Star Witness [Hardcover]

D. W. Buffa (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Putnam (2005)
• ASIN: B000IHF3B6
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,140,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

DW Buffa was born in San Francisco and raised in the Bay Area. After graduation from Michigan State University, he studied under Leo Strauss, Joseph Cropsey and Hans J. Morgenthau at the University of Chicago where he earned both an M.A. and a Ph. D. in political science. He received his J.D. degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Buffa was a criminal defense attorney for 10 years and his seven Joseph Antonelli novels strive to reflect, from his own experience, what a courtroom lawyer does, the way he (or she) thinks, and the way he feels about what he does.

Buffa had been writing for pleasure for many years when Henry Holt and Co. decided to publish his first novel, The Defense, in 1997. The week it was published, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, the literary critic of the New York Times, called The Defense 'an accomplished first novel' which 'leaves you wanting to go back to the beginning and read it over again.'

The Defense was followed by The Prosecution and then The Judgment, which was one of the five books nominated in 2002 for the Edgar Award as best novel of the year. While the first three novels are set in Portland, the author's fourth novel, The Legacy, takes place in San Francisco and is as much a political as it is legal thriller. Star Witness tells the story of Stanley Roth, one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, who is charged with murder of his famous movie star wife.

Breach of Trust, published in 2004, was considered by one critic as "one of the few books that fifty years from now will really matter." It offers readers a scintillating look at Washington politics. Buffa's seventh Joseph Antonelli novel, Trial by Fire, was released in 2005; in this new book, the focus is on the media and the role that television "Talking heads" increasingly play in very high profile criminal cases. Publishers Weekly says of Trial by Fire, "In this intelligent, gripping legal thriller...fast moving dialogue and fine sense of characterization keep the reader hanging on for the ride."

D.W. Buffa lives in Northern California. You can visit his Official Website at dwbuffa.net if you'd like to correspond with him through email.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not a 'Star', September 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Star Witness (Hardcover)

This novel is just dreadful--execrably written and poorly plotted, with badly drawn, inconsistent characters who ruminate endlessly (and pointlessly) on all things Hollywood. The writing is pedestrian and hackneyed--I thought I'd scream if I had to read one more labored metaphor.

The author seems to have gotten his knowledge of both legal maneuvering and the movie industry from hack novels; nowhere does he display any true experience or understanding of either. He can't even come up with good names for the characters--"Mary Margaret Flanders" for a sex goddess? Ick!

Generally, I like legal thrillers AND books about the movie industry, so for me to hate this book as viscerally as I do took some doing. If I had spent actual time reading this piece of drek instead of merely listening to it as I drove to work, I would be far more bitter about it than I am. I hope you learn from my error and don't waste your time.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No Oscar for this "Star Witness", June 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Star Witness (Hardcover)

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Buffa's previous four books, I was astonished at how disappointing this one was. The basic idea was intriguing, but neither the storytelling itself, the characterizations, the pacing, nor the language were anywhere near as sharp as in his previous books. Joseph Antonelli is a fascinating character, and one of the things that has always attracted me was his intellectual approach to the law. This is a man who has inherited an incredible library and who is clearly well educated, and in this book there were so many basic grammar and syntax errors that it's hard to imagine it was edited at all, let alone proofread! Everything about it bespoke a kind of writing fatigue, and I can only hope with his next book the author will have regained his previous edge.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic In The Lawyer/Thriller Genre, May 7, 2004

By 

Joseph L. Burke "Paper Tiger" (Bradenton FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Witness (Paperback)

This is one of the best novels of the law/courtroom/murder mystery thrillers I've read - and I read them all. The characters are so finely drawn, the writing itself so good, and the plot so engrossing that it just sweeps you along. A book that is very difficult to put down; you just have-to keep reading. Author Buffa is one of the very best at what he does.