Customer Reviews

Legal Tender

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Lisa Scottoline is a writer that pulls you in immediately and I promise you that you won't put down any one of her books unless you absolutely have to. Legal Tender introduces the character "Bennie" Bendedetta Rosato. Bennie is accused of murdering her ex-lover in this fast-paced legal thriller and as the plot thickens you are unable to tear yourself away from this book. All of Scottoline's books are absorbing and as soon as I finished reading this one I went out and bought all of them. Often I buy several books of the same author and they get boring and repetive but not so with her, its a surprise every time. She's been compared to Grisham but my opinion is she is even better!!! Don't miss Legal Tender or any of her books, you won't be disappointed!

This is the fifth book by Lisa Scottoline that I have read. After being given The Vendetta Defense, I was hooked, and am now trying to read the rest of her books methodically and in order. When you get to know a writer's style, sometimes it is disappointing to figure out the formula. So far, I have not felt this way about Scottoline. She always adds enough new twists to keep me interested.

Of course, if a reader cannot suspend a certain amount of disbelief, he or she will not like this book. There is an unmistakable degree of sly exaggeration. But like any good spoof, it tells the truth. Anybody who personally knows any lawyer even slightly will understand the author's "digs" at law firms' predilection for client billing. And Scottoline has a wicked ability to caricature the different lawyer types, much as she clearly maps out the social strata of the different floors of a law firm, starting with the Loser Floor.

One reason she maintains suspense is that all her characters are well fleshed out, evincing both good and bad qualities, so that unlike the case with usual villain archetypes, by the time the book reaches its denouement, the identity of who- actually-dun-it surprises us. And her wonderful character on the lam, Bennie Rosato, leads a merry chase because the author clearly knows her venues-- and how the system works--so well. Although more sympathetic than the typical picaresque protagonist, Rosato has enough gall and chutzpah to be convincing. The embattled heroine pulls off several little stings which give the reader a triumphant if vicarious satisfaction.

There are superb ironies here: the only person who heeds her questionable alter ego's so-called pleas for non-billable help is the head of the firm. And the elderly security guard at the tacky office of the sleazy (and hilariously inappropriately named) lawyer, Mr. Celeste, turns out to be actually more on the ball than the gaggle of smooth but naïve young gatekeepers at the posh building that houses highly successful firms.

Scottoline's undergraduate degree was in English, and it shows. Not only does she know the law, but she understands literature, and there are layers of wit and plot, as well as substance and subtext, to her writing that are enormously gratifying.

In other words, she writes good.

Legal Tender by Lisa Scottoline

LEGAL TENDER is a fast paced legal crime novel, with Benedetta "Bennie" Rosato as our heroine. She's a lawyer, who along with her partner Mark Biscardi, make up the law firm of Rosato and Biscardi. Business is going great. Her love life isn't, on the other hand. Mark, who was once her lover, is now dating one of their junior lawyers, Eve, and although Bennie's angry as hell, she doesn't have anything against Mark. Eve, on the other hand, she does not trust one bit.

Soon, there is trouble at the office. Mark informs her that he is planning on starting over by forming a brand new law firm, leaving Rosato and Biscardi behind. Shortly after their argument, Mark is found dead in his office, and because he has named Bennie as his main beneficiary, she is the main suspect. Before long, she is on the run and she doesn't know whom she can trust. The law firm's success was bogus, and after much investigating she finds out that Mark had been planning to leave the partnership quite a while ago, bringing Eve along with him.

Mark isn't the only one found dead. Soon, there are others, and Bennie knows that the deaths are all connected. Could they all have something to do with a case she had been working on? It was hard to tell. But as the newspaper headlines blare out her name on the front page, she finds that she is having a hard time coming out of hiding and returning to a normal life.

With the help of Grady, another lawyer from the law firm, she does a lot of researching and investigating, and slowly learns the truth of why Mark and all the others had been murdered.

I'm not a big fan of legal crime dramas, but I did enjoy LEGAL TENDER. I've read other crime novels, and found this one relatively easy to follow. It was fast paced and it took me only a few days to read it. I did feel that a lot of the plot was predictable, but this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. It only helped to make the book go that much faster. I would highly recommend it, but do not think the typical fan of legal crime dramas would enjoy it as much.

