Rating: 
Summary: Great Read!
Review: I just really had a hard time getting into this one. It starts out great, then just totally dies for me in the middle, then a decent finish.He's also picked up this annoying habit of repeating things when he's trying to emphasize a point. He repeats things...repeats them. I don't remember him doing that is the other two, both of which I gave 5 stars to. So if the author is reading this, no need to repeat what you think is important. We get it. So if you like Lashner, which I do, it's worth reading. But when it starts to drag in the middle, plod on through...the ending is better.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, but his other work is much better
Review: I just really had a hard time getting into this one. It starts out great, then just totally dies for me in the middle, then a decent finish. He's also picked up this annoying habit of repeating things when he's trying to emphasize a point. He repeats things...repeats them. I don't remember him doing that is the other two, both of which I gave 5 stars to. So if the author is reading this, no need to repeat what you think is important. We get it. So if you like Lashner, which I do, it's worth reading. But when it starts to drag in the middle, plod on through...the ending is better.
Rating:
Summary: Just plain terrific!
Review: I read alot and rarely write reviews (who has time?).
After reading this book I came here to buy more books by him and felt the book was so good it deserved taking out the time to write a review.
I normally don't read detective/law & order stuff (I am more of a science fiction/fantasy and adventure person) - mostly because either the guilty party is evident or you don't have the info to figure it out. WRONG - this book had all the clues, and I certainly missed plenty.
In addition, I normally find the "fluff" where the main character is describing scenery or talking to himself to be fluff and worth skimming. WRONG again - I plan on re-reading this book just to enjoy some of the wordsmithing and philosophy.
Time to put my money where my mouth (or is that mouse) is and order some more of his books!!
Enjoy...
Rating:
Summary: This novel should make William Lashner a household name
Review: I've decided that, when my birthday comes this year, I'm going to forego the standard wish that I have normally made. Since my life is good --- and I basically have everything I could possibly want --- I usually wish for something good for another person. This year, though, I'm going to be selfish. I'm going to wish that William Lashner would write more books. It's been a while since William Lashner's last book, BITTER TRUTH (originally published as VERITAS). To say that FATAL FLAW, his new book, is worth the wait would be to utilize a cliché. There's no getting around it, however --- it's worth the wait. And as good as HOSTILE WITNESS, Lashner's debut novel, and BITTER TRUTH were, FATAL FLAW is definitely the butt-kicker of the three. The smartass edge in Victor Carl's voice is gone now. There are no laughs to be had in FATAL FLAW. This is a dark, dark tale that will keep you up for a couple of dark, dark nights turning pages at Concordian speed as you travel through Lashner's world. FATAL FLAW does not waste time with lengthy introductions, but instead immediately plunges the reader into the middle of a crime scene. Carl has received a hysterical telephone call from Guy Forrest, an old college friend. When Carl reaches Forrest's side, he finds Hailey Prouix, Forrest's lover, murdered. Forrest has given up everything for Prouix --- marriage, family, job --- and it now appears that he will give up his liberty for her as well. Forrest is the obvious, and only, suspect in Prouix's murder. Carl agrees to defend Forrest, whom he believes to be guilty. Carl is not motivated by friendship, but rather by revenge. Forrest, as it turns out, was not Prouix's only lover. And Carl, who is shaken to his core by the murder, is determined to see that justice is done. What better way to insure that such occurs than to handle --- to manipulate --- the defense of the accused murderer, who Carl believes to be the doer of the deed? But as Carl ever so skillfully leads his client to the theoretical guillotine, he begins to discover that he may be very, very wrong about so many things. Carl eventually finds that he must deconstruct the trap that he has built for his client, not only to prevent a miscarriage of justice, but also to keep from becoming trapped himself. In doing so, he must follow a trail that goes literally from one end of the country to the other and decades back in time, in order to uncover the life of a woman he knew too well yet never really knew at all. Lashner's plotline in FATAL FLAW is incredibly complex. Yet, as he did with HOSTILE WITNESS and BITTER TRUTH, Lashner renders the difficult manageable and, even more importantly, interesting as he guides his reader through a labyrinth of plot twists that span space and time. Lashner also continues his practice of introducing quirky, unusual private investigators who almost steal the book away. The shamus introduced in FATAL FLAW is one Phil Skink and he is a central, unforgettable element in this unforgettable book. He is certainly as complex and indefinable a character as Carl himself has come to be --- and could easily be featured in a tale all his own. It is worth reading FATAL FLAW just for his introduction. Let's hope for a future reacquaintance. FATAL FLAW may well be the novel that makes William Lashner a household name. Look for this one to be on several "Best Of" lists by year's end. Highest possible recommendation. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Rating: 
Summary: much better than standard fare (4.5 really)--but one issue
Review: Lashner is an amazingly witty writer, and it is a great pleasure to read his books. Plus, the set-up here is more interesting and exciting than Hostile Witness. Still, Hostile Witness was better, because the writing was better. The one problem I had with Fatal Flaw--its flaw--was the constant repetition of words and phrases for supposed emphasis. Ex.: "I told him, I told him and then", etc., etc. Just a guess, here, but they must have been trying to reach a word or page minimum--the repetions are that pervasive, that obvious, and, too often, that out of place and distracting. Lashner is too good for such a trick, and I am still delighted to have discovered him and delighted that I read this otherwise outstanding and entertaining thriller.
Rating: 
Summary: A struggle to get through.
