Customer Reviews

A Cure for Night: A Novel

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In his first novel, A Cure For Night, Justin Peacock has taken a major step towards becoming a "must read" author of legal and "life-on-the-street" thrillers. Peacock tells the very interesting tale of lawyer, Joel Deveraux, who is forced to resign from his top tier corporate law firm after a drug-related scandal, and takes a much lower-paying job with the Public Defender's Office in Brooklyn. In this position, Deveraux, who narrates the story, feels that he is functioning, albeit in a minor way, as a cog in the slow-moving NYC justice system until he accepts "the second chair" alongside a more experienced female Public Defender in a high-profile murder case. Without going into the details of the story and risk spoiling any of the drama that unfolds, it is from this point on that you won't be able to put the book down. In addition to Peacock's exceptional prose and narrative skills, his strong characterizations, and his ability to maintain an ongoing sense of courtroom tension, he does an excellent job of conveying "life" inside the public defender culture as well as in the housing projects in Brooklyn, where selling drugs too often paves the road to money and prestige. For an experienced author to tell a compelling story in such a way that the reader is willing to delay whatever else has to be done in order to read what happens next is a major accomplishment, and a sure sign of a bestseller. For Peacock to accomplish this so well in his first book makes him an author who, in "my book," deserves a large reader audience and one who has the potential to climb quickly to the top of the list of bestselling authors. The only minor criticism I have is that while Peacock creates a vivid depiction of his characters' personalities, I would have liked to have been provided a stronger profile of their physical descriptions. I am already looking forward to Peacock's next book; but, until then will be recommending A Cure For Night to my family and friends. Do yourself a favor and read A Cure For Night!

The last two novels I read before this one were from solid "name brand" authors. And...they were disappointing schlock. Justin Peacock is a new author and perhaps because he is new, he has put some care into his work and created a strong book that I can easily recommend.

The title comes from this little exchange between two defense attornies:

"That's what the criminal law is: it's how the day tries to correct the night's mistakes. Most of my cases, people have done something they never would've dreamed of doing in broad daylight."
"What does that make us?" I said. "The night's janitors?"
"We're absolutely that," Myra said, sipping her cosmo. "What else do we do but clean up after it? That's why we'll never run out of work. Not unless someone invents a cure for night."


This gritty, dark book features a New York City Public Defense Attorney, Joel Deveraux, that has his own troubled past (with drugs) that has caused him to fall from the fast track in a big-time, big money law firm. Joel is working himself up through the system and he is tapped to be second-chair on a murder case that involves an inner-city drug dealer, a Jewish college student and a lot more.

On a real positive, Justin Peacock has gone out of his way to include correct-sounding dialects - the people from the projects sound authentic to my ear. Although I am not "in the life", I have taught in urban schools for 8 years and Peacock's a lot more accurate than most of those that even bother to try to catch the dialect.

Fans of Robert K. Tanenbaum (Reckless Endangerment) will like this one.

A Cure for Night: A NovelWhat a good read, I really enjoyed this book. At one point, just shy of the end (20 pages or so) I stopped reading one night, simply because I didn't want it to end. I then leisurely enjoyed the final twist the next day. The story is strong and the characters well flushed out. Joel's (the main character) self loathing and fear of himself and others is very endearing. Both sexes are well represented here and both read very true. Being an attorney, I know how boring law can be, BUT somehow Justin Peacock made it interesting again. This book is well worth the money, just buy sit back and enjoy!

This is one of those books that you "can't put down". It begins compellingly and maintains the pace. The story follows an attorney whose lover overdoses on heroin--the drug they have both been using and which causes his life to spiral downward. He loses his reputation, his well paid position at a high powered firm, receives a 6 month suspension of his license and finds himself working at the Public defender's Office in Brooklyn. Suddenly he is moved from the mundane cases he is working to be second chair in a murder trial. The first chair is a woman who is well known for her skills and he hopes to learn from her. As they work together, he finds they have a great deal in common and their working relationship evolves into a friendship which enables each of them to open themselves to another person, and the inherent danger that entails.

The meaning of "justice" is thoroughly explored throughout the novel. The characters are well developed and the story line leaves the reader wanting more. A must read.

I really enjoyed this book. I was expecting a legal thriller type novel, but instead the book is realistic and methodical. I found the characters to be real and thought the author developed them quite well, flaws and all. If you are an analytical type and enjoy topics about legalities and court rooms, you will enjoy this book. However, if you need the "thriller" style rush, you most likely will not.

