Customer Reviews

Above the Law

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For a relatively short book, Tim Green's Above the Law seems to contain a bit of everything. A haggard and heroic lawyer, a corrupt politician, a dirty cop, international intrigue, human trafficking, border-security issues, a drug-running operation, murder, vigilante justice, a wrongful death lawsuit, and more. There's an awful lot packed into this story, which is well-written and enjoyable but suffers a bit after a good start, due largely to reader overload and unfulfilled plot potential.

When an illegal migrant worker is shot on a prominent senator's Texas ranch, the incident is quickly declared a tragic hunting accident. Perhaps too quickly, Casey Jordan, operator of a legal aid clinic in Dallas, thinks when the dead man's wife comes to her asking for help. When the wife is deported after being threatened with having her baby taken away, Casey smells a rat and opens an investigation into the shooting and other suspicious goings on at the senator's ranch. What she finds is shocking--and dangerous, especially when the senator strikes back, first using the media to attack Casey and then sending the Environmental Protection Agency to shut down her clinic. Desperate, Casey heads to Mexico to find and retrieve the wife of the slain worker, hoping for evidence that will prove the senator's guilt. But the senator has already shown he won't go down without a fight, and when the attacks threaten to turn deadly, Casey realizes she is engaged in a battle for her life.

The book starts out strong, as Green explores the legal and political ramifications of the shooting, and Casey's involvement as the legal advocate for an otherwise helpless illegal immigrant adds texture. Green takes aim at border politics as he sets up what appears to be the foundation for a fascinating courtroom battle. But the story never reaches the courtroom, as Casey instead launches her own investigation, and the second half of the book, while thrilling, feels a little out of control as the story bounces back and forth across the border and between characters.

The overly complex plot notwithstanding, Green is a talented writer, and his characterizations and scene-setting descriptions put the reader right in the middle of the story. The action scenes are intense, and the ending is satisfying if a tad abrupt. There's not much to dislike about the book; what's disappointing is that what at first seems like a thoughtful, issues-based thriller evolves into a rather flat, complicated shootout. Above the Law is entertaining and definitely worth reading for action fans; it's just not quite as good as it could have been.

On a ranch near Dallas, charismatic Senator Tucker "Chase" Dean shoots an undocumented migrant worker Elijandro "Ellie" Torres in what the police conclude is a tragic hunting accident. With tears and a catch in his throat the cherished politician tells what happened to the media and the public. His remorse makes him even more popular and enhances his road to the White House.

However, the victim's family insists he was cold bloodedly murdered by the affluent senator. The police ignore her accusations, but Legal Aid attorney Casey Jordan decides to follow up after meeting the widow and baby before they are deported. Casey soon learns that Tucker's wife was visiting the deceased. She begins to make a case that the powerful senator's motive for murder was being the cuckolded spouse. When the DA rejects prosecuting the case, Casey sues in civil court.

The star of twisting legal thriller THE LETTER OF THE LAW returns in another impossible scenario. This time Casey takes on a super power who manipulates everyone so that he is ABOVE THE LAW. The story line is fast-paced and like Casey's previous appearance filled with terrific spins. Although the support cast comes from legal thriller typecasting, heroic Casey is a delight as a modern day Dona Quixote fighting windmills.

Harriet Klausner

This was a very good novel. It was exciting and suspenseful and really well written. The characters were well developed, though it was a bit confusing in the first two chapters until I figured out who was who. Once that was figured out, the rest was very interesting. The author also gave you a little taste of Mexico and the problems that Americans could face as tourists there.

I really enjoyed this book and could hardly put it down.

Tim Green knows how to keep the reader interested. I have enjoyed many of his books and will continue to do so.

