Religious Convictions

I'm biased in favor of Grif Stockley, I admit. I practice law in the same town, and I have had a case or two against him. I like him. That aside, I'm an avid reader of this genre and even if I didn't know and like Grif, I'd really love his books.What I respect and admire about his writing is that he brings reality to his characters. The reality he is able to convey is not some stark picture of poverty or prejudice or some equally profound aspect of society, but the frustration a lawyer feels with uncooperative clients, the unfathomability of attitudes and opinions alien to us, and the natural tensions of relationships. I think we can all agree that Significant Others aren't always soul-mates who complement what is lacking in ourselves. Certainly our children say and do things that are totally incomprehensible to us. Gideon Page, the lawyer protagonist in Grif Stockley's novels, suffers a double slap in the face when his daughter and his girlfriend join a charismatic fundamentalist congregation, exercising religion in a way Gideon seems to feel is the antithesis of free conscious reason and thought. Then, to make matters worse, he is confronted by that same church when the preacher's daughter becomes his client. Assertive, charismatic, Christian fundamentalism can be bewildering and even offensive to those who view themselves as more "mainstream" or perhaps don't actively practice much religion at all. Confronted with this church and its charismatic preacher, Gideon is repulsed. He is thrust into close contact with not only the preacher and his client, but with the preacher's family and the spooky wife and child of his co-counsel, Chet Bracken. Despite what some non-lawyers may believe, many, many clients are uncooperative, secretive, and completely untruthful with their attorneys. Lots of times clients have something to hide, or want to accomplish something they know their lawyer wouldn't condone. How many times has every trial lawyer in America said to an uncooperative client, "You MUST tell me everything because unless I know absolutely everything I can't protect you from anything"? Gideon Page has not only an uncooperative client, but an uncooperative co-counsel on this case, though. Not only is the client avoiding him, but Chet Bracken, the lawyer who asked Gideon to help with the case, won't come clean about it. And now Chet is dying and Gideon is going to have to handle the case without knowing anything about it. Frantically investigating every miniscule lead, Gideon's worst fear comes to be that his client might actually be innocent.When it becomes obvious that Chet Bracken isn't preparing for trial, Gideon attempts to do his best in a virtual vaccuum. Nobody will tell him the truth. Bit by agonizing bit he learns disparate facts that still don't make sense. The investigative trail seems to lead suspiciously to the preacher himself -- is the daughter going to take a fall for Daddy so Daddy won't lose his flock? But wait

This was certainly not your run of the mill legal thriller. From Stockley we are already used to have sharp and witty observations, but in this third book in the Gideon Page series he outperforms himself.In fact, it is not a legal thriller at all. The protagonists enter the courtroom only towards the end of the book and then only for a brief period.It is much more a story about the relationship between father and daughter. Gideon and Sarah go through a very difficult time together when Gideon has to defend a girl who is suspected of killing her husband. Gideon wants to attack in his case the girl's father, a highly respected preacher to whose church Sarah is drawn.The doubts of Gideon as a father and the complete lack of doubt and the righteousness of Sarah are beautifully drawn. A very satisfactory read.