4 out of 4 stars
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The Snake Charmer by Stuart V. Goldberg is a crime thriller novel that takes place in Chicago in the 1980s. It follows Victor Raymer, a defense lawyer working in the narcotics courtroom of the Cook County court, for the entirety of his career. From his first day on the job, he struggles with the challenges of being one of the few members of the judiciary system not accepting or paying bribes. To add to his hardships, he must fight against the federal officers carrying out Operation Greylord, who are looking to implicate him as a part of the wide net of corruption that plagues the county's judiciary system.
Raymer is a stand-in for Goldberg himself, and nearly every character is inspired by someone from his own life. Raymer's paralegal, Michael, even has the same name as Goldberg's own now deceased law clerk. Goldberg doesn't rely on simply retelling his experiences, though: he shapes and embellishes his narrative to turn it into a masterful work of fiction. Because of his personal insights, every character feels intensely real. Even Chicago becomes its own character, with a mind and spirit of its own. The worldbuilding of The Snake Charmer is like no other because Goldberg is so intensely familiar with the setting of the story he weaves.
The only complaints I had with The Snake Charmer were mechanistic in nature. Goldberg relies somewhat heavily on ellipses, and occasionally uses exclamation points rather than periods for descriptive statements, which I found a bit distracting. These are minor flaws, and for the most part, the book's writing is incredibly effective. It employs both poetic and prosaic language when needed, and the dialogue is never stilted or unrealistic. Utilizing relatively short chapters, sometimes as minimalistic as one or two pages, served to ensure the flow of the story never stagnated or dragged on, despite the dull connotation legal work holds. Furthermore, I could find only one grammatical error that wasn't stylistic.
The Snake Charmer clearly holds an extremely personal place in Goldberg's heart, and with good reason. It deals with a variety of very heavy, thought-provoking subjects, chief of which is the true role of defense attorneys. They have an obligation to defend their clients' rights, to be sure, but in doing so, they humanize their clients. Convicts are sons and daughters. Drug dealers have husbands and wives. It's no hyperbole to say that I finished the novel with a broadened understanding of humanity and a new respect for criminals, who most people might pass off as the scum of the earth. This is the heart of Goldberg's novel: even those scorned by society can become great people, and even those championed by society can become terrible.
I can't help but give The Snake Charmer 4 out of 4 stars. I highly recommend this novel to any adult living in the Chicagoland area or anyone with even a cursory interest in the crime and thriller genres. For obvious reasons, it isn't appropriate for children. From a narrative standpoint, it's an exciting adventure, rife with twists and turns and unique characters. From a philosophical standpoint, it's a compelling look into the lives of the downtrodden, and how incredibly convoluted the execution of justice can be.
******
The Snake Charmer
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