Rating: 
Summary: exciting legal thriller
Review: Although the prime suspect is a close friend, Philadelphia attorney Victor Carl believes that lawyer Guy Forrest killed his live-in lover in a crime of passion. When Victor arrived at the rainy scene, he found Guy sitting naked outside the house he shared with the victim, holding a gun. Inside Hailey Prouix had been shot dead. Guy, who left his family for Hailey, swears he did not kill her, but Victor thinks otherwise.The police arrest Guy for murder. Although Victor is the defense attorney, he has his own agenda pushed by his personal obsession for Hailey, whom he slept with too. Even while he wants his client locked away, Victor investigates the couple. He learns that the two lovers were on opposite sides of a medical malpractice suit leading to his wondering if his client might be a victim of a seduction in order to win massive damages for her patron. He looks elsewhere for a clever killer, which leads Victor ultimately to Hailey's West Virginia hometown where secrets and murder reside in the gene pool. This is an exciting legal thriller that brazenly steps off the edge, but never lands into free fall due to the energy of the vigorous story line. The two lawyers are interesting characters sharing in common besides the law a need for the deceased. Victor is especially intriguing as he plans to hang his pal until the evidence confirms that his client is a victim too. Hailey and her roots (no literary pun intended) provide a nice spin. Though gimmicks are the only flaw, they are not fatal to a gratifying legal thriller. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Prolific!
Review: Although this is the third in the Victor Carl series, it was the first I've read to date. Now I can't wait to start at the beginning. The author's style is great, the plot interesting, and the mystery, although pretty easy to figure out, is still a good one. Although I thought at first that Victor Carl was a carbon-copy of lawyers portrayed in other books, I quickly found out this was not so. Lashner has the gift of expression, and the courtroom drama is better than Grisham at his best. I'm a fan!
Rating: 
Summary: Readable, but disappointing.
Review: Attorney Victor Carl has defended guilty people before, but none of them a friend. Vic gets the phone call from Guy Forrest, a former law school classmate and friend. A frantic Guy tells that his girlfriend Hailey Prouix has been murdered. Upon arrival, Vic finds Guy naked saying over and over that he's "sorry", and that he didn't do it. There was no forced entry, and the only two in the house were Guy and Hailey, so if Guy didn't do it, who did? Vic knows this case stinks, and he knows his friend is covering something up, but Hailey had a dark past. A past with many secrets, and many men, including Vic himself. As Vic searches for the truth he finds a long list of suspects...a list of people that would have stopped at nothing to see both Guy and Hailey suffer. 'Fatal Flaw' starts off fast, but then starts to lose steam. The story dives back and forth from present day to the past, explaining the story of Hailey and her involvement with different men, and to what relation it has to the killer on the loose. In addition to the main murder plot there are various sub-plots thrown in to keep the story interesting, but instead it becomes a bit boring and confusing. There is a nice twist at the end, but by the time you reach it it's too late. William Lashner is a good writer, but he has written better novels (Hostile Witness.) 'Fatal Flaw' does contain the elements of an exciting read; sex, lies, murder, and twists galore, but it just doesn't work, it seems many of the surprises were thrown in at the last minute, and the plot twists are somewhat predictable. As a whole the novel is readable, but the thrills are not so thrilling. Nick Gonnella
Rating:
Summary: Victor is back on track...and so is Lashner...
Review: Fatal Flaw is far better than Bitter Truth, in league with the first book in the series, Hostile Witness. This book is lengthy, but does not feel overly long. The long, wandering passages of Bitter Truth are no where to be found (nor are any references to that story). A twisting, turning, but never hard to follow plot keeps you intrigued. And Victor, while not more successful, really has grown up. Well, not in his choice of women, but certainly in his understanding and the fact that he is not striving for money here. That is a refreshing change. I was still annoyed to see Beth as a secondary character. Even more, why the heck was Morris Kapustin ignored (ok, there was one mention). Couldn't have been used in some way? Oh, those are minor quibbles (as Skink is a good PI). I look forward to the next adventure of Victor Carl.
Rating:
Summary: Victor is back on track...and so is Lashner...
