The Devil's Advocate

THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE is a modernized version of Paradise Lost or Faust or countless other tales where the devil incarnate wreaks his particular brand of hellish doom. Our hero, Kevin Taylor, starts out defending a teacher accused of sexual abuse of one of her students. A strange man named John Milton is at this trial and watches with pleasure as Kevin gets the defendant off, even though he knows she is probably guilty. This Milton person offers Kevin a position at his high-powered firm in Manhattan, and after his own law firm chastises him for taking on such a high profile case, Kevin tells them to stick it and off he and his wife Miriam go to Manhattan. This firm has lawyers who never lose a case; Milton puts them up rent free in his own apartment complex; he gives them gifts; he seems to know everything about them, and kaboom Miriam and the other Stepford wive wannabes get along so well, it's almost frightening. Then when Kevin starts having nightmares about sexual encounters with his wife which he can't remember in the morning, he knows something is amiss. We all know it because we bought the book and read the preview information, so to speak. Neiderman keeps us interested as Kevin realizes there is more to life than power and fame. Predictable at times, and surprising at others, the tale weaves its way to a rather depressing ending, but does Kevin deserve anything better? Well written and spooky.

The author of "The Devil's Advocate" Andrew Neiderman has created a readable story as well as a thought provoking composition.One of the character's names is "John Milton," which immediately brought me back in time to a college lit. class and the classic "Paradise Lost" by John Milton."Paradise" is the prize it seems in this extremely well written tale about a young attorney with his eye on winning and establishing himself as a champion lawyer;headed for all the wealth and status that can come with it: hence, his paradise.In the pursuit of his "paradise" main character Kevin must come to grips with what he may have lost in his all too quickly acquired "paradise." Is it all worth it?Reading this novel after having seen the blockbuster movie (inspired by Neiderman's novel), I wish I'd read the book first. Neiderman's creative genius was a little "lost" on me since I kept seeing actor Keanu Reeves, who played the role of Kevin and Al Pacino in the role of John Milton, instead of being able to imagine freely what the author crafted...but then again, seeing those two actors in my head wasn't all that bad...good job casting!The struggle between what we believe "paradise" should be and what it needs to be is beautifully tackled in this outstanding tale of paradise(?)lost.....I highly recommend this book.

This is one of the greatest things to come along since sliced bread. It captures the essence of all that is evil in the world. Without using vampires, werewolves, or other creatures, this book captivates its audience with an apocolyptic account of what very well may occur in the future. This book puts life into focus and deals with some very strong issues. If this one does not leave you saying, "that was awesome," then something is wrong with you. Highly recommended. This book is not for the timid.

Never has novel (or movie for that matter) captured the TRUE nature of evil. The book puts the film to shame. It's still the 'ultimate lawyer joke' except with less humor and more irony. I'm glad it has been re-published. Many kudos to Neiderman.

It is an awesome book in my opinion--I can't wait to see the movie?