The Big Law: A Novel [Hardcover]

Chuck Logan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 1998

An emerging master of the thriller (whose previous novel was named one of Amazon.com's Ten Best Thrillers of the year) pits brooding hero Phil Broker against the legendary Witness Protection Program, which has unwittingly hidden his ex-wife's killer. In The Big Law, Logan unfurls a sublime premiseThe Fugitive in reverseand graces it with ingenious plotting and fascinating explorations of the forces that drive men both to selfless heroism and murderous greed.

The Big Law's intricate mechanics are set in motion by one fatal choice: Broker's naive ex-wife Caren decides to blow the whistle on her feckless husband, Keith Angland, a St. Paul cop who's moonlighting as an informant for the Chicago mob. Unwisely for her, she confides in Tom James, a disaffected reporter nursing dreams of the perfect crime. Seeing a way out of his dead-end life and into his dreams, Tom cajoles Caren into entrusting him with the suitcase full of greenbacks the mob has paid her informant husband. When Caren is killed, Tom frames Angland, absconds with the suitcase, runs to the FBI (known to its employees as the Big Law), and wangles himself a berth in the Witness Protection Program. Only Broker senses something amiss in Tom's testimony, and he sets out to find the truth. But to do that, he must find Tom, who has the Big Law and a big suitcase full of cash on his side.

Logan probes the inner workings of the Witness Protection Program. as no novelist has before. He also brings to this tale an unsurpassed knack for combining white-knuckle action with subtle characterizations and direct, lyrical prose. The Big Law proves how thoroughly he deserved to be called "one of the best of the new thriller breed." (Publishers Weekly)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The follow-up to The Price of Blood, one of Amazon.com's 10 best thrillers of 1997, The Big Law gets off to an exciting start when ex-cop Phil Broker gets a call for help from his ex-wife Caren. Caren left him years ago for Keith Angland, his former buddy on the St. Paul police force. Now, apparently, Angland's turned into a cowboy cop, maybe even a Mob-controlled rogue; at the very least, he's assaulted Caren and threatened her life. Broker has been out of uniform for a couple of years, busy caring for his 1-year-old daughter in a rural upstate backwater while his new wife is away on peace-keeping duty in the Balkans. He's heard rumors that Angland is being watched by the Feds, suspected of fingering an informant, but it doesn't touch him personally until Caren turns to him for help. She flees St. Paul and heads for Broker's hideaway with a suitcase full of money, an incriminating tape, and Tom James, a reporter with a gambling jones and a career that's on the skids. James hopes that latching onto Caren---not to mention the $2 million she's absconded with--will turn his luck around. When Caren is killed, the reporter frames Angland, steals the money, and talks his way into the Witness Protection Program, which looks like the perfect ticket out of his dead-end life, especially with Caren's tape as a bargaining chip. The Feds think James walks on water, but Broker isn't convinced. Setting out to find James where the "Big Law" has hidden him, he discovers just how far over the edge both James and Angland have fallen, and who pushed them. An explosive thriller with plenty of action, edge-of-your-seat pacing, and an appealing hero who readers will look forward to encountering again. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

Continuing the saga of loner ex-cop Phil Broker from The Price of Blood, Logan, a rising new maestro of suspense, explores the inner workings of the Federal Witness Protection Program in this crackerjack new spellbinder featuring dirty money, compulsion and revenge. When St. Paul, Minn., fading star reporter Tom James, a down-on-his-luck gambler, receives an anonymous tip that once-charismatic cop Keith Angland is on the take with the mob, the trail leads James to Angland's abused wife, Caren, who has decided to seek witness protection and turn over her husband's ill-gotten stash of $2 million in big bills and an incriminating videotape. (Caren is also Broker's ex.) While driving Caren to Broker's backwoods retreat, James persuades her to hide the tape and cash as he obsesses on stealing the loot for himself. An ensuing dispute with Angland at Broker's cabin provides James the opportunity to commit a convenient murder. Accusing Angland of the deed, James demands that the feds give him a new identity in exchange for the tape. The enthralling yarn becomes a cat-and-mouse game as Broker tries to locate James. Virtually seamless, the prose mesmerizes with intelligent contrasts between the monastic single-father hero and the obsessive-compulsive villain. The ingenious plot and cast of well-fleshed-out charactersAincluding a Russian Mafia czar and a sexy editorAcontinue to mark Logan as a standout in the genre.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1st edition (October 21, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060191333
• ISBN-13: 978-0060191337
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,906,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another solid entry from Chuck Logan, September 21, 2000

By 

Old Fisherman "Jim" (Orange, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Law (Mass Market Paperback)

Phil Broker is an ex-Saint Paul cop who now lives on Michigan's Upper Peninsuala with his infant daughter. However, when his ex-wife, Caren, finds her present husband is in deep with the Chicago mob she grabs the two million dollar payoff and goes running to Broker for help. On the way, she pairs up with morally-bankrupt reporter Tom James who sees his big chance to grab for the brass ring by murdering Caren, framing her husband, and disappearing with the two million into the FBI Witness Protection Program. But he didn't figure on Phil Broker who would stop at nothing, not even the FBI's Witness Protection Program, to learn the truth behind his ex-wife's death.

I've read Chuck Logan from the beginning and he just gets better and better. His writing is strong and his characters stand out. His writing style is very staccato and immediate but the action is exciting and the plot is clever. This thriller is way better than many of today's genre that masquerade as thrillers. I recommend this book highly.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chuck Logan does it again!!, July 27, 2001

By 

H. JOHNSON "Nana" (ILLINOIS) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Big Law (Mass Market Paperback)

I can't believe this book sat on my shelf for over a year and I didn't read it. I finished it in one day! Once again, Chuck Logan immerses the reader in the world of his protagonist,in this case, Phil Broker. Hopefully we'll see more of Broker in future books. This is a great read and the "daddy" scenes are winners. The reviewer who says Broker doesn't care about his wife and child didn't read this book very carefully. What about the last sentence????? Maybe one has to understand about "compartments" to understand Phil Broker.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Walter Mitty - stop dreaming, March 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Law: A Novel (Hardcover)

A colorless reporter tries to make his dreams come true. And he almost succeeds. Fabulous plotting, always new angles, never a dull moment. Tightly written. Interesting characters.This is the way mysteries should be written.