. If none of the aforementioned topics appeal to you then The President’s Lawyer, a new turbo-charged potboiler by Lawrence Robbins, is your next best read.
Celebrated DC criminal defense lawyer Rob Jacobson was wrapping up a Superior Court case when the news broke, “like a summer hailstorm.” Former President of the US, Jack Carter, has been charged with the murder of Amanda Harper, a “racy stunner,” junior lawyer in the White House counsel’s Office and the president’s paramour. Her strangled body was found in a horse stable in a public park with rope burns on her wrists and ankles. Flabbergasted at the charge against his high-school buddy Rob Jacobson was floored when the president insisted that Rob represent him in the case of the century.
Rob was well aware of Jack’s “magnetism, passion for control,” and at times his penchant for “casual cruelty”. Rob had endured the brunt of hurtful practical jokes by his so- called “best friend” who, in fact, had been a scoundrel toward Rob most of his high school life. But murder? Impossible! Under Rob’s questioning, Jack vigorously protests his innocence. He also declares he had had “no other affairs.” He even passes a lie detector test, the technician affirming, “as far as modern science can detect, you are an innocent man”. But it seems Jack is not quite as blameless as technology asserts when the post-mortem reports Amanda was pregnant with Jack’s child. Regardless of Jack’s base character, his fate depends on a jury in the court room of Judge Edgerton with forty years on the bench, he was a skeptical, no-nonsense jurist.
The plot thickens as clues pile up and Rob discovers the double life of his client with a string of women coming forward, as well as a list of suspects including Jack’s wife Jess whose pretrial testimony could convict and put her husband away for life. But it’s not sweet Jess rather someone much closer to the lawyer himself who may be the perpetrator of the most heinous crime. Author Laurence Robbins employs a plethora of smokescreens, cover-ups and a barrel full of red herrings to detract the reader from identifying the killer. The Presidents Lawyer is a pulse-pounder that resolves in a jaw-dropping conclusion. And just in time for the post-holiday blahs.