Motion to Kill [Mass Market Paperback]

Joel Goldman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002

Joel Goldman makes a remarkable debut with this legal thriller packed with high-octane action and impeccably rendered detail.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Only a few months after Lou Mason joins the Kansas City law firm Sullivan & Christenson, the firm's rainmaker and senior partner, Richard Sullivan, turns up dead. At the same time, Lou learns that the attorney general suspects the firm and one of its top clients of fraudulent business dealings. As the newest partner and the one most removed from the scandal, Lou is asked by his old friend and partner, Scot Daniels, to ward off the feds, but he soon finds information that may incriminate Scot and another of the firm's partners. Meanwhile, Sheriff Kelly Holt, a "slap-on-the-cuffs dream come true" beauty who is curiously inept, suspects Mason of Sullivan's murder until someone tries to kill Mason. To prevent further attacks against his person, Mason hires his friend, PI Wilson Bluestone (Blues), to act as his bodyguard. With a hit man on Mason's tail and Blues and Holt providing backup, the action accelerates and the fight scenes multiply. First-time author Goldman does an admirable job of maintaining the novel's high tension, but his apparent contempt for his characters, and for corporate lawyers in general, will distance readers from his protagonists. Nevertheless, Goldman's secondary characters particularly Blues and a twisted hit man add flavor to this mediocre thriller, and a series of fierce action scenes carry the reader toward an electrifying denouement.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

When two of his partners are killed, corruption, sex and murder fill trial lawyer Lou Mason’s docket as he tracks the killer. Will Lou be the next victim? Find out in Motion to Kill.

Electrifying. ---Publishers Weekly

Lots of suspense and a dandy surprise ending. ---Romantic Times

Legal mystery fans will be delighted. ---Nancy Pickard --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle Books (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786014474
• ISBN-13: 978-0786014477
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #226,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm in my fifth decade as a fourth generation Kansas Citian. I spent twenty-eight years as a trial lawyer and plan to spend at least as many as a writer. I started writing when one of my law partners complained about another and I suggested we write a murder mystery, kill the SOB off in the first chapter and spend the rest of the book figuring out who did it. So I did. Read the rest of the story on my website at www.joelgoldman.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb legal thriller, January 22, 2002

By 

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

This review is from: Motion to Kill (Mass Market Paperback)

In Kansas City, Senior partner Richard Sullivan of the Sullivan and Christenson law firm asks company trial lawyer Lou Mason to destroy documents that make Client Victor O'Malley look guilty in a federal case. Only three months with the firm, Lou says no and plans to quit because of the illegal and unethical request of his superior.

That weekend, the entire staff of Sullivan and Christenson travels to a nearby Pope County lake area. Not long afterward, Sheriff Kelly Holt informs Lou that Richard mysteriously died. Soon someone tries to kill Lou, who concludes the unknown assailant believes he obtained damaging information from Richard. When the firm's lawyers learn that US attorney Franklin St. John is using the power of the grand jury to look at Sullivan and Christenson, the leadership asks Lou to not only stay, but handle the case. He finds connections that would shock a conspiracy buff even if some of the links look wrong to only Lou.

Anyone who reads MOTION TO KILL will be surprised that this novel is Joel Goldman's debut tale. The story line never skips a beat as Lou show courage and conviction while investigating two homicides, the Federal inquiry into his legal firm, and the role of his client in both. Lou is a fascinating lead protagonist and his "nemesis" Kelly provides a sexual counterpoint. Lou's constant quotes from his idol, his aunt, provide an interesting gender bender role model. Fans will set in motion a plea for Mr. Goldman to return with more Mason (Lou not Perry) legal thrillers.

Harriet Klausner

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Make the Motion!, August 1, 2003

By 

Kevin Tipple (Plano, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Motion to Kill (Mass Market Paperback)

It is bad enough not to like your job when you work for a prestigious law firm in Kansas City, Missouri. It gets a little worse when your boss asks you to dispose of documents that would harm the case you both are working on and could damage the firm. Things get even worse when your boss is found dead and floating in the lake and you have no real alibi. But things can get even worse as detailed in this enjoyable novel.

As the novel opens, Lou Mason has one heck of a headache thanks to drinking the night before to excess. He has spent the night outside, on a deck chair at the retreat for his law firm. He feels guilty over the case that he lost and plans to quit as soon as possible. He works for Sullivan & Christian, a Kansas City law firm that "... employed forty lawyers to merge and acquire client's assets so they could protect them from taxation before and after death." Their biggest client is a powerful banker by the name of Victor O'Malley. The U. S. Attorney, Franklin St. John, believes that he is dirty and has been building a case against him and now has invited O'Malley to appear before the grand jury. It does appear that O'Malley is guilty of something and Sullivan had asked Mason to lose certain incriminating documents. Mason refused and now has been asked to identify a body that or may not be Sullivan's by the beautiful Sheriff Kelly Holt.

It does not help that the Sheriff has discovered a memo from Sullivan stating that Mason asked Sullivan to destroy the documents, that he refused, and that Sullivan was going to fire him Monday morning. It also does not help that Mason has other reasons not to tell the Sheriff everything, both for himself and the firm. They have enough problems without that, but soon Mason realizes after several incidents, that someone believes he knows more than he does. As he dodges attempts on his life, the body count grows and he feels the pressure from all sides.

While this novel is very enjoyable, I would not refer to it as a "legal thriller" as it is marketed. Nothing in this 380-page novel takes place in a courtroom and little takes place at the law firm. Instead, with limited character development, this novel as in most action and adventure novels relies on physical confrontation and death to move the story and plot forward. Readers expecting a courtroom style case where the killer cracks on the stand would be disappointed. However, ignoring how the novel is marketed, this is a very good action novel, which uses the law as a thematic backdrop for a complex mystery. In that respect, this work is highly entertaining and a worthwhile read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An engaging story from a promising author, December 24, 2002

By 

Dennis Collins (Port Austin, Mi USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Motion to Kill (Mass Market Paperback)

Lou Mason is a trial attorney. A major client of the law firm that he works for is under the scrutiny of the FBI for possible involvement in illegal activities. When the senior partner in that law firm turns up murdered, the rest of the organization has to scramble to see just how deep their corporate entanglement goes. Lou Mason is assigned to gathering the details.

The situation gets further complicated when another prominent partner is murdered and all signs point to Lou Mason's name being the next on the list. Kelly Holt, the local Sheriff is conducting the murder investigation but it appears as if most of her efforts are spent trying to keep Lou from being killed.

It seems that Lou is in possession of some highly volatile evidence implicating some major mobsters. He picks up his old ex-cop buddy, "Blues" along the way to help guide him through the homicidal maze. The situation is complicated and almost all of Lou's associates appear to have enough motives to be suspects. The danger seems to come from all directions.

I won't reveal too much of the story here, except to say that Joel Goldman, with his great command of the art of storytelling, does an outstanding job of guiding the reader through a complex plot that embraces a large cast of characters. The story flows along smoothly with goose bump producing situations occurring at just the right intervals. The pace is fast and the dialog both clever and gritty. Although this story has been pigeon-holed as a Legal Thriller, it has the fiber to hold it's own along with the best of the Hard Boiled.

With any luck, we'll be hearing more from Lou Mason.