Thrillers, Literary Styles & Movements - Fiction, Occupations - Fiction, Other Mystery Categories

Death Penalty

Name: Death Penalty
Author: William J. Coughlin
ISBN: 9780792715429

by William J. Coughlin

Write a review

Overview

Criminal attorney Charley Sloan had it all - the Rolls, the Rolex and the expensive wives - until alcoholism took him to the brink of disbarment. Now he's fighting his way back, defending the infamous Dr. Death, who's accused of helping his wealthy patients die.

But Charley's real trouble begins when he takes on a tricky appeal for a down-at-the-heels colleague. Major money rides on the outcome. Caught now in a web of greed and corruption, Charley faces a decision that only he can make, one that could destroy him and his client and ruin the career of the very man who had once saved his license - a decision for which the penalty might very well be death.

Though drinking nearly caused his disbarment, former hot-shot Detroit attorney Charley Sloan gets a chance to rescue his career with two headline-making cases--one involving a physician labeled "Dr. Death" and one complete with an extortion scam that seems to incriminate a much-respected judge.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Coughlin ( Shadow of a Doubt ) delivers another thoughtful, brisk-paced and fully satisfying legal mystery. Though his drinking caused his near-disbarment, former hot-shot Detroit attorney Charlie Sloan, now practicing from Pickeral Point, a small town outside the Motor City, gets a chance to rescue his career. The recovering, thrice-divorced criminal lawyer hits the headlines when his client, a physician labeled Dr. Death, is convicted of murder for helping a wealthy, terminally ill patient speed his demise. While appealing that conviction and advising a waitress who has accused a Pickeral Point bigwig of rape, Sloan is asked by an old drinking buddy and fellow lawyer to take charge of the appeal of a $5-million personal injury suit brought against Ford by a man paralyzed in an auto accident. Sloan soon finds himself being lured into a extortion scam that seems to incriminate his mentor, a much-respected judge. As the rape case evolves into homicide, Dr. Death is jailed again on another murder charge, and the personal injury appeal confirms Sloan's suspicions of high-court corruption. In Coughlin's deft handling, Sloan triumphs in each case with his credibility and self-respect intact--and without taking a drink. Readers will regret that Coughlin (Shadow of a Doubt) died earlier this year. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates; R e ader's Digest Condensed Books selection. (Oct.)

Library Journal

Detroit trial lawyer Charley Sloan ( Shadow of a Doubt , LJ 7/91) is defending a doctor accused of helping his patients die--for a fee. At the same time he is asked to handle the appeal in a $5 million lawsuit involving Ford and a man injured in an accident. Sloan, whose reputation for alcohol consumption and legal shenanigans far outweighs his current nondrinking, now-honorable life style, is approached by a former appellate judge who offers him a way to win the appeal. Juggling both cases, Sloan demonstrates a high level of heroism and professional ethics and the courage to implement both. Coughlin, an attorney and judge himself, brilliantly captures the corruption of the legal system by human error and greed. This 14th in a long line of well-written novels is thought-provoking and timely. Bravo! Literary Guild alternate; previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/92.--Jo Ann Vi carel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights P.L., Ohio