The Prosecution

Rating:
Summary: A flawed, but interesting, legal thriller.
Review: "The Defense," by the same author, was riveting, and "The Prosecution" has some of the same qualitites that made the former book so engrossing. Joe Antonelli is a fine protagonist and the book has sharp dialogue and a brisk pace. The problem is the last quarter of the book. The resolutions to the crimes are too convoluted and unrealistic. In an attempt to keep the reader off balance, the author throws in too many twists and turns. He is game playing, which does not make for good plotting. Buffa should have reduced some of the plot complications at the end, and he should have attempted to make the characters' motivations and actions more realistic. This book had the potential to be first rate, but it missed because of the over-the-top ending.

Rating:
Summary: D W Buffa tells it like it is.
Review:

D W Buffa is not just another attorney-turned-author. He's the real deal. His characters are not perfect and his courtroom scenes aren't drawn from the pages of Perry Mason. His heroes have flaws and his villains have good points.

In THE PROSECUTION, Portland attorney Joseph Antonelli leaves his self-imposed exile and signs on as a special prosecutor involving two Deputy District Attorneys. He leaves his home on the hill and comes back as a favor to his old friend, Judge Horace Woolner.

This book is really three stories wrapped, as only Buffa can do, in a nice, tidy package. Story one: the murder of a Deputy District Attorney's wife. Story two: the murder of a prominent member of Portland's old-line society. Story three: the coming back to life of Joseph Antonelli.

Buffa's stories aren't nice and tidy -- they're about real life. The way he constructs them, however, is as close to precision as an author can get.

So far, he's been able to avoid the trap of other successful authors. He's stayed sharp, crisp and real.

Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: A First Rate Legal Thriller
Review: Buffa is a terrific writer and this book, the second in a series, is a great read. I really enjoy the characters in these novels and through the authors skill, I felt close to them and cared about them. Grisham wishes he could write this well. Don't read this book until you have read the author's "Defense" novel. You'll understand this one much better after the complete setup that occurs in that book. I read this book and then turned around and read it through again. I don't believe I've ever done that before. Enjoyed it both times.

Rating:
Summary: Glib practitioner
Review: I would guess that Mr Buffa had his plot flowchart well defined before he wrote that first word. Like Harlan Coban, his twists and surprises are ' clever ' and rarely disturbing. His attempts at giving the characters some depth is usually confined to describing how they sit, stand and stretch. Like Jefferson Parker, he has had to write two stories to fill the required number of pages.

Rating:
Summary: D. W. BUFFA -- A GREAT LEGAL MIND
Review: If you like legal thrillers set in courtrooms, then who better to read than an author who has been a defense attorney for ten years. Buffa isn't your run-of-the-mill attorney turned author. His characters are a step above the rest and his storylines keep you guessing. While reading his books, you are as unsure of a guilty/not guilty verdict as are the attorneys prosecuting and defending the cases.

In this book, Joe Antonelli, who was a defense attorney in Buffa's first novel "The Defense", resurfaces -- this time as a prosecuting attorney. Those of us who left Joe off, after reading The Defense, weren't sure if he would ever return to practicing law. He was so disenchanted by the events surrounding his last case, that he went into retirement. Fortunately for the reader, he is convinced to reenter the courtroom by another mentor and friend, Judge Horace Woolner. Since this case is so close to home for the Portland D.A.'s office, Antonelli is brought in as a special prosecutor. It turns out that Woolner has received information that could implicate the city's deputy district attorney in his own wife's death. Up until the verdict is given by the jury, you're not sure which way it's going to go. Of course, you'll have to read the book to witness one of the best legal minds out there today.

And, just when you think that this one case may just put Joe over the edge again, he is asked to defend Horace's wife who has now been arrested in connection with the death of a member of a prominent Portland family, who also happens to be her "good" friend.

Buffa gives us two mysteries in one in The Prosecution. I read his first book The Defense a few years ago and was immediately drawn to the main character Joe Antonelli. He's ruthless yet sensitive, educated but not overbearing and very, very vulnerable at this point in his life. I look forward to entering the courtroom once again with Joe Antonelli in the future. If I could give him one piece of advice, after reading these two books, it would be to pick better mentors and friends!!!

