The Tribunal :

Rating:
Summary: Tribunal scores big as international criminal drama!
Review: The Tribunal is a fascinating look behind the scenes of the international criminal court system. Set in The Hague, the author takes the reader on a suspensful tale of mystery, intrigue and drama, from America to Holland to Belgrade.

The characters are rich in texture and impossible to ignore. The reader is drawn in to the predicament of the American Prosecutor who ends up defending a former general of war-torn Yugoslavia in a War Crimes court in Holland. When the General's faithful followers decide that the attorney is not defending their hero hard enough, they kidnap the American's young daughter as incentive to work harder.

The book follows the exploits of the lawyer's family throughout the trial, and the kidnapping, as both wind inexoribly to an unforgettable climax. The courtroom drama is unusually realistic and riveting, as the lawyer must use all his wits and resources to track down his daughter, defend his client, and remain calm in the midst of death threats.

It is the finest courtroom drama that I've ever read. Run, don't walk, to order and read this book!

Rating:
Summary: The Tribunal transcends the genre of legal thriller
Review: Unlike the shallow, formulaic legal novels that have polluted the bestseller lists during the 1990's, this masterpiece contains a clever satire on the administration of justice itself. Robinson brilliantly illustrates a unique perspective into the workings of international justice-leading one to wonder whether, in fact, "international justice" is actually an oxymoron. He does not hesitate to venture beyond the typical implausible plot of a lawyer too stupid to realize that he's joined a mafia-front Firm.

I realize that many readers out there might be thinking that The Tribunal is also implausible on its face. After all, how often is it that an American lawyer gets caught up in a world of international intrigue? I would like to preempt that line of criticism. As a former NATO Stabilization Force peacekeeper in Bosnia, I have experienced a fair share of the Croat/Serb gangster-like tactics. Naturally, we're not talking about a petty landlord/tenant dispute, but rather one involving the architects of a genocide. Robinson has ingeniously selected the most plausible setting for his plot to unfold.

The only unbelievable line in this otherwise superb composition is on the acknowledgements page, where Robinson confesses that The Tribunal is his "first book." I do not find that at all persuasive. I was so enthralled by the novel that I read it in its entirety the first night. I cannot believe that such a magnum opus could emerge from his first attempt. Either Peter Robinson is very lucky or possesses a talent for writing that easily surpasses that of Grisham.