Review: Fatal Flaw is far better than Bitter Truth, in league with the first book in the series, Hostile Witness. This book is lengthy, but does not feel overly long. The long, wandering passages of Bitter Truth are no where to be found (nor are any references to that story). A twisting, turning, but never hard to follow plot keeps you intrigued. And Victor, while not more successful, really has grown up. Well, not in his choice of women, but certainly in his understanding and the fact that he is not striving for money here. That is a refreshing change. I was still annoyed to see Beth as a secondary character. Even more, why the heck was Morris Kapustin ignored (ok, there was one mention). Couldn't have been used in some way? Oh, those are minor quibbles (as Skink is a good PI). I look forward to the next adventure of Victor Carl.
Rating:
Summary: Victor Carl - a cross between Philip Marlow and Perry Mason
Review: Finally after a few years wait, Victor Carl is back with us. I don't know how many people waited for him, but I surely did! Victor was last seen in "Veritas" (now re-issued under the name "Bitter Truth"). Now, in the beginning of "Fatal Flaw" he is called during the night by a close friend, Guy Forrester, who claims someone killed his girlfriend Hailey, while he was in the bath. Would you believe such a story? Neither did Victor, but he still took on defending the man. But not out of friendship. You see, Victor and Hailey had an affair behind the man's back. So he decides to get sure the murderer doesn't get off easy - what's better way to do that, then to be his defense lawyer?
Of course, the case turns out to be more complex, then simple lovers quarrel, and soon we follow Victor through the lies and secrets years old, trying to find the truth of Hailey's past, at the same time questioning her feelings for the men in her life, and the things we take for "love", but which not always is.
In his first outing - "Hostile Witness" - Victor was a hero of a courtroom drama. "Veritas" was closer to a noir story. Here Mr. Lashner manages to bring both genres together, taking the best of both worlds. Add to that solid characters, who are always there to give us a good one-liner or a deep philosophical thought, and you get a great novel.
There is one thing - this time Lashner has a strange liking to saying the same word two times in a row, presumably, to underline the importance. I didn't find it annoying, annoying as some other readers, but it is unnecessary.
Apart from that and the one in the title, you will be hard pressed to find any flaw in it.
Rating:
Summary: This is a Real Jewel!
Review: First book I've read by Lashner, but will definitely not be the last. I think this is the third entry in the Victor Carl series, and I'm ordering the prior two. Victor Carl is a somewhat seedy criminal defense lawyer who is not above manipulating the legal system. PI Phil Skink is a masterpiece: a man with a face that would stop a clock, who dresses in brown suits, wears a fedora, and talks like a gangster from the '30's. The interplay between Carl and Skink is sharp-tongued, chiseled, and testosterone-driven, yet the two play off one another n a fun, comedic way. This is a real jewel of a book. The story is fast-paced, filled with witty dialogue and flawed characters. The courtroom drama is the best! The plot twists may be somewhat predictable, but the final twist will not be expected. Lashner is a writer with a unique voice who is definitely best-seller material.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Review: For those who like a book to move right along, have a great plot, and give the reader a fair chance at solving the mystery, this is the book. I was very impressed!
Rating:
Summary: Flawed, but not fatally so.
Review: I have always been tentative to read one of William Lashner's novels. While I am a big fan of the legal thriller genre and am from the Philadelphia, the setting for the Victor Carl series, I have always been turned off by his stylistic approach. Lashner's novels are always a first person account, deeply delving into the emotional thought process of it's highly flawed protagonist. While that approach has it's benefits in tales, often times it comes off as trickery, a device needed to heighten surprise endings and control the flow and taint the importance of the information being gained. In Fatal Flaw, Lashner plays with this stylistic trick, hijacking the emotions and situations and giving us one flawed perspective, every incident distorted by Carl's obvious prejudice. The first two hundred pages drudge along with the protagonist not clearly thinking about anything and making horribly obvious poor choices and constantly whining and giving us his overly long and dramatic justifications for his thoughts and actions. For me, it was hard to read. After that though, the book really takes off. When Carl finally discovers his huge mistake, we get back on the right track with a well thought out and developed plot spanning the tragic life of the victim of a horrific murder.
Lashner really builds an excellent story here. While some of the twists and turns are obvious, and there where points where I felt the characters were missing some obvious aspects, I really got into this story about the half way point. Lashner develops some interesting characters beyond the Carl character. So the few flaws of this tale were not fatal to the overall execution of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Lashner never disappoints!
Review: I just finished the 3rd Victor Carl installment by author, Lashner, and anxiously look forward to the next. Having read all 3 in the Carl series, I can honestly say that each has its own unique voice yet continues to develop the character of Victor Carl as someone real, flawed & immensely likeable. Suspense is always a constant from this writer who continually comes through. I recommend all 3 in the series!
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