“With The Legal Limit, Clark has once again outdone himself. His novels are getting better and better. He has the right knacks for pulling raw materials from real life and turning them into well-plotted, beautifully worded and imaginative works of fiction. Martin Clark is the new standard by which other works of legal fiction should be judged. – Linda Brinson, Winston-Salem Journal “A masterful blend of legal arcana and suspense. “A model of how to write a literary legal thriller with an ironic sense of humor. This is probably the best court story I have ever heard or read. Two brothers and a murder are at the center of this fine and fleshy legal thriller by Judge Clark (Plain Heathen Mischief, 2004, etc.). In this thriller, Clark explores the boundaries between right and justice, sin and forgiveness, brotherly bonding and betrayal. Mason is at the center of an ethical dilemma, but he is no less convincing than his brother, mother, and even Mason`s partner. Clark “draws characters as well as Scott Turow and does plots and John Grisham,” notes the Oregonian, but critics have agreed that Clark`s background has given him a better understanding of legal intricacies. Humor, sharp “Convincing..
High octane number. By skillfully weaving a plot that includes lie detectors, wiretapping, and obscure legal principles, the author creates a world where family ties can easily become traps. “A legal thriller. Take him to the beach and turn the pages out of breath. Then think about the deeper topics on that long ride home. A masterful mix of legal arcana and bare-handed suspense, with a drop of dirty pork barrel politics. First novel, it is also a first-person account of Scout`s (Jean Louise) memory of the years leading up to the end of a mystery, the fracture of his brother Jem`s elbow, the death of his father`s enemy – and the end of his childhood. A widower, Atticus raised his children with legal passion and paternal intelligence and was skillfully favored by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s stayed away from its deviation from its tribal models. Scout and Jem with their summer companion Dill find their way free of disturbance – but no danger; his curiosity for the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past throws itself into his play, leads to a timid conviviality; his fear of Atticus` lack of discernment dissipates when he shoots a mad dog; His defense of a black woman accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with great interest and turns the whites of the crowd against him. Scout is the way to avoid an attack on Atticus, but when he loses the case, it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella`s father when he tries to assassinate her.
The shadows of an early beginning for black and white understanding, Scout`s persistent struggle against school, Jem`s emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia`s silent power, and all the incidents that touch on the “outer growth of children” have an attractive force that keeps this southern image relevant and provocative. There is a lot of interest in this book; it was selected by the Literary Guild and Reader`s Digest; He should win a lot of friends. Entertainment Weekly called Martin Clark “without a doubt our best legal thriller writer.” The New York Times called him “the John Grisham of the thinking man.” The Winston-Salem Journal stated that he had “set the new standard that other works of legal fiction should be judged,” and David Baldacci praised him as “a truly original writer.” A retired judge of the District Court for the District of Patrick County, Virginia, Martin graduated from Davidson College with Phi Beta Kappa and attended the University of Virginia Law School. When he was appointed a judge in 1992 at the age of thirty-two, he became one of the youngest judges in Commonwealth history. His novels have appeared on several bestseller lists, and the audio version of The Substitution Order has become a national bestseller. In addition, his novels have been named New York Times Notable Book, New York Times Editors` Choice, Washington Post Book World Best Book of the Year, Bookmarks Magazine Best Book of the Year, Boston Globe Best Book of the Year, Book-of-the-Month Club selection, finalist for the Stephen Crane First Fiction Award, and the winner of the People Choice Award from the Library of Virginia in 2009. 2016 and 2020. He received the Patrick County Outstanding Community Service Award in 2016 and the Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award from the Virginia State Bar in 2018. Martin`s wife, Deana, is a photographer and lives on a farm with dogs, cats, chickens, guinea fowl and three donkeys. The author`s latest film, based on one of his own cases, is set in his small hometown: Stuart, Virginia.
It began in 1984. Gates Hunt is 27 and his little brother Mason is 24. Her father Curt, wicked as they come, used to beat her mercilessly; he also made the life of his long-suffering wife Sadie Grace a living hell before finally disappearing.