Line of Vision

This is everything that someone looking to read a legal thriller wants to see in a book. Great courtroom scenes, legal dueling behind the scenes, twists and turns in nearly every chapter, and an ending that will shock are all present here. When I was reading this book, I was consistently reminded of Scott Turow's classic, Presumed Innocent, though this book is not quite up to that standard. It's close though.Some of the negative reviews here confuse me, since I really didn't see anything not to like in this novel. Yes, it is in first person, which can detract from some books, but I think that only adds to a novel like this. The main characters are well developed. The book flows well and the surprise ending is just crafty enough that it's difficult to guess but still believable. This writer will be very popular very quickly, so if you want to say that you were on the bandwagon before everyone else, read it now. Ellis is like John Grisham before he realized that he didn't have to try anymore and it shows here.

This is a very clever book that starts with, and is told from the point of view of, Marty Kalish who is outside his lover's house preparing for his weekly peepshow that she treats him to. Instead, he witnesses her husband physically abusing her and is compelled to take action to save her. The wash up of the opening scene is that the husband winds up dead and Marty disposes of the body and sets about trying to supply himself with an alibi.The rest of the book is a terrific account of the resulting murder trial and the defense pit on for a man who looks, for all the world as if he's guilty. I thought some of the more inspired parts of the book came from being made privy to Marty's thought processes as he set up his alibi. He kept assuring himself that everything would be alright and that he didn't have a thing to worry about. This was in stark contrast to reality when he would open his mouth and undo all of his carefully laid plans.This book is brilliantly plotted and very cleverly set out. It casts doubt at every turn, even to the point of causing me to wonder about whether Marty was deluding himself about his relationship with Rachel, the star of his peepshow. The courtroom scenes were continually snappy and interesting which seems to be increasingly rare with legal thrillers. The fortune of the protagonist swings wildly from witness to witness which caused me to wonder how on earth it was going to end up.Here is a book that deals with a defendant who is patently guilty, I mean, he as much as admits that to us very early on. It's just a question of finding out exactly what it is he's guilty of.

In this ingenious first novel, David Ellis tells the story in this psychological legal thriller through commentary by the main character, Marty Kalish, an investment banker. Kalish, an up-and-comer in a prestigious firm, tells us his story in real time and flashbacks of a love affair with married socialite Rachel Reinhardt. Early in the novel, we learn that Marty killed her surgeon husband who was in the process of beating Rachel. Or what did happen? Marty proceeds to build alibis, ditch evidence but is still arrested for the murder despite the lack of a body or any physical evidence connecting him to the murder scene.Through the preparation for the trial, we learn more about Marty whose life was focused on succeeding in business to build up personal wealth. Except for a close relationship to his nephew, Marty has few redeeming relationships in his life. You do build a strange kinship with him in his struggle to build a defense and in his reactions to events with his former lover.The most spellbinding part of this novel is that as it proceeds, Marty's exposition of what really happened keeps changing....This baffles both the defense lawyers and the reader and when the final solution unwinds in the last pages, you may be surprised. However unlike other surprise endings this one ends in a very satisfying way, with ends tied up very logically.I thoroughly enjoyed this fast paced novel and look forward to future legal thrillers by Mr. Ellis.

It seems like there's an awful lot of lawyers turned authors writing legal thrillers right now, but David Ellis's LINE OF VISION is a wicked, heart-stopping original thriller that is impossible to put down.Marty Kalish, a young investment banker, is accused of killing his lover's husband. Marty is an opportunist---devious and manipulative as he uses his friends and the legal system to suit his needs during his trial. You may not always like Marty, but there's something you have to admire about his deviousness. This is an extremely well-written novel, where things are not always what they seem, but Ellis manages to pull all the plot twists together by the final page. Looking for a really great page-turner? LINE OF VISION is it.

I typically read almost 100 books per year, most of them fiction. I picked this one up on a lark and am so glad I did. What a novel! From page one, I was enthralled in the story. I held my breath during the fresh approach that Ellis uses as a story-telling technique. We watch the action unfold through the eyes of the main character and we think we know what has happened. The murder takes place early on and we "see" it happen. But did we see everything? We aren't sure. In fact we aren't sure until the very last page of the book.I was pleased to read a mystery/crime novel that wasn't all police procedural or all court-room drama. The story is fleshed out very nicely, and I found the characters to be multi-dimensional. There are several sub-plots to the story but they all relate to the main theme and serve to push the experience forward. And most importantly, I really cared what happened to the characters.I am looking forward to Mr. Nellis' next work with great anticipation. It will be hard to top this one but it will be fun trying.