Customer Reviews

Wilkes on Trial

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Both this book and Mr. Sevilla's first work, "Wilkes: His Life and Crimes," are two of the best books I've ever read about lawyers and judges. They're very funny and -- I regret to say -- very truthful accounts of the way our legal system actually works. Get it. Read it. Enjoy it

Wilkes on Trial is a shorter, and more focused book than the first book in the series, Wilkes: His Life and Crimes. Unlike the first book, it deals mostly with one case, and the death of the judge who presides over the trial. Like the first book, Sevilla savages the alleged impartiality of trial judges, the process by which they become judges, and the feeble mechanism to get the most corrupt and venal judges off of the bench.

Sevilla has tons of experiences to draw upon and keeping Wilkes on Trial focused means it reads much faster than its predecessor. Nothing will ever top for comic absurdity Wilkes assuming the role of a PLO terrorist while imprisoned in The Tombs during a prison riot, as he did in the first book, but his defense of a gang banger who assaults a blind young woman comes pretty close. It's clear that Sevilla is not too keen on the criminal underclass, but his real contempt is reserved for the hypocrisy of our justice system.

In many respects, Sevilla is a direct descendant of the satire used by Daniel Defoe centuries ago to point out the absurdities of his society. Sevilla is a worthy successor to Defoe. If you like low satire and high farce, you will enjoy this book.

I read "His Life and Crimes" when it first came out and liked it a lot. As a trial lawyer of both Civil and Criminal trials, I thought it was clever and an accurate representation of the absurdity of the criminal justice system. After reading the "Tutt" series I decided to re-aquaint myself with Wilkes. Frankly, I was disappointed in "Wilkes on Trial'. Rather than individual short stories, as "His Life and Crimes" it is several case interwoven but that is not the problem. Wilkes is not very clever and the plots are resolved by outside turns in the evidence. Cutely written but not very cleverly constructed. I'm much more impressed with the Tutt series and am looking for other authors capable of that level of writing.