The Crime
The tragic crime at the center of this legal thriller is encapsulated in metaphorical imagery early in the narrative. The description succinctly binds not just the misery of the victim but the impact on those who must live with the absence in their lives:
“Everyone in the room had a young daughter and could understand the shearing of life that happened at that moment for every person in the Landy family.”
Judge Malcolm Firestone
Metaphor turns poetic, surprisingly, in the description of the judge who will be presiding over the court case. One more additional simile and it might verge over the line into overkill. As is, the imagery is powerfully compelling:
“His black robe gave them the appearance of folded wings and the overall image was one of Firestone as a vulture waiting impatiently to dine on the bloody detritus of the justice system.”
Legal Maneuvering
The protagonist’s narration provides insight into the mindset of lawyers and how they strategize to win. The protagonist shares the secret to his success: anticipation of his opponent’s moves:
“I would know them before Royce did. And I would be like a sniper in a tree, waiting to skillfully pick them off from a distance, one by one.”
The Courtroom
A courtroom remains one of the few locations in society that has managed to withstand the march of informality in American society. It was not really all that long ago that a restaurant was a place where you never saw a man not wearing a suit and tie. Even many churches are now filled with congregants in T-shirts and jeans. But the courtroom still has the power to foster that old-fashioned sense of decorum and formality which today mainly serves to engender feelings of tension and anxiety:
“A courtroom is a big space. There is always a low-level current of sound and energy. You can feel it even if you can't really hear it.”
The Beach
What could be less like a courtroom than the beach? Well, except for the fact that the beach might well have been the first place where this march toward informality began while the courtroom still waits. But there is something else the two have in common: size.
“The pier was like a beached aircraft carrier. It was long and wide. It had a large parking lot and an assortment of restaurants and souvenir shops on top.”
