Customer Reviews

Enemy Combatant

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

 

 

In Phoenix, the jury selection in the case against Hispanic Muslim Juan Gomez accused of being a terrorist mass murderer is an injustice as the public defender appointed to represent the indicted does nothing. In the gallery watching the proceedings, a disgusted attorney Tom Carpenter opens his mouth that the proceedings are a travesty as no objections to obviously biased people have occurred. The judge assigns Carpenter to represent the seemingly already convicted Gomez.

During the trial Carpenter finds justice is not blind it is dead in this case as everything is set for the prosecution to gain a conviction. In the courthouse bathroom a hooded attacker holding a gun to his head warns Carpenter that if he is overly zealous in his defense, meaning acquittal, his family will pay the price. When he sees the same person working for the defense, Carpenter realizes he needs to learn who his adversary is and what he really knows as he begins to believe that the bathroom incident was a warning to protect his family not a threat.

This interesting legal thriller raises the question whether justice in American can be blind when it comes to a radical fundamentalist Muslim. The story line is fast-paced from the moment that Carpenter opens his mouth in court and never slows down as the audience is captivated by his defense of his client, who fascinatingly he does not like. Although the support cast on all sides of the courtroom and elsewhere seem more caricature than developed, readers will appreciate this entertaining thriller in which entitlement to a lawyer is not entitlement to a reasonably good defense.

Harriet Klausner

Not at all what I expected, and a very pleasant surprise.

Howdy Ed, you are my favorite new author. Tightly paced, sometimes frantic courtroom sequences with balls!
Gaffney manages to intertwine a very touchy topic of domestic terror and personal challenges with flashbacks
filled with humor and caustic wit. I mean in one moment our hero Tom Carpenter is being chased by crazed
killers from a secret gubment agency, and then he transitions quite adroitly to a story about his grandpa
whooping his butt in marbles or something when he was 10. Its all quite entertaining cause you never know
where the story is headed next. 5 Tankers

Ed Gaffney's latest novel, "Enemy Combatant", is short-listed for Best Paperback Original Novel by the Edgar Awards. At best it is reminiscent of John Grisham and at worst it plays like a cliched cloak & dagger epsiode of "24".

The premise involves an attorney from Arizona who ends up being assigned the task of defending an alleged terrorist who may have been behind the biggest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. What the attorney, Tom Carpenter, quickly finds out is that the alleged "enemy combatant" he is defending might be innocent and the truth behind the real attackers hits closer to home than he could ever imagine.

The courtroom scenes are well-written (Ed Gaffney is a former criminal lawyer) and full of suspense. The book loses steam when the action moves outside the courtroom and at times became so far-fetched I forgot I was reading a legal thriller. Also, the cover of the paperback depicts the White House which I found very misleading as all the action takes place in AZ and the alleged terrorist attack took place in CO. The President is nowhere to be seen in this novel.

Overall, a quick and enjoyable read but could have been great if Gaffney had sustained the courtroom suspense throughout the entire novel.

Like Bob's review I read to be entertained, but I like the story to at least stay within the real world boundaries for a story taking place in the real world. This book in several instances goes well beyond those boundaries. It is well written, but just too over the top for me.

I was not sure what to expect of this book. Mostly when I buy fiction I want to be entertained, and this book started out doing that pretty well. I have a hard time with books that stretch the boundaries of believability and this one approaches those boundaries, and then goes well past them a few times.

I sort of expected a legal thriller, with some insight on how we can effectively use the criminal justice system to deal with terrorists, and it started out that way, then turned into your basic conspiracy thriller.

It got less and less believable as it went on, which seriously detracts from this type of fiction.

It was enjoyable, but i think it could have been a lot better if the author had restrained himself a little bit in the more fantastic segments. if I want fantasy, I will read fantasy.