My perspective on this book is colored by the fact that I am a criminal defense attorney who often takes court appointed clients. I can't speak to the particularities of New York's justice system, but the attitude and dialogue of the lawyers is pretty authentic. Many criminal attorneys end up in our profession because, like the protagonist, they scewed up badly at their first job. The interactions depicted by Peacock reminded me very clearly of moments I've seen as an attorney: the unusual view of criminal attorneys held by corporate types, the fatal attraction of substance abuse for some lawyers, getting too caught up in a case. Peacock does a good job of sharing authentic experiences in the life of a criminal attorney

Peacock's view is far from idealized. He uses different characters to examine the various dominant views of the legal profession by both practitioners and outsiders while advancing the story. He also does a great job of moving through the legal process from start to finish through the context of murder case where the accused is a career criminal. He doesn't romanticize any of the story, but tells it like it is and lets the story sell itself. There are a lot of enlightening bits of information here for someone who isn't a criminal lawyer. The biggest being none of the noirish patter from the dust jacket (the only part of the book that is overdone), but the revelation that what happens in court is not a search for truth but a competition of stories told by professional storytellers.

Peacock also puts the law more front and center than authors like Scott Turow, which was interesting to see and explained well without interrupting the narrative's flow. "A Cure for Night" is not a thriller involving lawyers, it is a story about the legal system designed to protect citizens accused of crimes. The compelling nature of the story comes from an authenticity rooted in reality. The only exception is the ending, which seemed sort of tacked on, but which is still within the realm of the possible. The entire novel, really, could be taken from actual case notes. Fans who want the gritty reality of the early Dragnet or first seasons of Law & Order will find it here, people who want a thriller set in a vague legal context may find their eyes opened. Excellent first effort by this author.

*****NO SPOILERS*****

I enjoyed this book because of the artful way in which it was told. The dialog seemed real and I particularly liked that we come to know the characters better and better as the story progresses.

Joel Deveraux finally gets a position in Brooklyn's Public Defender's Office after a drug scandal caused him to lose his lucrative position in a top-notch law firm some months earlier. Joel is a likable fellow who made some poor choices in the past but he seems to have learned from those mistakes and is now trying to get his life back on track. The events in A Cure for the Night are told from his perspective.

The power of this legal procedural is that it is so believable and seems authentic. It resonates in a sometimes frightening manner as being a realistic portrayal of our legal system. Joel gets his "big break" when he is asked to second chair in a murder trial in which the black defendant is accused of killing a white college student. The case unfolds in a mesmerizing manner and we the readers trail along behind the lawyers rather like silent ghosts as they question witnesses and uncover information - some of which is helpful to their case some of which is not. Ultimately, the final verdict has very little to do with justice or innocence but rather which side played the better game.

I found A CURE FOR NIGHT to be an enjoyable courtroom procedural. While I can't say this novel is a thrill-a-minute read, it does provides some interesting insights into the US legal process, and how the Public Defender's office operates in New York City.

The flawed protagonist of A CURE FOR NIGHT is Joel Deveraux, a young lawyer who is fired from a big law firm job due to a scandal related to his addiction to heroin. He eventually takes a low-paying job in the Public Defender's office in Brooklyn, and finds himself taking the second chair in a high profile street shooting. Most of this book deals with his investigation of the shooting, and the murder trial that results from it.

A CURE FOR NIGHT isn't exactly a suspenseful page-turner, but it was interesting enough to sustain my interest. Author Peacock, who is a practicing attorney himself, does a first-rate job of explaining how public defenders do their jobs, and all the courtroom scenes in this novel are well done and seem quite authentic. I found the main character to be likable enough, although he seemed to have little personality outside of his problems with drug addiction.

This book is not one of those overblown thrillers that feature serial killers, car chases, or over-the-top action scenes. To Peacock's credit, he tries to keep the storyline as realistic and down-to-earth as possible, and largely succeeds for the most part. The only major disappointment of A CURE FOR NIGHT is the ending, which I found somewhat overblown and inconsistent with the book's overall tone.

In short, A CURE FOR NIGHT is a highly readable novel that should entertain fans of realistic courtroom drama. Fans of John Grisham, Steve Martini, or John Lescroart may want to give this one a try.

Three and a half stars.

In this debut novel, Justin Peacock offers the reader an intense courtroom thriller. From page one, the reader gets hooked and stays hooked until the very end. As with the best page-turners, you won't want to put this novel down until you find out what happens.

