Customer Reviews

Offer of Proof

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Read and loved John Grisham's first couple of novels, but they quickly got stale for me. The imitators didn't even make it past the bookstore coffee shop.

Picked up "Offer of Proof" and barely put it down til I'd finished. Heilbrun writes both a good plot and character driven novel, which is hard to do for old-timers. As a debut offering, this novel is a stunner.

Ten years ago, Harvard-educated Archibald Gold, the first legit member of his family, walked away from a high-salary corporate law firm and his equally high-maintenance corporate attorney wife to become an underpaid public defender.

Yes, he's gotten guilty people off. To effect, he says anyone who has a problem with defending guilty people needs to find another profession.

What drives him to cross over the line is when he's got an innocent defendant in the first death penalty case in New York State in 50 years.

That's all you need to know. Heilbrun spins a fine yarn and doesn't drop a stitch in the final picture. The only question I'm left with at the end of the book is:

WHEN IS THE NEXT ONE COMING OUT????

This is the type of novel that SOUNDS as if it should be a good read, a thriller, a nonstop pageturner, but alas.....like the margarine that parades as butter, I can't believe it's not better! Heilbrun should have the background to avoid such triteness, such sadly strung-together unbelievable tripe, but 'tis not the case. When I found it listed on amazon.com, the site it took me to had a long list of numbers, letters, etc., in the web address line, prophetically enough ending in "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz," which is exactly where this novel brought me. This makes even Grisham's mediocre fluff seem positively genius.

this turgid tome relies on every cliche in the courtroom drama book -- a yawn from beginning to (finally) the end. arch gold is as dull a protagonist as i've ever come across, recycled from every one-hour tv show. ending is ludicrous and predictable. damon's depiction is offensive to me, as a black man, just another case of a rich white guy trying to get inside the head of a kid from harlem -- gimme a break. and give yourself a break -- don't waste the bucks.

Offer of Proof combines the best of Linda Fairstein, John Grisham and Lawrence Block (Matt Scudder series). Unlike Fairstein, Heilbrun actually takes us into the courtroom. We learn how the law really works, a series of bargains and random outcomes -- very scary.

Unlike Grisham, Heilbrun delivers realistic characters and challenges that are realistic, not larger than life. And unlike Block in his Scudder series, Heilbrun creates a proactive character who's lost a lot but manages to avoid the down-and-out-detective stereotype. Hero Arch Gold takes chances and sometimes loses. He's smart but he's no super-hero -- a three-dimensional character with depth.

And Heilbrun maintains a fast pace. There's no temptation to skip a section or read ahead. We're introduced right away to the black 18-year-old who managed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, who lacks the maturity to be "managed" to make the jury like him. And we're on edge as the defense experiences one setback after another, up to the nail-biting moment when Gold faces a crackerjack prosecutor.

Best of all, the ending seems satisfactory, with a last-minute curve that works. When you go back over the first part of the book you realize Heilbrun didn't miss a detail. He doesn't drop clues but he's totally consistent.

So what's not to like? Well, if you start thinking too much about the legal system, you can get scared. Justice depends on luck of the draw. A good lawyer won't protect you from a bad judge and a hanging jury. It's all a game, a dueling match between hired guns. If you've had misgivings about the system before you pick up this up, you may find yourself tossing and turning, just like the hero does.

Arch Gold -- is that supposed to be like Golden Arches, as in a famous franchise, because someone obviously wants this to become a franchise, I look at all the five stars begging for a series, one review's written by someone with the same last name as the author, and I think --

to become a franchise, you can't have a hero with the personality of a piece of iceberg lettuce, you can't have a book that never finds its own voice, that never provides you a laugh or a tear or gives you goosebumps (if I want to learn about the legal system I'd rather read a textbook, probably have as much suspense) --

but to be a fiction franchise, you've got to meet the Gold Standard, like Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe, you've got to have a main character readers really care about and identify with, which I'm sorry to say I didn't, and as for all these "twists and turns and surprises", I say, get over yourself.

hold it -- did they expect us to think this was scott turow's "burden of proof"?! no way is it half as good!!!!

first chapters not bad, but then it's soooo by the numbers. male characters are better than the women at least, who are totally 1-dimensional, a mistress, a stripper, talk about cliches. character development way too weak, arch hasn't grown enough in interesting ways for me by the end ot the book, and i can't find a theme anywhere. all the dialogque sounds like i've heard it somewhere before.

final verdict -- "offer of proof" is a turow wannabe that lacks imagination emotion & suspense.

Public defender Arch Gold gets the case of a lifetime dropped into his lap--the first New York death penalty case in recent memory. And unlike most of his clients, this one, an 18-year-old accused of capital murder, is innocent, the victim of mistaken identity. Arch is willing to do just about anything to save this kid's life. And even when the murder victim's prints are found on the suspect's money--a devastating blow to his case--Arch doesn't lost faith.

Arch thinks he knows who really killed Charlotte King. But he can't find proof. And the man he suspects, a very powerful private investigator, makes for a formidable foe.

This was a fascinating legal mystery, told with utter confidence and all the realistic details that make you believe it's all true. However, the climax felt rushed. There was a gun, and then it was over, literally in one sentence. And the twist at the end was so out of left field that it felt jarring, Given the very realistic tone of the rest of the book. Still, an above-average read by this first-time author, whose mother is mystery writer Amanda Cross. Must be in the blood.

Well, all I can say is three cheers for Mr. Heilbrun for writing a superior crime novel. Why superior? Because the guy obviously knows what he's writing about and knows how to describe it so that it is simultaneously entertaining, deeply informative, and with a real credo behind it. Heilbrun has a great ear. Each character has his/her own distinct and unique voice, many of them quirky and funny, others even quite moving. And the ending will surprise you! Here's hoping Heilbrun's next book with Arch Gold is on its way soon. This has to be a series. Readers will demand it.

Zero humor, flat dialogue, blah characters, especially Gold. "Offer of Proof" plot tries, courtroom stuff so-so, but didn't get any sense of the Big Apple, and that's what I was looking for. I mean, why bother to set the book in New York City and not capture the buzz and energy of the big town?

I'm giving it one star because it seems like he got the legal-eagle details down, but who gives a damn without an exciting story riff? The only really good thing I've got to say is, I didn't spill anything on it when I was reading so maybe as a Christmas re-gift it'll work.

This was a great book, well written and full of insight into the technical aspects of the legal process which could be applied to any jurisdiction, not just New York.

I did not feel that the ending came "from out of the blue." There were clues right in the very beginning pages that Arch's boss at the PD's office was going to be a major player in the crime. However, it was done with such finesse that it wasn't a dead give away right in the beginning. It's no fun to read a book that you have figured out in the first 20 pages.

I can't wait for his next book. Thanks.