Review: Meanders around so much I had to force my way through.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Love
Review: Talk about an ambitious plot! Victor Carl, a lawyer, finds his friend, Guy Forrest, also a lawyer, sitting naked outside the house of his friend's murdered girlfriend, Hailey Prouix, who of course is (or was) also a lawyer. Got that? But wait - there's more. It turns out that old Vic was also sleeping with Hailey, and he agrees to represent prime-supect Guy in his defense as Hailey's murderer. As Guy's lawyer, Vic figures, he can make sure that Guy, who maintains an improbable innocence, pays his due for the murder of Vic's also-girlfriend Hailey. Convoluted? You bet. But nonetheless, this is one terrific read. And not simply because the plot's main characters are all lawyers who are either 1) dead, 2) in jail awaiting trial, or 3) twisting the law for personal gain. William Lashner - think Grisham without the cornpone. Or the street smarts and grit of "Mystic River"(s) Dennis Lehane with the courtroom realism of Scott Turow. Lashner's "Fatal Flaw" is a compulsive tale of love, betrayal, murder, and mayhem wrapped around a good old-fashioned who-dunnit and a compelling courtroom drama. This guy is the real deal: sharp dialogue, interesting and believing characters, well-drawn settings, an intriguing storyline. Lashner's Hailey Prouix, while dead from the first page, emerges through the memories of those still living as one witchy woman, able to reduce a man to a sniveling pile of desire with a mere bump of the knee. Lashner takes us on a journey through time and place, from Philadelphia's home of the affair and murder, to the Las Vegas strip, to the hills of West Virginia in an investigation that will reach back into the hills of Hailey's childhood. And the deeper Carl digs, the more his certainty fades, as a murky tale of old murder and dark secrets unfolds. Vic Carl is an engaging and believable protagonist backed by a dependable supporting cast, most notably Philadelphia Main Line Detective Breger and private investigator Phil Skink, the human metaphor of a blunt instrument. While the reader will likely figure out the end game well into the last third of the book, expect no diminishing enthusiasm in reaching the payoff. The reader is held helpless in Lashner's vicelock grip to the last word. If you're looking for a real page turner - a fresh and exciting take on the overdone legal drama - look no further. William Lashner's "Fatal Flaw" is on the top self of American pop crime fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Love
Review: Talk about an ambitious plot! Victor Carl, a lawyer, finds his friend, Guy Forrest, also a lawyer, sitting naked outside the house of his friend's murdered girlfriend, Hailey Prouix, who of course is (or was) also a lawyer. Got that? But wait - there's more. It turns out that old Vic was also sleeping with Hailey, and he agrees to represent prime-supect Guy in his defense as Hailey's murderer. As Guy's lawyer, Vic figures, he can make sure that Guy, who maintains an improbable innocence, pays his due for the murder of Vic's also-girlfriend Hailey. Convoluted? You bet. But nonetheless, this is one terrific read. And not simply because the plot's main characters are all lawyers who are either 1) dead, 2) in jail awaiting trial, or 3) twisting the law for personal gain. William Lashner - think Grisham without the cornpone. Or the street smarts and grit of "Mystic River"(s) Dennis Lehane with the courtroom realism of Scott Turow. Lashner's "Fatal Flaw" is a compulsive tale of love, betrayal, murder, and mayhem wrapped around a good old-fashioned who-dunnit and a compelling courtroom drama. This guy is the real deal: sharp dialogue, interesting and believing characters, well-drawn settings, an intriguing storyline. Lashner's Hailey Prouix, while dead from the first page, emerges through the memories of those still living as one witchy woman, able to reduce a man to a sniveling pile of desire with a mere bump of the knee. Lashner takes us on a journey through time and place, from Philadelphia's home of the affair and murder, to the Las Vegas strip, to the hills of West Virginia in an investigation that will reach back into the hills of Hailey's childhood. And the deeper Carl digs, the more his certainty fades, as a murky tale of old murder and dark secrets unfolds. Vic Carl is an engaging and believable protagonist backed by a dependable supporting cast, most notably Philadelphia Main Line Detective Breger and private investigator Phil Skink, the human metaphor of a blunt instrument. While the reader will likely figure out the end game well into the last third of the book, expect no diminishing enthusiasm in reaching the payoff. The reader is held helpless in Lashner's vicelock grip to the last word. If you're looking for a real page turner - a fresh and exciting take on the overdone legal drama - look no further. William Lashner's "Fatal Flaw" is on the top self of American pop crime fiction.
Rating:
Summary: No Flaws In This Book. Terrific Read!!!
Review: Talk about conflicting emotions....William Lashner has crafted the best legal-mystery-thriller of the year in my judgement and I don't hand out praise to this type of book lightly. Victor Carl is called to the scene of a murder by a former law school classmate and friend, Guy Forrest. He finds Forrest sitting on the front steps of the house, naked, with the apparent murder weapon at his feet and beside himself with grief. Inside Carl finds Forrest's fiance, Hailey Prioux with a bullet through her heart. Carl's first emotion is shock, then grief and then revenge. Why? Well, he has been sleeping with Hailey on a fairly regular basis during this time and she has worked her spell on him, just as she has with any man she cared to. It seems clear to Carl that Forrest murdered her. With revenge on Forrest as his prime motivation, Carl agrees to represent him and plans to see that he is convicted and sentenced to death, all the while appearing to defend him. Tricky, eh? Well, it certainly is and it gets even trickier as Carl probes into the background of his lover. As he does so, he eventually becomes convinced that his client his innocent, however it comes about at a point where the evidence againt Forrest is very compelling. How Carl works to extricate his client from a web that his own lawyer has helped create is interesting reading. There is no need for a suspension of belief or a leap of faith. It is well crafted, compelling story telling. The trial scenes at the end are a treat. Those who compare this to a Grisham novel do a disservice to the author. It is better!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Book
Review: This book was so exciting, I couldn't put it down. If there is only one book you read all year, it should be this one. Victor Carl starts out on a seedy mission of revenge, but slowly comes to believe his hapless client is innocent. How he goes about proving it is amazing, and I don't want to give anything away, but you won't be sorry you read this book.
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