The Legacy

Rating:
Summary: A bland story about the murder of a prominent politician.
Review: Joseph Antonelli, criminal defense attorney extraordinaire, is back in D. W. Buffa's fourth legal thriller, "The Legacy." Unlike Buffa's previous efforts, this novel never comes to life. It is a slow-moving and cliche-ridden look at the corrupt practices of wealthy and amoral wheeler-dealers and politicians.

In this novel, Antonelli leaves Portland, Oregon, and travels to San Francisco to defend Jamaal Washington. Washington is a young black man accused of gunning down United States Senator Jeremy Fullerton during a robbery. Fullerton was a ruthless and ambitious politician who had many enemies. Antonelli is certain that Fullerton's death was no robbery; he is convinced that a political enemy assassinated the Senator. Antonelli is determined to free the likeable Jamaal, a soft-spoken pre-med student who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Buffa writes this book as if he were doing a painting-by-numbers. He uses plot devices that we have seen too many times before. Many authors have written more compellingly about political charlatans who pretend to be altruistic, but who are really self-serving and corrupt.

Antonelli's character is strangely lifeless, as is his love interest, Marissa. Neither the courtroom scenes nor the twist at the end can save "The Legacy" from being a run-of-the-mill legal thriller that is not up to Buffa's usually high standards.

Rating:
Summary: I'd give it six stars if I could!
Review: The best book I ever read involving courtroom activity. A beautiful jigsaw puzzle of intrigue. The desciptions of how lawyer Joseph Antonelli does his work, down to exactly when he puts his hands in his pockets or moved an eyebrow show how important such things are in communication. I have never read a book that does that so well; I could relate to every item of body language. The story is terrific, and its unwinding a delight. This was my first Buffa book - won't be the last! I am at a loss to comprehend the other poor reviews. Maybe the abridged audio version and Mark Feuerstein's reading make it better than the unabridged hard cover original. All the the characters were excellently formed and believable. Every twist in the plot came as a surprize. I have read about 400 audiobooks in the last 3 years and this was in the top 3. I would think it would make a superb movie.

Rating:
Summary: Pales in comparison to the other Antonelli books
Review: This 4th book in the Antonelli series was quite a disappointment. The first 3 books were well written with tight, interesting plots and subplots. Half way through this one, I had to force myself to continue. The characters were not well fleshed out, one of the "twists" in the story was very obvious from the beginning and overall it was a confusing and muddled tale. Near the end of the book, I found myself looking longingly at the stack of other books that I have available to read and I wound up scanning the last third of The Legacy just to finish it off. I guess all authors have a clunker now and then. I hope this was Mr. Buffa's misfire and that future books in this series will be as entertaining as the first 3 were.