Review of The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors
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Kim Bowden-Kerby
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Review of The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors" by Marc Grossberg.]
What do a respectable tax attorney and a bottom-feeding scumbag who passed the bar exam have in common? Well, in The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors they are author and creation, a match made in literary heaven (also known as Houston). Marc Grossberg’s debut novel is a humdinger.
Paddy Moran is a cop turned lawyer and a Yankee trying to find a toehold in high-society Texas. Paddy sees himself as a good person with grand ambitions. He has worked to prepare himself for excellence (i.e. huge paydays) in the two legal fields not dominated by large firms: family law and personal injury. The novel opens as Paddy gets his first case, handling the divorce of a cop buddy. This leads to more cops’ divorces, then to his first shady cases, and then to a judicial reprimand. Paddy straightens up. Before long, Paddy lands and wins a big-money, high-profile case. Success leads to more referrals, to more successes. These lead to more ethical dilemmas. Paddy acquires a seat at the best restaurant, a classy law partner, a judge, a dog (his one real confidant), and some very serious enemies.
Paddy’s story is set alongside the story of Pilar, a woman who has come from poverty and hardship as Paddy has. Success for Pilar would be getting out of her terrible marriage, making a comfortable life for herself and her baby daughter, and becoming an office manager at a prestigious company. She has the skills for this, as well as good looks, charisma, intuition, and brains. When Pilar meets the richest man in town, her fortunes begin to rise. By and by Pilar becomes a case study in self-sabotage. Pilar’s and Paddy’s stories intersect repeatedly, stitching together Grossberg’s unusual novel.
Unlike every other legal novel I have read, The Best People is not about a crime or a mystery or an international threat: it is about the lawyer. Paddy, essentially a loveable fellow, bumps his way into being that shyster who inspires lawyer jokes. Meanwhile, the reader is treated to an insider’s look at the intricacies of the law as Paddy handles or mishandles major cases and personal investments. Marc Grossberg writes with the same confidence and sparkle as Carl Hiaasen and Robert B. Parker; this Tale of Trials and Errors is laugh-out-loud funny.
The only problem I have with this novel is that it is Grossberg’s only one. I want more.
The Best People is a story for readers who enjoy character studies written with a (mostly) light touch and who do not mind a bit of adult content. I am pleased to give this delightfully-written, beautifully-edited masterpiece 4 out of 4 stars.
******
The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
What do a respectable tax attorney and a bottom-feeding scumbag who passed the bar exam have in common? Well, in The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors they are author and creation, a match made in literary heaven (also known as Houston). Marc Grossberg’s debut novel is a humdinger.
Paddy Moran is a cop turned lawyer and a Yankee trying to find a toehold in high-society Texas. Paddy sees himself as a good person with grand ambitions. He has worked to prepare himself for excellence (i.e. huge paydays) in the two legal fields not dominated by large firms: family law and personal injury. The novel opens as Paddy gets his first case, handling the divorce of a cop buddy. This leads to more cops’ divorces, then to his first shady cases, and then to a judicial reprimand. Paddy straightens up. Before long, Paddy lands and wins a big-money, high-profile case. Success leads to more referrals, to more successes. These lead to more ethical dilemmas. Paddy acquires a seat at the best restaurant, a classy law partner, a judge, a dog (his one real confidant), and some very serious enemies.
Paddy’s story is set alongside the story of Pilar, a woman who has come from poverty and hardship as Paddy has. Success for Pilar would be getting out of her terrible marriage, making a comfortable life for herself and her baby daughter, and becoming an office manager at a prestigious company. She has the skills for this, as well as good looks, charisma, intuition, and brains. When Pilar meets the richest man in town, her fortunes begin to rise. By and by Pilar becomes a case study in self-sabotage. Pilar’s and Paddy’s stories intersect repeatedly, stitching together Grossberg’s unusual novel.
Unlike every other legal novel I have read, The Best People is not about a crime or a mystery or an international threat: it is about the lawyer. Paddy, essentially a loveable fellow, bumps his way into being that shyster who inspires lawyer jokes. Meanwhile, the reader is treated to an insider’s look at the intricacies of the law as Paddy handles or mishandles major cases and personal investments. Marc Grossberg writes with the same confidence and sparkle as Carl Hiaasen and Robert B. Parker; this Tale of Trials and Errors is laugh-out-loud funny.
The only problem I have with this novel is that it is Grossberg’s only one. I want more.
The Best People is a story for readers who enjoy character studies written with a (mostly) light touch and who do not mind a bit of adult content. I am pleased to give this delightfully-written, beautifully-edited masterpiece 4 out of 4 stars.
******
The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
