Review of Almost Mortal

[Joanna Perry]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Almost Mortal" by Christopher Leibig.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Almost Mortal by Christopher Leibig is a first-class legal thriller. The main character, Sam Young, is a public defense lawyer in Virginia. He takes cases for people not assigned to him by the court but who come directly to him. Sam works for these clients because they are lucrative or he previously helped them. That may not be kosher, but Sam takes chances. Many of those cases are for people who live on the fringes of accepted society. They make for a clientele whose problems are challenging and most often illegal. Sam Young acts on their behalf with respect and savvy. His defense strategies are intelligent and creative.

Sam’s work as a public defense lawyer is the structure in which the story takes place. A lot is going on in this book, and things move fast. Sam seems to survive on cigarettes, alcohol, and very little sleep. One of his characteristics is his ability to devise a plan in a hopeless situation. Another of his gifts will not be clear until the final chapters.

Murders have occurred in Rosslyn, and it looks like a serial killer is at work. Sam meets Sister Camille Paradisi, a nun who presents him with a dilemma that is both legal and religious. She gives Sam sections of a journal that she states will help him advise her. The journal pages are part of the secondary story, but I could not see how until the end of the book.

I was entertained by Almost Mortal because I love legal mysteries, and this is a good one. Another reason I liked it is that the character of Sam Young is well defined by the author, and despite the smoking and drinking, I liked Sam. He is intelligent, confident, and speaks to the point. I read the book a second time because of sections that confused me on the first reading, such as the DNA discussions and some journal entries. All of these features made sense by the end of the story. For all of these reasons and because the story kept my interest throughout, I give Almost Mortal a rating of 5 out of 5 and recommend it to others who enjoy a good legal thriller.

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Almost Mortal
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