I read halfway through this book before realizing it was just not going to get any better. The thread of the story seemed to unfold in a jumpy way, as if a publishing company prankster had removed every third or fourth sentence on selected pages and a paragraph here and there just for kicks. The dialogue felt the same awkward way to me. I kept thinking "Huh?" and feeling as though I had missed a line or two, but nope, that's all there was. The whole thing felt very amateurish, and this book goes on the very short list of books that I gave up on part way through. Life is too short.

pls take my advise, this tim green political mystery is worth the time.i can not believe that a nfl football player wrote this. this is my first t. green read and is worth a five star.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. Mr. Green chooses a new setting for his novel, Texas, Mexican border, a far piece from the upstate New York locale of earlier books. His main character, an attractive and gutsy lawyer who works for the welfare of the poor, is also a new move for him. The plot is fast moving, and Mr. Green did some great research on the behavior of gangsters along the border, and on the plight of the illegals who fall under the control of people of bad character. Great read.

When Senator Chase, a powerful politician, shoots an illegal Mexican immigrant in a hunting accident he tearfully apologizes and goes on with his life. When the wife of the victim goes to see Casey Jordan, now running a legal aid clinic, she has a different story.

Tim Green has done a wonderful job with this novel. A well rounded and well written thriller. He seem's to get better and better with each novel.

If you've read his novels in the past I'm sure you'll agree, if you haven't read one...I recommend you do.

Tim Green has built up an enviable bibliography over the past several years following a career as an NFL defensive end and concurrent with the practice of law in upstate New York. ABOVE THE LAW, his latest book, features the surprising and welcome return of a character from a previous work, with a few new twists and some intriguing turns.

Casey Jordan appeared in Green's THE LETTER OF THE LAW. An attorney with a high-powered law firm, Casey found herself inadvertently being a party to a miscarriage of justice and set about to balance the scales, as it were, in an ingenious if slightly unorthodox manner. ABOVE THE LAW finds Casey in somewhat different circumstances, having left her white-shoe firm to open a women's legal aid clinic funded primarily by private contributions. Jordan undertakes the case of a pivotal client whose circumstances will soon change everything for her.

Isadora is an illegal immigrant who faces deportation and separation from her child, born in the United States and regarded as an "anchor baby." Her husband, Elijandro, was recently killed in a hunting accident involving his employer, Senator Chase, a prominent Texas politician who has his eye on the Oval Office. Isadora believes that her husband was in fact murdered by the senator, who suspected his wife of being involved with Elijandro. Casey manages to keep mother and infant together, but as she and her legal investigator attempt to conduct their own investigation into Elijandro's death, they keep running into dead ends that are in fact cleverly constructed roadblocks: no one wants to take Chase on.

Meanwhile, Chase is hiding much more than his deliberate murder of Elijandro. Illegal immigrants in his employ are quietly disappearing, taken in trucks in the dead of night to unknown destinations. Casey, assisted by her legal investigator Jose, begins turning over rocks that are only reluctantly dislodged as a monstrous scheme is uncovered, an event that will have far-reaching repercussions both north and south of the Rio Grande River.

Over the course of his last few novels, Green has been favoring his expanding body of readers with more complex and interesting plots. This novel is no exception. The chemistry between Casey and Jose, both of whom are more troubled than they initially seem, is predictable, but Green takes them and his readers through some twists and turns, resulting in surprises that continue right up until the conclusion of the book. From beginning to end, ABOVE THE LAW gives more than its fair measure of money and time spent.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Lawyer Casey Jordan was first introduced in The Letter of the Law. She has left the high powered firm she was with and has opened a legal aid clinic.

Senator Chase has a tragic hunting accident on his property, killing one of his Mexican workers. But when a woman comes to Casey's clinic and says that her sister in law's husband was murdered by the Senator, she reluctantly agrees to look into it, not putting much stock in the idea of a murder. But when she is thwarted at every turn and discovers first hand how the Senator controls the law in his corner of Texas, she becomes a believer. Aided by her investigator Jose, they discover that this murder is a cover up for something far bigger.

Tim Green has created another solid legal thriller in Above the Law. Although some of it is predictable - the sexual tension between Casey and Jose, the bucking against the odds, tenacious, good looking female lawyer and the 'untouchable' bad guys, it also deals with some very relevant topics. Namely the abuse and plight of illegal immigrants. Green has woven together this element with non stop action and produced a very entertaining read.

Green himself has had an interesting journey - he played pro football for eight years, was a sports commentator and also earned his law degree.