Brigham's Day

Rating:
Summary: Latter Day Saints and Sinners
Review: After reading Brigham's Day, I am certain of two things. John Gates is a fine writer and a great story teller. The characters are well drawn, and Gates uses them to great effect in drawing the reader into the shadowed secrets of the Morman experience. I hope to meet Brigham Bybee again,and soon.

Rating:
Summary: Wish It Had Been Better
Review: For a first novel, I found Brigham's Day an "okay" read. Gates establishes an eerie mood in the prologue which is heightened by his powerful descriptions of Kanab, Utah. The immensity and starkness of the Utah scenery and the has-been quality of Kanab go a long way in evoking an off-balance, dwarfed-by-events atmosphere. When we arrive in Kanab with attorney Brig Bybee, we cannot help but feel with him how far he has fallen and how far he may have to go to regain his footing. Gates also conjures accurately the mystery and suspicion that always seem to surround Mormons and their practices. His inclusion of an historical murder with bearing on Brig's present case is a stroke of inspiration: this is the way things have always been in this territory and one man may not make much headway in solving this crime.

However, I was put off by Brig's relationship with the daughter of the man his client is accused of murdering. A down-and-out lawyer might be so unethical, but Gates does not have Brig so much as consider the issue. There's an unnecessary sex scene that does nothing to further the plot and seems to have been included largely for the Penthouse Forum set (like scars and cowboy hats? Have I got a story for you. . .!)

Worst of all, Gates doesn't play fair with his readers. We go along with Brig's co-counsel, Ron Watters, as he investigates his wild theory of the crime. We're with him as he interviews a potential witness and searches his client's camper. Watters finds something earthshatteringly important, but we don't find out what it is until several chapters later. Watters then rushes to meet with another major player and sees him with someone significant to the plot--but unidentified to us. This may be necessary to keep Brig and readers in suspense until a better time for an unveiling, but Gates writes it poorly. Watters pushes open a door, gasps, and there's a sudden change of scene, a device reminiscent of TV scripts.

Gates does so well at describing his setting, creating an atmosphere, and conceiving an unusual plot that I wanted this book to be better. My objections largely involve elements of mystery writing skill. I'm hoping that Gates's next book will live up to the promise of Brigham's Day.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Subject and Well Worth Reading
Review: This is the story of an attorney responsible for defending a man accused of murder. The once well known and well respected Brigham Bybee is at the center of the novel. Unfortunately, he is no longer well respected and is on the verge of being disbarred. In order to save his license, he is appointed to represent a man accused of killing a person who holds a very important Latter Day Saint secret.

This secret goes back over 200 years and at first blush, although the theory of defense is somewhat farfetched, as the novel progresses, the author does a good job of tying the events of the past to the events of the present. Although the story is not factually accurate, it would not be difficult to imagine an organization killing in the attempt to preserve the "good name" of the organization.

I thought this was a very good debut novel and the creativity was very impressive. Although this was a very well written legal thriller, I was somewhat disappointed in what appeared to be the authors lack of recognition of the obligation of an attorney to his/her client. Bigbee's relationship with Zolene created a major conflict of interest and had the effect of undermining his duty,responsibility and obligation to his client.The dynamics of that relationship was somewhat at odds with the representation of his client. However, notwithstanding that minor nuance, I thought the book was quite good and look forward to the second Bigbee novel.