Rating:
Summary: D. W. BUFFA -- A GREAT LEGAL MIND
Review: If you like legal thrillers set in courtrooms, then who better to read than an author who has been a defense attorney for ten years. Buffa isn't your run-of-the-mill attorney turned author. His characters are a step above the rest and his storylines keep you guessing. While reading his books, you are as unsure of a guilty/not guilty verdict as are the attorneys prosecuting and defending the cases.

In this book, Joe Antonelli, who was a defense attorney in Buffa's first novel "The Defense", resurfaces -- this time as a prosecuting attorney. Those of us who left Joe off, after reading The Defense, weren't sure if he would ever return to practicing law. He was so disenchanted by the events surrounding his last case, that he went into retirement. Fortunately for the reader, he is convinced to reenter the courtroom by another mentor and friend, Judge Horace Woolner. Since this case is so close to home for the Portland D.A.'s office, Antonelli is brought in as a special prosecutor. It turns out that Woolner has received information that could implicate the city's deputy district attorney in his own wife's death. Up until the verdict is given by the jury, you're not sure which way it's going to go. Of course, you'll have to read the book to witness one of the best legal minds out there today.

And, just when you think that this one case may just put Joe over the edge again, he is asked to defend Horace's wife who has now been arrested in connection with the death of a member of a prominent Portland family, who also happens to be her "good" friend.

Buffa gives us two mysteries in one in The Prosecution. I read his first book The Defense a few years ago and was immediately drawn to the main character Joe Antonelli. He's ruthless yet sensitive, educated but not overbearing and very, very vulnerable at this point in his life. I look forward to entering the courtroom once again with Joe Antonelli in the future. If I could give him one piece of advice, after reading these two books, it would be to pick better mentors and friends!!!

Rating:
Summary: Smooth, Seamless Courtroom Drama
Review: Joseph Antonelli used to be a defense attorney and a darn good one at that. He became disillusioned and packed it all in after telling a witness to lie on the stand in order to get an innocent man acquitted. Now he's being asked to return to court in a special case, but this time as the prosecutor. The accused is the chief deputy district attorney, Marshall Goodwin, and he has been charged with conspiring to murder his wife.

We end up getting two cases for the price of one, with Antonelli being asked to defend the wife of an old friend, immediately the first case is decided. Quick as a flash he changes hats from prosecutor, back to his familiar role as defense attorney. From this point on, the plot changes from a straightforward case to one of intrigue with suspects being thrown up left, right and centre.

For a book written about and largely being set in, one trial or another, we seem to move at breakneck speed (unlike the judicial process it represents). By this I mean that we don't get bogged down by irrelevant side stories or observations. Everything is nicely tied in to the case at hand which keeps things nice and tight. The story moves along seamlessly as each case unfolds and I found it a very entertaining courtroom drama.

Rating:
Summary: Could Be Better
Review: This book is a very good book. I like the way the book takes off into one case and in a twist heads into another case. You get 2 great stories for the price of one. The stories are very well written and holds on to you, keeps you in suspense. I like to guess who did it, can you. The Judgement is also an excellent book. I hope that Buffa continues to write. I am waiting for the next book. I know you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Good for a legal thriller
Review: This genre is generally braindead, but D.W. Buffa's "The Prosecution" makes the best of a bad hand by playing up the full intensity of courtroom drama, making the events and consequences of a criminal trial alive and threatening to the reader.

While throughout the book intensity is banked by the character's inherent stability and need for clear-cut mandates, during the trial sequences we see the traditional murder mystery hero trade dodging bullets and fisticuffs for outwitting a number of traps only obvious to those who spend time in courtrooms. In this the book comes alive.

The rest is fairly predictable, but executed with good editing (tight text) and reasonable expectation transferred to the reader. Characters outside the main three are mostly plastic stick figures who wander by and wave plot objects, and the frame-of-focus of the lead character limits scenery, background, setting to minimalist devices. Despite these genre-limitations, however, this book remains an entertaining read.

Warning: politics of racial pity afoot in choice of characters and dilemmas. It wasn't to my taste. Black people don't need pity, and white people don't need to get caught up in giving pity to others and being morosely self-critical.