The Deal [Paperback]

Sabin Willett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1997

The deadline approaches. The lawyers and bankers work feverishly to close an $840 million leveraged buyout. Finally, the papers are signed...and the fuse of a time bomb is lit. In the pressure of the deal, no one has noticed one very small, simple error. It is an error that will cost the law firm of Freer, Motley & Stone millions of dollars--and cost one of its partners his life. Thus begins the most exciting legal thriller since Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent--a novel as powerful, complex, and compelling as the law itself...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Weak characterizations, overblown prose and predictable plotting spoil Willet's debut, a legal thriller set in the rarefied financial and legal circles of greater Boston. The premise, though, is simple and sweet: as maverick attorney John Shepard closes the biggest deal in the history of Freer, Motley & Stone, no one notices that an error in the documents allows the recipient of the $840 million mortgage that supports the deal to pay it off with $840 thousand. The horrified partners learn that they may face hundreds of millions in malpractice liability. Soon the senior partner is dead, and Shepard is arrested for his murder. Two weeks from trial, Shepard fires his high-profile defense attorney and persuades his friend Ed Mulcahy, a litigator at Freer, to take the case. Ed does, and promptly loses his job. With little time to prepare, limited trial experience, a difficult client and Boston's legal and political establishment arrayed against him, Ed thus must win this case as much for himself as for his client. Willett fills the narrative with tired genre turns, such as how the stress of the trial draws Mulcahy and his assistant together romantically. His dialogue is equally cheap (a black youth: "He a strong muhfucker. Wipped yo' ass"; a P.I.: "Shepid? I heard aboudim"). Off the street and inside boardrooms and courtrooms, Willett's atmospherics seem authentic-he is himself a partner in a Boston law firm-but it's hard to accept the incredible confluences of incompetence and naivete from his cast of high-priced lawyers. An unsatisfying denouement proves a poor reward for those who hang on to see how the story's many loopholes are closed. Simultaneous Random AudioBook.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

A maverick lawyer in a staid Boston law firm, John Shepard has been bypassed for a partnership but is hanging on to close one last deal for the firm. This deal involves a $900 million loan, and the stakes are high. After the papers are signed, it is discovered that someone dropped three zeroes from the amount of the loan. Did Shepard deliberately let the error pass to get back at the firm and the mentor who failed to support his partnership? When Shepard's mentor is murdered and Shepard is arrested, he calls in an old debt from his friend Ed Mulcahy, whose criminal law experience is a bit rusty. Mulcahy gets to work, even though it means he may lose his job. The legal and financial detail involved in this complicated and convoluted thriller is occasionally dense, but Willett builds the suspense slowly and surely to a powerful climax. Highly recommended wherever legal thrillers are in demand.
-?Dean James, Houston Acad. of Medicine Lib.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Jove (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515121827
• ISBN-13: 978-0515121827
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #785,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you liked 'A Civil Action' - you'll love 'The Deal', January 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Deal (Paperback)

This is a fast-paced Boston legal intrigue. There is a mega-deal with an apparent typo - that hands $830,000,000 back to the buyer. No one knows who was responsible at the law firm for the (?)misprint in the deal. Then the senior partner on the deal is found murdered, and his associate is (?falsely) accused. He appeals to his buddy to defend him with only 13 days to build a case... It is superbly written - with suspense and excellent dramatic timing that leaves you hanging on the edge of your seat. It has a wonderful Boston feel, a background love story - I loved it.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great characters, often funny, non-lawyers don't be afraid, May 20, 2000

By 

Miguel Gierbolini (San Juan, Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Deal (Paperback)

I am a lawyer. Lawyers come in many ways. Litigators, corporate, prosecutors, senior corporate, associates, district attorneys, paralegals <well they are not lawyers> and others. They all do different things, as distinct as a bromelia is from an emu. Mr. Willett places them all here. And from my experience, he does a good job with them. They are funny per se. I don't think that this is a lawyers-only humor. The story is set in Boston. Imagine a deal whereby a bank gives some people money to buy a company. And, as you know, banks do not lend money, big money that is, without some collateral. Well the collateral is a big building in Manhattan. And some lawyer made a mistake whereby the collateral is worth $800,000,000 less than it is suppose to be worth. And then there is a murder. All hell breaks loose. The Harvard attorney who dealt the deal is indicted, his Northeastern pupil has to defend him, people get fired, crippled techies are shot at, and time is of the essence. Great story. Most people will read it more than once. I did. Trust me on this one.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of the tops in its genre, January 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Deal (Paperback)

I came across THE DEAL while looking for a financial thriller. But this one got me completely hooked, I read it at night, during lunch breaks, and I finished it in less than 48 hours. As an IB, I love to read books involving fictious deal making, although Willett's book isn't about investment bankers, I can relate to the time pressure in the beginning of the book. A great book for anyone who's interested in legal and financial area.