Customer Reviews

Star Witness

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I didn't expect to like this Hollywood murder/courtroom drama as much as I did. The material has been done in a thousand other books....famous film director marries younger star...she's killed in a dramatic fashion....he's framed/arrested/put on trial....good attorney is hired to represent him/figure out who actually did it/restore the director's reputation.

What surprised me about this book was the author's literary craftsmanship. He employs a simple writing style to shed a harsh light on Hollywood glitz and glamour, showing what actually happens in the world of show business. There isn't a lot of action...and he doesn't overuse dialogue.

Reading this book was like being in the presence of a very good storyteller who makes you want to sit a spell and listen to what he has to say, because you know it's going to be good and it's going to be worth your precious spare time.

Enjoy!

So what exactly is this book about? Is it about a gruesome murder? Is it about Hollywood? Is it about the cult of celebrity? Or is it about the master manipulation of a movie mogul to produce his "Citizen Kane"? Well, yes it is all these things. Here D.W. Buffa becomes a jack of all trades, bringing together a whole lot of sub-plots together to create a multi-faceted take on the legal thriller. And why he does a servicable job, as with most jacks of all trades, he really masters none, putting together a intrigiung, yet often rambling and hard to read who-done-it.

When movie mogel Stanley Roth''s beautiful wife, and star actress, is found brutally murdered, he calls our protagonist Joseph Antonelli, a gifted defense lawyer, only days before the police arrest him for the murder. Antonelli must now sort through the lies and motives of a multitude of star studded characters to find the truth. There is the victim's dead beat dad, now a media whore calling for justice, the lead detective with a script to sell, and Roth's power hungry partner with a big chip on their shoulder. On top of that all, Roth himself might just hold the secret to his freedom, yet seems unwilling to share with his bewildered attorney.

Peppered in the murder mystery Buffa gives his characters licensee to ramble on and on about movies, celebrity, philosophy, and a multitude of other topics often cluttering the story itself. Peel away these distractions and Buffa has created a pretty solid mystery with some fun twists and turns.

Defense attorney Joseph Antonelli continues making his way down the Pacific coast in the latest book of the series. The past book had Antonelli heading south from Portland, Oregon, to San Francisco, and now he is in Hollywood defending a famous director (and studio head) accused of murdering his movie star wife. A combination legal thriller and Hollywood-based melodrama, Buffa places Antonelli in a middle of recognizable Hollywood types drawn from real life, with elements of the O.J Simpson case thrown in. In a cute twist, the reader is made aware early that Antonelli will be a character in a big movie. Like a snake devouring its own tail the fictional murder story evolves into a fictional movie as the plot progresses.

As usual Antonelli will have a close relationship with an attractive female character, and numerous clues will be dropped along the way to point the reader in one of several directions regarding the killer. Hopefully, Antonelli will not return to Hollywood, and return to accused murderers who engender more sympathy from the reader.

I love D.W. Buffa's narrative, his style of foreshadowing events in the first chapter, his Joseph Antonelli character and his plot driven stories. Sadly, I found Star Witness to be too formulaic. Perhaps all the things I like about Buffa are getting worn, or, maybe the Hollywood who done it is the worn part. There was one section where Antonelli is interviewing a philosophy professor who is the victim's former spouse that the Buffa I love came through and I had to really pay attention to the dialog. The rest of the book is enjoyable if not great. Buck Schirner does a great job narrating the audio version.

Joseph Antonelli is back in a case where a Hollywood Starlet is murdered in her home. Her husband, a well-known producer is accused. We go through the mechanics of finding out who the players are in the story: The producer/director's partners, the Hollywood Homicide detective who has a connection with the couple, the dead star's ex-husband and father, etc. The trial has some interesting moments, but the ending was, in my opinion, anti-climactic.

"Star Witness", Dudley W. Buffa, NY, GP Putnam's Sons, 2003 ISBN 0-399-153034-X, HC, 388 pg., 9 1/4" x 6 1/4". This 5th of 7 Joseph Antonelli novels finds the protagonist criminal defense attorney musing over the death of Hollywood star Mary Margaret Flanders, a.k.a. Marian Walsh, whose nude body was found in the pool of her Beverly Hills mansion. The funeral was shown on TV & that night Antonelli is awakened by the star's husband, Stanley Roth, who solicits him to become his defense sttorney. He leaves his live-in love Marissa (Kane) in Sausalito & is flown to Los Angeles where he meets the notables: -- husband Stanley, head of Blue Zephyr Pictures; Michael Wirthlin & Louis Griffin, associates; Walker Bradley, actor & Julie Evans, executive assistant to Roth.

We learn Mary Margaret died violently, a throat slashing, and that husband Stanley, the only known person in the home was prone to violent temper. We are introduced to the courtroom Judge Hon. Rudolph G. Honigman & the aggressive Prosecutrix Annabelle Van Roten. Other principals include Jack Walsh, dead star's father, & Detective Crenshaw. Just when you think the plot is over, it abruptly changes direction & we find unsuspected surprizes that nicely tie up the loose ends gratifyingly. This, of the 6 Antonelli novels I've read to date, is the finest & most satisfying. The book deals with revenge, power, position & character in a brilliant manner.

I have read this author's other books and enjoyed them all. Star Witness is a different breed of cat than the others. It is not really a court room drama although a murder trial is one of the central venues. It is a murder mystery and even when the book is finished, you will be wondering about the identity of the murderer. It also is a commentary on the movie business and the rarified atmosphere that those who "make pictures" live in. Joseph Antonelli, criminal defense lawyer extrodonaire returns again as counsel and foil for Stanely Roth, a famous film producer, studio head and the accused murderer of his famous actress wife. The facts are not in his favor. His wife has been killed (her throat was cut) in their Hollywood mansion. He claims to have left for work very early and had slept in another bedroom so as not to disturb his wife and was unaware that she had been killed. Blood stained clotheing is found in his clohes hamper. The clothes are his. The blood is hers. There is no evidence that anyone other than the maid and Mr. Roth were on the premises during the time she was killed. Things seem pretty open and shut to the police who arrest him and charge him with murder. With that as the background, Buffa spins a very interesting story of Hollywood, its characters, its foibles and its fables. The courtroom work assumes a substancial amount of literary license as it relates to the manner in which the attorneys ask questions, but it is certainly more interesting than sticking to the real rules. It is a book which keeps moving, asks questions and leaves you wondering and thinking about it after it is over. Not a bad result.