Supreme Justice: A Novel of Suspense [Hardcover]

Phillip Margolin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 18, 2010

New York Times bestselling author Phillip Margolin returns to the corridors of power in Washington, D.C., with an exciting thriller about a ghost ship and the President's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sarah Woodruff, on death row in Oregon for murdering her lover, John Finley, has appealed her case to the Supreme Court just when a prominent justice resigns, leaving a vacancy.

Then, for no apparent reason, another justice is mysteriously attacked. Dana Cutler—one of the heroes from Margolin's bestselling Executive Privilege—is quietly called in to investigate. She looks for links between the Woodruff appeal and the ominous incidents in the justices' chambers, which eventually lead her to a shoot-out that took place years ago on a small freighter docked upriver in Shelby, Oregon, containing a dead crew and illegal drugs. The only survivor on board? John Finley.

With the help of Brad Miller and Keith Evans, Dana uncovers a plot by a rogue element in the American intelligence community involving the president's nominee to the Supreme Court, and soon the trio is thrown back into the grips of a deadly, executive danger.

With nonstop action, Supreme Justice picks up where Executive Privilege left off, putting readers right back where they were—on the edge of their seats.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this entertaining if predictable sequel to Executive Privilege (2008) from Margolin, policewoman Sarah Woodruff, who's on death row in Oregon, has been tried twice for murdering her lover, John Finley. Sarah's life depends on an appeal to the Supreme Court, but her appeal, if heard, could expose a criminal plot within the CIA. An unexpected vacancy in the court provides one opportunity to quash Woodruff's attempted appeal. For the man at the center of the plot, however, this isn't enough, and a Supreme Court justice becomes a target for assassination. Once again PI Dana Cutler and law clerk Brad Miller find themselves investigating dastardly doings in Washington, D.C., involving a host of conventional characters, from scheming Beltway sachems to a ghetto-raised African-American justice. Thriller fans who like to see the villains receive their just rewards and the good guys come to no harm will find this a comforting read. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Margolin is usually a sure thing, but this sequel to Executive Privilege (2008) is surprisingly weak. Brad Miller, the lawyer who played a key role in bringing down the U.S. president, is now a clerk for a Supreme Court justice. When seemingly unprovoked attacks on two justices appear to be connected to a pending death-row appeal, Brad and several other characters from the preceding novel race against time to get to the truth. For a debut novelist, this would be an adequate first effort. For a genre veteran like Margolin, it reads like a rough draft: thin characters, dialogue that is frequently stilted, and major structural problems (including a flashback sequence, located in the middle of the book, that amounts to a full third of the novel’s length). Devoted fans will look past the novel’s many flaws to enjoy the intricate story, but this is a far cry from Margolin’s excellent early novels, including Gone, but Not Forgotten (1993) and After Dark (1995). --David Pitt

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1 edition (May 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061926515
• ISBN-13: 978-0061926518
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #459,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 stars for a solid, engaging legal thriller, May 11, 2010

By 

J. Lee "imajeel" (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Supreme Justice: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

I read Margolin's previous Executive Privilege and really enjoyed it. This is a good, solid engaging legal thriller, but, for me, didn't live up to the prior one.

Short summary: Brad Miller is back from Executive Privilege where he helped crack the case that brought the former President down. Now, he's working for a Supreme Court Justice - and a case emerges that it appears someone is going to great lengths to prevent the Supreme Court from allowing it to be re-examined. Who is doing that and why?

Here's the ups and downs of it to me:

- Though able to be read as a stand alone, it'll be harder to enjoy that way, since references from the previous book kept getting made about the various characters. I found it distracting, and don't think they're terribly helpful to the new Margolin reader.

- It is well-plotted, so all the pieces get wrapped up nicely, and there's a few twists. But, I didn't find it as page-turning as some thrillers can be.

Bottom-line: It's as good as a lot of the average Turow or Grishams works, and if you like them, you'll probably like this one. But, I would really recommend Executive Privilege before and over this one.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 Stars -- Supreme Justice Is The Book Equivalent To A Light Beer!, May 22, 2010

By 

bobbewig (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Supreme Justice: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

At the heart of this highly plot-driven book is the petition before the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari by a woman on death row in Oregon convicted of murdering her lover. Stemming from the heart is a series of side stories that go back and forth in time involving Supreme Court Justices, their law clerks, the FBI, DAs, a female private detective and a former head of the CIA. In its favor, Supreme Justice is a fast-paced, entertaining book that adequately satisfies your craving for a brief diversion from life's daily realities. Margolin does a pretty good job in tying the main plot and all of its side stories into a decent, though partially predictable, conclusion. It is an ideal read for a plane ride or a trip to the beach. However, in my opinion, due to Margolin's somewhat shallow characters that are, at best, serviceable, and to some of the mulitple story lines being a bit contrived, Supreme Justice is not a book that will provide readers with a full, rich sense of satisfaction that will stay with them for a while after they've finished it. For me, reading Supreme Justice was like drinking a light beer, in that it served to quench my thirst for the moment, but it did not leave me feeling sated like a more full-bodied beer does. Nor did it make me feel the need for another "Margolin" anytime soon.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but forgettable, May 11, 2010

By 

Rad63 (Toledo, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Supreme Justice: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

"Supreme Justice" is a readable book, but is not an unforgettable book. It starts out with an exciting first chapter leading one to expect a taut political or espionage thriller. The book then skips around and introduces new characters including lawyers, Supreme Court Justices, DAs, private detectives, law clerks, etc. It skips around in time and space. The first chapter character later reappears. There is a female cop, Sarah, who is indicted for murdering her lover, the man in the first chapter, and is up for the death penalty. Her case is dismissed because the man turned up alive. Then he dies and she is indicted again. In addition a government agency with black suvs and contract killers has made the first chapter incident "disappear" and one of the Supremes and another powerful lawyer want to keep it disappeared. There is an attempt on the life of another of the Supremes. Eventually everything ties together and some disposition is seen of all of the characters except for one real bad guy assassin who is in the wind.

Read it on the airplane or while waiting to see your doctor, dentist, lawyer, etc..