Prejudicial Error

I recently read Blum's third book, "The Face of Justice," and was so impressed that I picked up a copy of his debut novel, "Prejudicial Error."It's always interesting to see the trajectory of a writer's progress and Bill Blum's first effort was extremely well-written and dense with fully realized characters. Although the subject matter is not new--down on his luck lawyer takes on case that can make or break him--Blum transcends the formula that in less-skilled hands would have been cliche ridden.Blum has a dark cynical view of L.A. and the legal system that is well articulated and brought to life with strong characters and trenchant observations on the society and politics.Finally, I love the way this guy knows the law--you can tell he's been there in the trenches because he gets the procedural facts right and everything else, too.Highly recommended.