The Judgment

Another great legal thriller by one of the best legal thriller writers in America. Lots of spins and curves. But the victim is so ruthless it is difficult to have any sympathy for him.

Attorney Joseph Antonelli's life is intertwined with the lives of murdered judges Clavin Jeffries and Quincy Griswold. After a seemingly innocent mentally deficient man is being railroad for the latter murder he decides to take up his defense and find out why and by whom the judges were murdered. This is one of the best legal thrillers I read in quite a long time. The story is gripping with enough plot twists and turns that you never know what will happen next. We get a glimpse of Antonelli's early law years involving the judges. The early years' story is as interesting as the later present time story. It's almost like getting two good books in one. This story keeps the reader involved until the very last page.

So many books in this genre start with introducing us to the protagonist, and he or she has had some heroic feat in the not too distant past (i.e., the last book), just waiting for another. Joseph Antonelli is just your average guy, who had a brilliant performance once before that is worth telling us about, but not much since. Come to think of it, this is pretty much the story of the average criminal defense lawyer. We plod along, trying case after case, handling crisis after crisis, but there is no magic in what we've done. Once in a great while, maybe once a decade, we see a "Perry Mason" moment in a trial. Such is Antonelli's lot. His come along once a decade, too. All these books have a trial. I got halfway through this book before I discovered that the trial was still a long way away, and enjoyed every second of the plot development up to that point. In fact, Buffa's writing style is so fluid and flawless that I could read all day and enjoy the development and confluence of three or four plot lines, two past, two current. Why so slow? Well, it's not slow at all. Everything, we shall see, has a purpose. The blurbs on the slip cover are all true. I do what Antonelli does, and I do not like reading gratuitous books about criminal defense lawyers that tell us nothing of the human condition. What I am looking for in somebody I can identify with, and I seldom identify with any lawyer I read about. Reading just a story wastes my time. This is not "just a story." I am impressed with this book, and that is difficult to do. This is one of the ten best I've read in this genre. One reviewer, also a novelist, compares The Judgment to Presumed Innocent ("Not since Presumed Innocent have a read a thriller so equally balanced between the convolutions of the legal process and those of the human heart ...."). Comparing any book to Presumed Innocent is potential hyperbole, and it should raise red flags with anyone. Here, it does not--it is a fair comparison. But remember, Presumed Innocent is a different book in a different style. And that is as it should be. Reading knock offs of other books is a waste of time, and we might as well read romance novels. It is satisfying to read something good again.

Circuit Court Judge Calvin Jeffries ranked with this country's best legal minds, but his reputation to the public involved over use perhaps abuse of court power. Many attorneys who felt Jeffries unfairly undermined a defense were not toasting the deceased. However, surprisingly, the individual who murdered the Judge in the court parking lot was a homeless person not connected to the victim. Attorney Joseph Antonelli, not a Jeffries fan, accepts the defense of the accused judge killer. When the suspect kills himself, the case seems over, but Jeffries' widow thinks otherwise. Soon someone murders a second judge and the police shout copycat and arrest another homeless person. Antonelli begins to wonder if Mrs. Jeffries is right that something more sinister is the cause behind the homicides and who is next? The story line of THE JUDGMENT is a fast-paced, exciting legal thriller. The cast is fully drawn and seem real, especially the hero and the first dead Judge. Though Antonelli speaks in a stilted tongue in what sounds like to much legalese for everyday discussions, he remains a powerful caring character who readers will like but ask him to speak in plain English. D.W. Buffa provides the audience with a strong legal thriller that fans will enjoy, but need a few days to read.Harriet Klausner

Murder isn't a dead certainty in "The Judgment," the latest thriller from former defense attorney D. W. Buffa. What is without doubt are the topnotch audio book readings by Dennis Predovic in the unabridged release and Ron McLarty in the abridged version. Dennis Pedrovic has a voice often heard in commercials and cartoons, as well as television appearances on "Law and Order" and a number of soap operas to his credit. Hollywood and television both claim Ron McLarty who has appeared in numerous films, such as "The Postman," "Mean Streak," and "Heartburn." Acknowledged as possessing a keen legal mind, Judge Calvin Jeffries disdained the law and worshiped power. His murder in a courthouse parking lot paralyzes the community, but is hardly mourned by attorney Joseph Antonelli whose worked has been plagued by Judge Jeffries' decisions. But this time the wheels of justice roll - the Judge's murderer is apprehended. The killer confesses, and then commits suicide. Case closed? Not really. Another judge is murdered in the same manner and Antonelli agrees to represent the defendant in what seems to be a copycat crime.