Customer Reviews

Death by Rodrigo: A Novel

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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If Horace Rumpole lived in Camden NJ instead of London England, he would know Mickie and Junne, two ex-cops turned criminal defense lawyers. These life-long best friends occupy the next to the bottom rung of the legal hierarchy in that they are retained and do not accept court-appointed cases. Those guys, Mickie and Junne figure,are really the dregs.

But the truth is that they are just far enough removed from the bottom to dare to dream of the big score, which finally arrives in the person of Rodrigo, a Salvadorian drug lord pinched while sneaking into the country to go to a wedding. The boys are paid handsomely and all they are really expected to do is get Rodrigo out on bail so he can disappear back to Central America. No problemo, they assure him. Except there is a problemo, a big one. The feds aren't nearly as stupid or corrupt as the NJ state judges and prosecutors are.

Rodrigo isn't going anywhere and Mickie and Junne soon fear that they will be the ones disappearing, only not to any secluded estate in El Salvador. They more likely will be fish food if they don't come up with something fast.

With this premise Ron Liebman, a true silk stocking lawyer, launches the hilarious tale of two guys whose socks, if they ever wore them, usually wouldn't match. We meet Slippery, a pimp and their best client, and Professor Mumbles a burned out legal genius whose specialty is creative solutions to insoluble problems. We get to know Slippery's girls, all of whom look like Junior League housewives, and watch them in action at a bar association dinner. And along the way there is Judge Thurgood Brown, pillar of the African-American community and a monument to the corrupting effects of never getting over the fact that he will never rise any higher in the judicial galaxy.

This book has "movie-deal" all over it, and when it gets made you can tell people it will be hard to be as funny as the book.

Enjoyed this tale of a pair of bottom-feeding lawyers in rotten Camden NJ who get manipulated into defending a very powerful, very deadly El Salvadorean drug lord. The colorful Jerseyese dialect is as unaffected as possible. Gives some real thought to the plot, too. Favorite scene: Our counselors bring two pricey [...] (gifts from a pimp client) as dates to a bar association banquet in Atlantic City, bribe a waiter to seat them at a head table with a Jersey Supreme Court Justice, who happens to be a regular customer of one of the professional ladies. In Jersey, perhaps this is not an utterly fantastic scenario. Later on, the judge wanders back into the story. The novel is a successful attorney's appreciation of all the hustling esquires with night school law degrees who do so much of the grunt work in the criminal justice system. Hope I meet these likable guys again at the Camden County Courthouse. But I don't plan on going there in person anytime soon.

The author, Ron Liebman, is a senior partner in a prestigious Washington, D.C. law firm. He's a former federal prosecutor and is the author of two previous books: Grand Jury and Shark Tales.

This book is a comedic legal story about two ex-cops, Salvatore "Junne" Salerno and Mickie Mezzonatti, who become criminal defense lawyers in their hometown of Camden, New Jersey. They're street-wise, Italian bred, attorneys who practice together and represent an assorted bunch of criminals, mobsters, pimps and drug lords.

The title of the book comes from the attempts by Junne and Mickie to get an El Salvadoran crime boos, Rodrigo Gonzalez, out on bail for the crime of drug trafficking. Once out, Rodrigo will hightail it back to El Salvador. The only problem is that the judge denies bail. Rodrigo isn't pleased and soon has some unsavory friends calling on Junne and Mickie.

This book is a lighthearted romp through the seamy aspects of the law. It's peppered with quirky characters and an assortment of lowlifes that Liebman somehow makes likable.

My only criticism with the book is that Liebman spends far too much time telling - instead of showing. The book is written from the first person point of view of Junne and all too often Liebman writes page after page of internal dialog when actions could better illuminate a character.

My favorite part of the book is when Junne and Mickie attend the bar association meeting with a couple of hookers and run into the Chief Judge of the state supreme court. That chapter alone is worth the price of the Death by Rodrigo.

This is a book that has a high 'readability' factor, if not a page-turner;
I agree with the comments of the first reviewer.

I would say that the author could have achieved nearly the same effect-impact without so much cussing.

Ron Liebman really KNOWS how to craft a story with colorful characters who have snappy dialogue in believeable venues. Great humor; interesting, unexpected story turns. He knows how to give you something you didn't even know you would enjoy reading. Did I mention you will have lots of laughs? Lawyers (judges and clients) like these must exist somewhere -- they seem all too real and possible! Lawyers and those who deal with the legal system will love this story. You will be glad you bought this one!