Judgment Day: A Mike Daley Mystery

This is the 6th book featuring Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez - law partners, divorced parents of two and lovers. With 8 days to go before the execution of noted defense attorney Nate Fineman, Mike and Rosie are hired to help stop the execution. And when Nate's "regular" lawyer drops dead of a heart attack, it is now up to them to get their client saved on their own. All of the regulars are back - including Mike's brother, PI Pete. This time though the case is more personal. Not only is their family threatened, but when they try to prove Nate was set up by a dirty cop, their father's reputation may be destroyed as he was one of the first on the scene. A virtual race to the wire proves another fantastic book in this series. Mike's fly by the seat of his pants courtroom questioning keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. . Will they be able to find the proof of a conspiracy they need in order to save their client? And at what cost to their family?? I love to see how these characters grow (both age wise and character wise) throughout the series. Mike and Rosie, although not the most prestigious lawyers in town, hold their own and continue to fight for the underdog - finding justice their own way.

This is one of the better Sheldon entries in the Michael Daley series. In this one Mike must race against the clock to save a "disreputable" lawyer from a date with the executioner. All the usual characters are back (Roosevelt, Pete, Rosie, Nick Hanson) and it climaxes with Mike hammering witnesses while improvising his strategy in front of the judge. Those familiar with the series will give it five stars!

Reviewed by Narayan Radhakrishnan for RebeccasReads (5/08) If you are looking forward to reading a Sheldon Siegel thriller each year, you are going to be disappointed. Siegel is not your regular off-the block lawyer-author who religiously delivers a legal thriller each year, come rain, sleet or shine.... A Siegel thriller is bound to hit the market once every three years or so, and whenever a Siegel novel is out, I make it a point to religiously read it. And after a four-year hiatus, when I got my hands on the new Mike Daley thriller "Judgment Day" by Sheldon Siegel, my joy knew no bounds. The novel was well worth the wait. Mike Daley is the series protagonist of this lawyer and author. A former priest, former corporate lawyer, and former husband to the female protagonist in the series, lawyer Rosie Fernandez, the criminal lawyer has had a tumultuous life -- both personal and professional. Marriage with Rosie never worked out, but as a professional team, there is nothing to stop them. Rosie is back on her feet after a life threatening cancer problem ("Final Verdict") and now both of them are hard at work in trying to prove a client's innocence. The only problem is that the client has already been found guilty and is now facing an execution date. Now better believe this one, the two lawyers are fighting for a client who himself is a lawyer (a mob lawyer by name Nathan Fineman) who is accused of murdering three persons, one of whom was a lawyer. With lawyers, lawyers everywhere, is it no wonder why Shakespeare once remarked "the first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." Fineman solidly proclaims his innocence and his defense is that he has been a victim of a police frame-up. Daley would have been the first to use this line of defense...but he has a problem: the policeman who reached the scene of the crime first was Daley's father, now deceased. A professional success for Daley would mean a reputation failure for Daley's father. And when judgment day finally approaches, Daley finds that the day is not only crucial for Daley the lawyer, but also for Mike Daley the son. The courtroom drama, as always, is simply crackling; the expertise with which Siegel describes the justice system, in all its procedural grandeur, convinces us that the author must have been one heck of a lawyer himself. And without being a spoilsport, let me say it, the ending is, mildly put, stunning. "Judgment Day" is highly enjoyable, a book worth buying and reading.

Well, Siegel you disrupted my 4th of July weekend. I bought your book with plans of sitting around the pool leisurely reading for the long weekend. Instead, I started Friday noon and had to delay dinner as I couldn't put the book down. As guests waited, I raced, with Mike and Rosie, to one court filing after another, in the successive petition filing that makes up Death Penalty litigation. Each chapter left me hanging with either hope or impending doom. I couldn't stop. Shortly after p. 300, I was able to take a break and eat as the characters prepared for the court hearing. But I returned with them, after my dinner, to the exciting conclusion. While the novel is thoroughly entertaining, and the characters and San Francisco setting reminiscent of John Lescroart's novels, I can't help marveling at the historical roots of our legal system. While Seigel takes no position on the death penalty, he exposes--perhaps inadvertently, as he is not one to use his novels for political purposes--the critical role played by the writ of habeas corpus for an individual seeking relief from government action that would take life. At a time when the vote of but one Supreme Court justice (in the Gitmo case) has upheld, by a thread, the fundamental place of this writ in our system, it is instructive to ponder how Judgment Day would have been different without it. Well, enough about law. What I really liked is Mike and Rosie. At the end of each Siegel book, I root for them to get back together. But I also come away feeling that Sheldon Siegel must have a very nice relationship with his wife to write so convincingly of the loving relationship of these two parents and lovers. John M. Poswall, author of the novels "The Lawyers: Class of '69" and "The Altar Boys."

...THIS job. Nate Fineman is in a mess; he is a 77 year-old legend in the San Francisco legal community who has made himself a "reputation", and a ton of money, defending rich low-lifes when they deal drugs, murder cops and other drug dealers, etc. Nate The Great had it all, but 10 years ago the sudden demise of two dope king pins and a crooked lawyer landed him on Death Row, where he has a date with the needle in nine and a half days. The San Fran Cops wanted his neck for years, and finally got it.... Enter Mike and Rosie, old friends of ours by now, who make a great legal team, have two kids, and the craziest divorce on record. Nate needs all the help he can get, and wants to hire them, along with Pete, Mike's PI brother, for the final appeals. The Law has no tougher job, and it is sure evidence of Sheldon's great skill that he can make us feel the stress. [Sheldon is a corporate attorney, and hasn't actually handled a death penalty appeal]. Naturally, Nate claims innocence [there are no "guilty" men on death row], but he has some rather specific charges about the alleged frame-up, and the part Mike and Pete's Dad [now deceased] played in it. Ouch. Now, I have to be careful, lest I spoil it for you..... Sheldon takes us on a heck of a ride...tense, fast-paced, draining...that is sure to draw up conflicting emotions about both legal obligations and family loyalties. Several of our old friends are here...Roosevelt Johnson is retired now, but sharp as ever; he was well involved in the original case, hates Nate, but remains honorable. Mort The Sport Goldberg was Nate's original Counsel. He's had a stroke, has good days and bad, but can still turn on the fire. Nick Hanson is involved in everything, always has been, and remains ageless. Rabbi Friedman from "Special Circumstances" is back...he is one of Sheldon's best creations, a model for all clergymen, of whatever faith. OK, I've said enough. This MAY be Sheldon's best, and I will not ruin it for you.. Start with time left to finish it in one sitting; you will be pulled straight along, and won't be able to stop. It is NOT a polemic on either side of the Capital Punishment debate. I have no idea how Sheldon feels about the matter [bravo Sheldon]; heck, I'm not even 100% sure how I feel. The loudest defender of capital punishment would stop short of executing the innocent, and the most vocal opponent wouldn't want his daughter dating Ted Bundy; this controversy has points on both sides that will not be settled here. But, you will definitely have quite an adventure, and be forced to think at the same time.