Joel Deveraux is working at a top-notch, white collar law office in New York City when he decides that he wants to date his legal assistant, Beth. Not only is this potentially unethical, but Beth also has the air of something forbidden; she is an adventurer in life, perhaps on the dark side. Joel soon finds out that Beth is playing with fire, a powdered fire called heroin. While Beth is really into this drug and has already let her professional life flounder, Joel joins her as a weekend partier. He fools himself into believing that because he uses only on the weekend, he's really okay. One day, at work, Beth overdoses and dies. Joel is at the center of the investigation and loses his job. He is given the option of resigning before he is fired and he takes this option. He finds himself at the losing end of a civil lawsuit filed by Beth's father who mistakenly believes that he was the one who got Beth into drugs. Joel loses his license to practice law for six months and finds himself unable to land a job at any reputable law firm. Word travels fast on the grapevine, even in Manhattan. Joel finally secures work as a public defender in Brooklyn. Though he's not there for the idealistic reasons that many public defenders share, he appreciates the work. He's not using heroin any longer but he's not in a good recovery program either.

Joel has been working as a public defender for about six months, primarily doing arraignments, when his boss offers him the chance to play second chair in a murder investigation. This is where things begin to pick up and get really interesting. The reader is privy to intricate courtroom dramas between the public defender's office and the prosecution, between lawyers and clients and between victims and perpetrators. We are shown the ugly head of racism as it peaks out from every corner, especially in jury selection and in impulsive judgments about clients. The dialogue is very realistic and the lingua franca of the city projects appears to be genuinely portrayed.

Joel is paired up with a senior defender on his team, Myra Goldstein. She is a seasoned six year veteran of the public defender's office - tough, assertive, self-assured. She doesn't see the need to have a second chair but her boss is concerned that she won't have enough time to give to this case. Myra is also working on an appeal for another client who she believes is innocent but has just been sentenced to life in jail. Joel likes to be in the courtroom, an experience he did not have at his posh law office. The murder case also interests him a lot. A jewish student from Brooklyn College has been murdered at the projects. A second man, a black drug dealer, has been shot in the back twice and is alive. The alleged perpetrator, Lorenzo Tate, has been identified by an eye witness but continues to assert his innocence. It is a case with a lot more than meets the eye at first look. Joel learns that it is often not the best case that wins, but the best story. But what is the real story of this case. That's what this book is about.

The title of this book is interesting in itself and forms one of the backdrops for the story. Myra says to Joel that "the day tries to correct the night's mistakes. Most of my cases, people have done something they never would've dreamed of doing in broad daylight". Joel asks Myra if that makes them the night janitors. Myra says "We're absolutely that...What else do we do but clean up after it? That's why we'll never run out of work. Not unless someone invents a cure for night."

While the novel is riveting at times and always a page-turner, the ending is a bit of a let-down. Despite fitting together nicely, I expected more of a drama and revelation than I was given. It seemed a bit too pat and a bit too far-out at the same time. Despite my disappointment with the ending, I could not put the book down until I got there. It had me in its clutches like a pit bull and I lost quite a bit of sleep last night.

I think that Justin Peacock has a good career ahead of him as he polishes his style and continues in this vein. I haven't read such a good courtroom drama since The Juror by Dawes or The Thirteenth Juror by Lescroat. Peacock has a wonderful way with dialogue that keeps the nail biting going strong. I wanted better physical descriptions of Joel and Myra from the author but I made them up for myself. Peacock knows the courtroom. He understands the confrontations and the ethical dilemmas. He understands addiction and the rationalizations that addicts make to themselves when they're not in full recovery. He knows how to keep the reader turning pages. I look forward to his next book.

In this absorbing courtroom trial thriller, the protagonist Joel Deveraux is dismissed from a flashy job with a top echelon law firm when his assistant dies from a heroin overdose in the restroom of the firm. At this point, I didn't think that I would like the book, but it turned around quickly.

Fast forward to Joel having taken a job as a public defender in Brooklyn, for not a lot of money. He is brought on to a case defending a murder suspect slum-dweller as second-chair to an experienced and enigmatic female lawyer, and the story takes off. The interviews and investigations and courtroom drama were very absorbing and fast-paced, leading me to finish the book in one day.

There are some twists to the plot at the end that makes this book not your typical "good guy wins" or "good guy loses" trial novel. I won't reveal any plot spoilers, but if you think that you have predicted the end, you most likely are wrong.

Highly recommended. I look forward to the author's next novel.