Customer Reviews

The Court

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A word to the wise: this book was originally published in 1982 as NO MORE DREAMS. I bought it used and haven't yet read it, but I needed to give it some stars to submit this.

The theme of this book is integrity. Rather odd, considering that the book has been put together in a rather questionable way. The book was apparently published previously under a different title in 1982, but has been edited some (to include such things as references to the Internet to make it some more modern). Somebody other than William Coughlin did this, presumably, since Mr. Coughlin has passed on. As in the case of another recently published "Coughlin" book, the publisher is apparently unhappy that Coughlin is not around to write new books and has decided to fill this gap in other ways. The editing was done very sloppily and the book is riddled with typos. The book does not have much of a plot but is reasonably well written and some of the characters are interesting.

William Coughlin was one of the finest writers of legal thrillers around and I have always enjoyed his books very much. When two years ago The Judgement was published I assumed it was done posthumously, but still written by the author himself.

This is certaily not the case for The Court. Yes, I know that it is based on one of his earlier novels, but the many references to the Internet, the Reagan years, the Clinton administration and so on cannot, of course, have been written by William Coughlin.

I think it is a very sick marketing policy of the publishers to refrain from ANY refernece on the cover that in fact the book has been written and/or edited by somebody else.

I hope this will stop quickly!

I have loved reading all William Coughlin books and was really only terribly disappointed with "The Heart of Justice" published posthumously. I felt he had not finished it prior to his death and it did not have the life and humor of his other works. I saw that The Court was a reprint of his earlier book and was happy to find it. I did enjoy it because I accepted that it might not show the skill displayed in his later novels. It was a simple book, really, but I found it a pleasure to read. I did find it a bit unusual that the President would place such faith in one man's opinion of his choice for the Supreme Court, but I enjoyed the ride. For those who are upset, I feel it is his widow, Ruth, who is probably publishing Bill's earlier works. Read her book "Grieving" and you will never doubt her love for him. I don't believe she would ever publish anything that would hurt him or diminish his reputation as a fine writer.

Very rarely do I not finish reading a book. But after enduring all the confusing references and typos, I got to page 150. They changed the characters name from Jefferson to Jackson without missing a beat. If the publishers won't bother to proof read their books, I won't finish this one, or buy any more from this publisher.

I have read many William J. Coughlin novels. I have to agree with another reviewer that this is not a Coughlin book. Since his death, his older books are being rewritten and republished. Who ever is doing the rewrites is destroying Coughlin's good name.

This novel tells the story of a four major cases going to the Supreme Court. The Court is split 4 and 4 , with one judge the swing man. When this Judge has stroke and dies the hunt for a new judge is on. The President is looking for a judge that will vote for keeping the Electoral College in place. This the only way the President can win the next election. In total the other cases are overlooked.

This novel was trying to show the integrity of Washington D.C. It was suppose to show how one hand washes the other and so forth. This novel tried but gave up half way through, and I believe it was the half that was re-written. Also I found gross errors in Michigan geography, such as when flying from Washington D.C. to Detroit how do you fly over Ann Arbor? Coughlin would never make that error.

From someone who has read the book. Mr. Coughlin wrote some of the best, and this is one of them. I would hope we will see more of his out-of-prints republished. His greatest, to me, was "The Twelve Apostles", an outstanding book.

Starts slow to introduce all the players and then gradually revealing the incidious inside operations of the justice system.
Read in one sitting and then read again to get all the subtle dynamics of Coughlin. Don't miss this one, his writing is in a class all its' own. Ontario, Canada

I found it difficult to stick with this book in the beginning. I actually had trouble staying awake but I was glad that I did stick with it. About midway through, it became more interesting and I enjoyed the ending. I am more of a Grisham or a Scottoline fan.