Lawless [Hardcover]

Christopher Darden (Author), Dick Lochte (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2004

Mercer Early, a young lawyer at one of the West Coast's most prestigious, predominantly African-American law firms, has just been assigned to a case of an L.A. cop who has shot and killed his wife. The case seems routine enough-that is, until two more previously non-violent cops kill their spouses in cold blood. The three have some strange things in common, but the LAPD vehemently denies any connection. And when the FBI issues Mercer a warning to stay off this case, he finds himself on a wild ride that takes him from the indoor corridors of law and order to the lawless streets of L.A.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's another tough case for ambitious young lawyer Mercer Early, who first appeared in 2002's The Last Defense, when he's assigned to defend a cop accused of killing his lover. Plot-wise, Darden and Lochte's crackerjack crime yarn offers an embarrassment of riches. As the book begins, Mercer, a junior partner in "the most powerful black law firm on the West Coast," is confidently defending an inner-city youth on trial for murdering a police officer, while mentoring two of the firm's promising new lawyers. His relentless multitasking sets a breakneck pace, which the authors skillfully maintain, telling the story in short, splintered chapters from a handful of perspectives, including that of veteran African-American cop Joe Mooney. Joe fends off the sexual advances of his cute new partner, Emmylou, and narrowly avoids death in a shootout, only to be framed later for the murder of his wife, who dies in a suspicious fire at their home. It's the third recent case of a cop allegedly killing a loved one. Cop Dwight Baskin was the first (he goes down in an explosive prologue) and then there's Mercer's client, Eldon Nunez, an officer with a heretofore spotless record, accused of killing his gay lover, architect Landers Pope. Nunez's bizarre mood swings and the confluence of crimes send Mercer and company probing in unusual directions. Packed with conflict and colorful characters, this story has many twists, some of which are implausible. But it's written with all the grit and professional savvy one would expect from the authors.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The death of Landers Pope at the hand of his police-officer lover, Eldon Nunez, sends the LAPD into spin-control overdrive. The gay-lover angle is a potential nightmare, but if officer burnout is cited as a motive, the damage could be even worse, opening up the department's internal policies to external examination. Mercer Early, a rising star with the city's most prestigious minority law firm, is assigned Nunez's defense. His first hurdle is finding a motive, and Nunez's deteriorating mental state isn't helping. Then two other officers are involved in the deaths of their life partners, and a pattern emerges, although hazily, thanks to the determined stonewalling from the top cops, who sense a scandal of Rodney King proportions. Darden came to the public's attention as a member of the O. J. prosecution team; his previous efforts, including The Trials of Nikki Hill (1999), were critical and commercial successes. Darden brings the same insider's savvy this time, and coauthor Lochte the same muscular prose, but the plot is founded on third-rate paranoia, and the coincidences that move it toward an unlikely conclusion are barely worthy of a straight-to-video movie. Darden and Lochte have done much better and probably will again in the future, but on balance, this is a disappointing effort. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: NAL Hardcover (January 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 045121109X
• ISBN-13: 978-0451211095
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,872,038 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars John, August 19, 2005

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John "John" (Florida) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lawless (Hardcover)

I threw this book in the trash after page 62. Why? This book is TRASH!

5.0 out of 5 stars I admit it, I saw the name on the cover and picked it up..., September 29, 2004

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DWD "DWD's Reviews" (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Lawless (Hardcover)

...and after the first 50 pages I thought to myself, "Uh-oh. He's done it again and screwed up for all of the world to see." In case you were under a rock during the OJ trial - Darden was the male prosecutor. And, it first it did seem that this book was floundering and going to be another bust for Darden.

However, what I mistook for floundering was actually the plot being carefully laid out - including intricate subplots, betrayals (lots of betrayals) and bizarre dead ends that mislead the reader to the very last page. When you finally get a handle on what the bad guys are up to you then wonder which guys are the bad guys, which are the good guys and who is just out for themselves. When this book finally played out, it was well worth the initial confusion.

I'll be looking for his other books.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent legal thriller, January 7, 2004

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Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lawless (Hardcover)

Mercer Early is a junior partner in the law firm of Carter and Hansborough, one of the most powerful and well respected companies on the west coast. After obtaining a not guilty verdict for his client, he is assigned a case involving a male LAPD officer who shot his male live-in lover. When Mercer goes to talk to his client, the man is incoherent and clearly not in his right mind. The victim is the District Attorney's godson so Mercer knows he has to have an awful case.

Two other LAPD police officers have also killed their significant others sharing in common paranoia, incoherency and clearly not in their right minds. The three men are tied to a shoot out in which a police officer shot another cop who was ready to kill him. A black box was taken out of the victim's car and given to someone high up in the LAPD. Federal agents are also involved in the case and warn Mercer off which makes him only more determined to find out what is going on and exonerate his client.

LAWLESS is one of the better conspiracy thrillers this reviewer has read in a long time and I have read a lot of them lately. It is hard to tell the heroes from the villains because both groups wear the label patriot and sincerely believe they behave in a responsible manner. Mercer is an honest, likeable person who believes in justice; his determination to win his client's freedom by trying to find a link to all the interested parties endears him further to the audience. Christopher Darden and Dick Lochte score big time with this exciting investigative thriller.

Harriet Klausner