Lying in State

Rating:
Summary: Hang on tight and fasten your seat belt!
Review: I have to admit I was surprised when I read this book, how quickly it reeled me in. The descriptions of Miami and South Florida are right on, as well as Tallahassee. The characters are very compelling, likable and some could almost be someone you have met at one time or another, they are that well chronicled. The whole story flows effortlessly and Cody's flair for detail, especially in the medical examiner's office, is fascinating. It is quite apparent he spent a lot of time researching everything he wrote.

The action centers around a young lawyer named Jack Sullivan who finds himself defending his young stepmother who is accused of murdering his father. The real clues to who is behind ex-Florida Governor Jim Sullivan's death lie in the missing files of the now defunct Joint Legislative Committee on Investigations, a group of politicians that conducted their own brand of witch hunts in the early 1960's.

All I can say is hang on tight, you are in for quite a ride!

Rating:
Summary: Hang on tight and fasten your seat belt!
Review: I have to admit I was surprised when I read this book, how quickly it reeled me in. The descriptions of Miami and South Florida are right on, as well as Tallahassee. The characters are very compelling, likable and some could almost be someone you have met at one time or another, they are that well chronicled. The whole story flows effortlessly and Cody's flair for detail, especially in the medical examiner's office, is fascinating. It is quite apparent he spent a lot of time researching everything he wrote.

The action centers around a young lawyer named Jack Sullivan who finds himself defending his young stepmother who is accused of murdering his father. The real clues to who is behind ex-Florida Governor Jim Sullivan's death lie in the missing files of the now defunct Joint Legislative Committee on Investigations, a group of politicians that conducted their own brand of witch hunts in the early 1960's.

All I can say is hang on tight, you are in for quite a ride!

Rating:
Summary: Lying in State gives Grisham a Run for His Money
Review: I throughly enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down. The prologue does an excellent job of setting up the premise for the entire book and should be carefully read. The characters are engaging and the relationships seem real. The action sequences are well written and the last few chapters are real page turners.

The mystery of who killed an ex-govenor of Florida and why provide the plot for the book. Cody's cast of characters brings you into the seedy underbelly of Florida politics in the early 1960's. The ambition of the candidates in modern times also provides an interesting insight to our own flawed political system.

Rating:
Summary: Lying in State gives Grisham a Run for His Money
Review: I throughly enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down. The prologue does an excellent job of setting up the premise for the entire book and should be carefully read. The characters are engaging and the relationships seem real. The action sequences are well written and the last few chapters are real page turners.

The mystery of who killed an ex-govenor of Florida and why provide the plot for the book. Cody's cast of characters brings you into the seedy underbelly of Florida politics in the early 1960's. The ambition of the candidates in modern times also provides an interesting insight to our own flawed political system.

Rating:
Summary: A good first effort
Review: One of the strange joys I received in reading this book was going to my dentist and telling him the book I was reading was about the murder of his father-in-law. This was quite a surprise since his late father-in-law, Governor Leroy Collins, was definitely not murdered unlike the fictive former governor of Florida Jim Sullivan. Jim Sullivan was drawn broadly from the political career of Governor Collins, the legal career of Paul Helliwell, who acquired the vast acreage needed for Walt Disney World, and the demise of Stanley Cohen, a contractor killed under circumstances the Sullivan death was designed to evoke.

Strange too is the fact that although I had a slight personal acquaintance with each of the persona that comprised Jim Sullivan, I do not know Stephen Cody, even though we apparently practice the same type of law in South Florida. Cody is however a talented author who deserves a real publisher. Despite the recognition of characters, this is a exciting story told in a credible manner.