Offer of Proof: A Novel

Read and loved John Grisham's first couple of novels, but they quickly got stale for me. The imitators didn't even make it past the bookstore coffee shop. Picked up "Offer of Proof" and barely put it down til I'd finished. Heilbrun writes both a good plot and character driven novel, which is hard to do for old-timers. As a debut offering, this novel is a stunner. Ten years ago, Harvard-educated Archibald Gold, the first legit member of his family, walked away from a high-salary corporate law firm and his equally high-maintenance corporate attorney wife to become an underpaid public defender. Yes, he's gotten guilty people off. To effect, he says anyone who has a problem with defending guilty people needs to find another profession. What drives him to cross over the line is when he's got an innocent defendant in the first death penalty case in New York State in 50 years. That's all you need to know. Heilbrun spins a fine yarn and doesn't drop a stitch in the final picture. The only question I'm left with at the end of the book is: WHEN IS THE NEXT ONE COMING OUT????

Offer of Proof combines the best of Linda Fairstein, John Grisham and Lawrence Block (Matt Scudder series). Unlike Fairstein, Heilbrun actually takes us into the courtroom. We learn how the law really works, a series of bargains and random outcomes -- very scary. Unlike Grisham, Heilbrun delivers realistic characters and challenges that are realistic, not larger than life. And unlike Block in his Scudder series, Heilbrun creates a proactive character who's lost a lot but manages to avoid the down-and-out-detective stereotype. Hero Arch Gold takes chances and sometimes loses. He's smart but he's no super-hero -- a three-dimensional character with depth.And Heilbrun maintains a fast pace. There's no temptation to skip a section or read ahead. We're introduced right away to the black 18-year-old who managed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, who lacks the maturity to be "managed" to make the jury like him. And we're on edge as the defense experiences one setback after another, up to the nail-biting moment when Gold faces a crackerjack prosecutor. Best of all, the ending seems satisfactory, with a last-minute curve that works. When you go back over the first part of the book you realize Heilbrun didn't miss a detail. He doesn't drop clues but he's totally consistent.So what's not to like? Well, if you start thinking too much about the legal system, you can get scared. Justice depends on luck of the draw. A good lawyer won't protect you from a bad judge and a hanging jury. It's all a game, a dueling match between hired guns. If you've had misgivings about the system before you pick up this up, you may find yourself tossing and turning, just like the hero does.

Heilbrun's debut novel was a welcome jolt of excitement for my literary doldrums. I've been in the mood for a courtroom thriller, but most of the recent books I'd picked up in the genre all looked hell-bent on boring me to pieces with overlong plots full of convoluted and contrived plotting narrated by a stoic, boring, and morally upstanding protagonist.Not this one! Arch Gold is a bit underdeveloped as the main character, but since Gold is narrating, who cares? The story zips along from chapter-to-chapter, and no space is wasted on boring filler material. If James Patterson were still writing good books, and tried his hand at a legal thriller, this might be the book he'd come up with. The story was interesting, the humor frequent, and my satisfaction complete.

Well, all I can say is three cheers for Mr. Heilbrun for writing a superior crime novel. Why superior? Because the guy obviously knows what he's writing about and knows how to describe it so that it is simultaneously entertaining, deeply informative, and with a real credo behind it. Heilbrun has a great ear. Each character has his/her own distinct and unique voice, many of them quirky and funny, others even quite moving. And the ending will surprise you! Here's hoping Heilbrun's next book with Arch Gold is on its way soon. This has to be a series. Readers will demand it.

New York legal-aid public defender Arch Gold is assigned the Damon Tucker murder trial. Damon is a poor kid from Harlem accused of killing businesswoman Charlotte King during a mugging incident. Besides the obvious class warfare angle, the media frenzy focuses on the first New York death penalty case since the early 1960s when the state tested the impact of electricity on Wood.Arch believes that his client is innocent and thanks to Damon's persistence, he checks into the background of the victim to see if anyone had a motive. Arch quickly learns that Charlotte had an affair with her employer, James L. Yates of Yates Associates. Feeling he has found the real culprit, Arch tries illegally breaking and entering before turning to former clients in a desperate attempt to free Damon and place Yates on trial.OFFER OF PROOF is sure to be considered by legal thriller fans as one of the top five sub-genre novels of the year. The story line is action packed and loaded with a strong often eccentric cast of characters. Arch is a great protagonist willing to cross the legal line to insure justice occurs. This book offers anecdotal proof that Robert Heilbrun is on his way to the sub-genre supreme court of authors.Harriet Klausner