The Verdict
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3.7 • 10 Ratings
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
Terry Flynt is a struggling legal clerk, desperately trying to get promoted. And then he is given the biggest opportunity of his career: to help defend a millionaire accused of murdering a woman in his hotel suite.
The only problem is that the accused man, Vernon James, turns out to be not only someone he knows, but someone he loathes. This case could potentially make Terry's career, but how can he defend a former friend who betrayed him so badly?
With the trial date looming, Terry delves deeper into Vernon's life and is forced to confront secrets from their shared past that could have devastating consequences for them both. For years he has wanted to witness Vernon's downfall, but with so much at stake, how can Terry be sure that he is guilty? And what choices must he make to ensure that justice is done?
Packed with twists, turns and an unforgettable trial scene, The Verdict is the most page-turning British legal thriller in many years.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This propulsive legal thriller from Thriller Award winner Stone (Mr. Clarinet) centers on the arrest and impending trial seemingly a certain prosecutorial slam dunk of multimillionaire hedge funder Vernon James, a poor West Indian immigrant's son, for the murder of the young blond whose strangled body is found in his luxury suite at the London hotel where only hours earlier he accepted an award from the Hoffmann Trust, a liberal umbrella organization, as "Ethical Person of the Year." James's predicament should come as catnip to Terry Flynt at 38 hanging on by his fingernails to a job as a lowly legal clerk who blames James, his former childhood best friend, for getting him booted out of Cambridge and starting him on the downward spiral of booze and depression that nearly destroyed his life. But, as Flynt is stunned to discover when he's tapped to work on the defense team, his feelings are significantly more complicated, especially once the evidence he starts to uncover suggests that James might be innocent. Though not all the plot strands tie up as tightly as one might wish, the Machiavellian plotting, Old Bailey fireworks, and almost Dickensian richness of character and setting make this a standout.
Customer Reviews
Ultra vires
No one is nice, which nominally is fine, but it does all make it drag somewhat.
Terry’s ruined his life over a petty theft that no one, except him, ever cared about.
But what’s criminal about this book are the constant and repeated inaccuracies - gavels banging left right and centre, witness coaching, stealing evidence, the use of PIs, a clerk sat in the front row next to a Silk, and on it goes.
Frankly, it made me quite sad. There are a lot of compelling reviews for this book. A lot of those comment on the writing quality too, but I felt it came across as conceited and hammy; an odd and not that pleasant combination.
My verdict is read Benson and De Vere instead. If you’ve already done that then re-read Rumpole.