When I bought LEGAL TENDER, I thought to myself: this is just one more law boring book, since I usually don't like these kind of stories. I often hate books by other authors who write in the same genre. But that concept started to change when I started reading LEGAL TENDER. Lisa Scottoline has a wonderful sense of humor, the book has a plot full of twists and you just never get tired of it. Never. Soon I discovered that Lisa is the best author of that genre I've ever read. I just wish I could have all her books and much more. Now all I want is to never stop reading her. She's just impossible to forget, her books are just delightful and really, really, a wonderful entertainment.

This is the first book I've read by Lisa Scottoline and while I'm not a huge fan of legal thrillers, I enjoyed this book. The book is told from the point-of-view of Bennie Rosato, a larger-than-life lawyer who has been dumped personally and professionally by her boyfriend and law partner, Mark. Mark is sleeping with a young associate in the firm and plans to oust her. After a huge fight many of the associates were witness to, Mark is found murdered. Bennie soons learns Mark hadn't changed his will and she is still listed as his main beneficiary. As if that weren't enough to incriminate her, the cops are all to eager to to charge the woman who has won many many police brutality cases against them. Bennie has no one to trust. Anyone from the firm could have killed Mark. Only Grady, a handsome associate in the firm, agrees to represent her. As more bodies are found, Bennie goes into hiding to solve Mark's murder case. The action is fast-paced and the characters jump off the page.

I picked up this book right before a flight to Orlando and I couldn't put it down. Although her style is often compared with Gresham, she is better. She starts off with a bang, grabs your attention and you're off and running full steam ahead. The characters are well written and fully developed. When I returned from my trip, I immediately found all of her other books because I couldn't wait to read more. Try Scottoline, you'll agree with me, she's great!

In attorney Bennie Rosato we have a strong woman who is able to keep pace with the likes of Kay Scarpetta (great character who is Patricia Cornwell's best creation yet one we are seeing with decreasing visibility as the author tries to develop a new set of characters that just don't measure up to Kay), V.I Warshawski (a great character whom author Sarah Paretsky seems to have abandoned to strange stylistic experimentation), and of course, Kinsey Milhone, the A-N (so far) series by writer Sue Grafton.Rosato is a tough attorney with values, a point of view, and a wonderful sense of determination. Loved it. Leave some of your other characters behind and write more about Bennie!She's wonderfully engaging.

This book took me by surprise. I really enjoy Grisham's novels and was quite happy to find out the Lisa Scottoline writes in pretty much the same manner. This book grabs your attention right at the beginning and doesn't let go. I was very impressed with the main character Bennie. She is down to earth, intelligent, and rescourceful. I recommend this book to anyone. Also, about the one bad review I saw on this book by the person pointing out that chocolate shouldn't be fed to cats and dogs. Everyone knows this, you don't down play a perfectly good book simply because she fed chocolate to a cat. After all, the book is fiction. . .

HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK!! JUST FINISHED THE AUDIO PUT OUT BY HARPER. IT TOOK ME ABOUT FOUR HOURS TO LISTEN TO A THREE HOUR AUDIO BECAUSE I KEPT HAVING TO GO BACKWARDS TO LISTEN TO A PARTICULAR SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION DUE STRICTLY TO THE READER. KATE BURTON IS "DEFINITELY" NOT A BOOK READER. THE FOLKS AT HARPER SHOULD BE ASHAMED.

THE PLOT & STORY WERE EXCELLENT & I LOVED "BENNIE".

SCOTTOLINE MAY VERY WELL BE THE NEXT JOHN GRISHAM!!

CAN HARDLY WAIT TO GET TO THE REST OF HER BOOKS.

This book is one wild ride--funny, suspenseful, and at times very moving. Bennie Rosato, the heroine, gives new meaning to the word "resourceful". You'll feel as if you are on the wild ride with her.

Be sure to read Lisa Scottoline's other novels, "Everywhere That Mary Went", "Final Appeal", "Running from the Law", and "Rough Justice".