Pleasantville
Summary (from the publisher): In this sophisticated thriller, lawyer Jay Porter, hero of Locke’s bestseller Black Water Rising, returns to fight one last case, only to become embroiled once again in a dangerous game of shadowy politics and a witness to how far those in power are willing to go to win
Fifteen years after the events of Black Water Rising, Jay Porter is struggling to cope with catastrophic changes in his personal life and the disintegration of his environmental law practice. His victory against Cole Oil is still the crown jewel of his career, even if he hasn’t yet seen a dime thanks to appeals. But time has taken its toll. Tired and restless, he's ready to quit.
When a girl goes missing on Election Night, 1996, in the neighborhood of Pleasantville—a hamlet for upwardly-mobile blacks on the north side of Houston—Jay, a single father, is deeply disturbed. He’s been representing Pleasantville in the wake of a chemical fire, and the case is dragging on, raising doubts about his ability.
The missing girl was a volunteer for one of the local mayoral candidates, and her disappearance complicates an already heated campaign. When the nephew of one of the candidates, a Pleasantville local, is arrested, Jay reluctantly finds himself serving as a defense attorney. With a man’s life and his own reputation on the line, Jay is about to try his first murder in a case that will also put an electoral process on trial, exposing the dark side of power and those determined to keep it.
Fifteen years after the events of Black Water Rising, Jay Porter is struggling to cope with catastrophic changes in his personal life and the disintegration of his environmental law practice. His victory against Cole Oil is still the crown jewel of his career, even if he hasn’t yet seen a dime thanks to appeals. But time has taken its toll. Tired and restless, he's ready to quit.
When a girl goes missing on Election Night, 1996, in the neighborhood of Pleasantville—a hamlet for upwardly-mobile blacks on the north side of Houston—Jay, a single father, is deeply disturbed. He’s been representing Pleasantville in the wake of a chemical fire, and the case is dragging on, raising doubts about his ability.
The missing girl was a volunteer for one of the local mayoral candidates, and her disappearance complicates an already heated campaign. When the nephew of one of the candidates, a Pleasantville local, is arrested, Jay reluctantly finds himself serving as a defense attorney. With a man’s life and his own reputation on the line, Jay is about to try his first murder in a case that will also put an electoral process on trial, exposing the dark side of power and those determined to keep it.
Review: I received an uncorrected proof copy of this book from HarperCollins.
This novel follows Jay Porter, lawyer and recent widower who is raising his two children alone when he is embroiled in representing a client arrested for murdering a young campaign volunteer. Jay quickly realizes that the murder and the events surrounding it aren't purely about the young girl who was killed, but have deep roots in the political aspirations of those running for the mayoral campaign - and possibly even larger political seats. The novel is set in 1996 in Pleasantville, a neighborhood for more upper class blacks on the north side of Houston, a neighborhood that Jay has spent his whole law career fighting to protect. This case threatens the very core of his community, but also his already broken family's safety.
This novel is in fact the sequel to an earlier novel by Locke that follows an earlier case of Jay Porter's. Had I not been provided an advance copy, I likely would not have read this sequel, since it bothers me to read books out of order and because it does build upon events in the first book. However, I did not have any problem following the narration and catching up on the characters, and the case covered in this novel is a new one, separate from the first book.
Throughout the novel, Jay's safety, and that of his family, is continually threatened. Someone breaks into his office and garage, a car is seen tailing him, papers are stolen from his work and home, and Jay is aggressively attacked and beaten. Yet Jay never bothers to warn his children or at least their caretaker about the added risk. I found this to be a serious character flaw for me and an implausible detail. I don't belief that a man who had just lost his wife would be so cavalier about his children's lives or that he would express such relatively little fear for his or his children's personal safety until it escalates to the point where his daughter goes missing.
There's also just a lot going on in this murder case. Undercover campaign volunteers, family fallout in the Hathorne family, two girls who disappeared and were murdered in a similar manner to this case, the ongoing saga of Jay's case against the chemical company that caused severe health issues among his many clients in the area, secret campaigns plotting to get Bush in the White House in 2000. Although I understand that Jay apparently has a stellar reputation, it seems unlikely that he would have been chosen by a wealthy client for a murder trial when his expertise is civil law. Indeed, he argues his case by relying on innuendo and statements that immediately lead to objections, but which linger in the jury's ears. A fairly decent political crime thriller, but not one that can compare to other giants in this genre, such as John Grisham.
Stars: 3
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