Undue Influence
A Novel
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
This story is less than a "who done it" and more of "why did he do it" and "where did he get it." Why would an 83-year-old Catholic bookkeeper leave a fortune to a Jewish Synagogue? Where did he get the millions he left? Where is his family? This book shows that the drama of a civil lawsuit is every bit as dramatic as any criminal trial, and that people will fight for money every bit as hard as they will fight for freedom or for their lives.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Attorney Yastrow's slow-starting first novel takes place in Chicago's law offices, a quack cancer clinic and a judge's chambers. But just when readers may be ready to give up, the author's detailed knowledge of the legal system, his feisty villains, believable heroes and intriguingly original plot all take hold, creating a first-rate suspense story that is hard to put down. The centerpiece of the tale is Benjamin Stillman, low-paid bookkeeper at a brokerage firm, who dies at 83. Stillman leaves $8 million to a synagogue he had never attended; in fact, he was a Catholic. Philip Ogden is the small-time lawyer who unexpectedly becomes the protector of the will. Ogden's challenges include determining whether any heirs exist, deciding why someone would leave all his wealth to an institution representing a religion he himself didn't espouse, and learning where all the assets came from. Was Stillman a humanitarian thief? In any case, this is an engaging picture of the legal profession portrayed as corrupt, egotistical and morally complex.
