In the Shadow of the Law: A Novel (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Detective Ray Robideaux pulled his cruiser to the curb in front of a small clapboard house..." (more)
Key Phrases: Peter Morgan, Wayne Harper, Morgan Siler (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. This outstanding debut goes behind the scenes at Morgan Siler, one of Washington, D.C.'s most powerful K Street law firms, as several lawyers become embroiled in two difficult cases: a pro bono death penalty case in Virginia and a class action suit brought against a Texas chemical corporation after an explosion kills dozens of workers. Assigned to the pro bono case is the earnest, rumpled first-year associate Mark Clayton, who wonders, as he struggles with sleep deprivation and trying to reach his billable-hours target, if he hasn't made a terrible career choice. Also on the case is the brilliant, cocksure young lawyer Walker Eliot. Leading the Hubble Chemical defense is the ferocious litigator Harold Fineman, and lording over them all is Peter Morgan, the supremely confident, never-satisfied managing partner of the firm. Though the novel features plenty of satisfying twists and turns, the book transcends the legal thriller genre. Roosevelt, who practiced and teaches law and who once clerked for Justice Souter, offers a fascinating insider's look into the culture of a high-stakes firm, while also presenting a considered meditation on the law itself and its potential to compromise those driven to practice it. Most of all it's the vividness and complexity of the characters—drawn with the precision and authority of a winning legal argument—that heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice. Agent, Tina Bennett. (June)
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From Booklist

If the first few pages of Roosevelt's debut call to mind John Grisham, don't be fooled. This isn't a plot-driven legal thriller of the sort Grisham writes. The protagonist is Law, with a capital L, and Roosevelt, who has both taught and practiced law, creates his story with full attention to his subject's multidimensional personality. Law is greedy, amoral, ruthless, and all-consuming; yet, in its own way, it is elegant, even beautiful, and fair, when practiced by lawyers with conscience. Law thoroughly overshadows the human characters: Wayne Harper, awaiting execution on Virginia's death row; the victims of an explosion in a Texas chemical factory; even a group of legal associates learning the ropes at Morgan Siler, a top D.C. law firm. "If you give yourself to the [law], it will give you something in return," one of the partners tells a puzzled associate. He's right, but the gift isn't always what's expected. Legal terms and concepts abound so this isn't breezy reading; thought-provoking is a much more accurate description. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (May 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374261873
• ISBN-13: 978-0374261870
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #684,543 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful novel, June 4, 2005

By	F. Lewis - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Though it is an intricately plotted and very exciting story (I repeatedly found myself paging ahead to find out what happened next), what really struck me about this novel is how beautifully written it is. Roosevelt describes the emotional life of his characters almost in negative space, creating the contours of their thoughts and lives by what is going on around them. He uses a light brush, never maudlin, and yet the novel is deeply touching. It's also quite funny in places, and I found myself laughing out loud several times. Though I'm not a lawyer, I also found the concepts of the law as it is practiced and how it is imagined by its practitioners to be very insightful and absorbing. Roosevelt seems to both love the law and despair of it, as he does with the people he has created. I thought this was a wonderful book.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy of legal thrillers, June 9, 2005

By	Ethan Kane - See all my reviews

Like LeCarre, Roosevelt willfully adopts all the conventions of his genre--the young associate at the powerful corporate law firm who comes to suspect his employer's complicity in a deadly crime--but subverts them by stripping away their sensationalism. You don't expect to see George Smiley parachute onto a ski slope in a tuxedo with his submachine gun blazing, and, while there's menace aplenty and even some violence in In the Shadow of the Law, neither do you expect to see Roosevelt's protagonist escape gun-toting thugs by executing an uneven-bar routine on the plumbing in The Firm's basement. (Indeed, Roosevelt's Mark Clayton doesn't even seem to be a very good lawyer.) Paradoxically, however, in In the Shadow of the Law, as in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, the unimistakable air of authenticity makes an intricate plot much more riveting than it would be if it were tarted up with implausible cliches.

But Roosevelt also has qualities that LeCarre didn't develop until later--if ever. One is a graceful, evocative, expressive writing style. The other is the intellectual maturity to tackle a big theme. LeCarre's big theme was uncertainty and moral compromise in the Great Game. Roosevelt's is the law: how it works, what it means, and how it can be used to both just and unjust ends. And while there is some cynicism in his treatment of the mercenary motives of corporate attorneys, his novel is also animated by a deep understanding of and respect for the law, and the conviction that it can be a means to a greater good. A brilliant debut.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great first novel by a promising author, August 5, 2005

By	Miss Lishess (NY, NY) - See all my reviews

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As previous reviewers have noted, John Grisham this is not. There are a lot more subtleties and intricacies involved in the reading of "In the Shadow of the Law"; if you do not have the patience to appreciate these subtleties and are merely looking to figure out "whodunnit", then you are overlooking one of the more unique aspects of this novel. Mr. Roosevelt's sense of humor is exquisitely astute and laugh-out-loud enjoyable. But you might miss it if you're simply looking for the next big plot development. His meticulous appreciation for "The Law" as entity, profession, and dogma give his novel a depth lacking in most legal thrillers. Yes, this novel is probably biased towards the legal community. But as a layperson, I honestly enjoyed it thoroughly and went so far as to buy it for two equally lay friends. I look forward to reading future works by Mr. Roosevelt.