Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolute Bolockbuster, January 7, 2009
This novel is a great read and why it didn't make the best seller list is something I don't understand. It combines drama, nostalgia, current concerns, rural America, small town living, Christian values, Middle Eastern heritage, and the changing landscape of the American legal system, for openers. The story is told in a fast-paced manner that makes it almost impossible to put the book down. The author is an attorney who understands the court system well.
The setting is east-central Illinois, an area of the USA where I dwelled for 23.5 years as a Professor of Geology at the University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign. I can vouch that the author's description of the landscape, the people and their mindset ("They realized that the high schools senior prom was the high point of their life."), the limited quality of life (a restaurant described as a place with "every wall cluttered with cute little sayings painted on wooden plaques"), the obese law enforcement officers and their level of intelligence, the courtroom décor in the county courthouse, the campus of the nearby flagship state university, the local architecture, the farm machinery, the flatness of the place, and the poor road and weather conditions, is real. Be assured, I saw it through my own eyes and could not have described it better. The dysfunctional perceptions of the local people described in the novel ("Generations of inbreeding had strewn the town with cousins or closer relatives no one mentioned. They all looked similar") also is shown to extend to the nearby state flagship university to a certain degree.
The story is a classic case of mistaken identity interwoven with local prejudice which amplified quick conclusions and obtaining wrong evidence by law enforcement. Their actions were based on long-term prejudice and a rush to judgment. The plaintiff in a firebombing murder case in a rural county courthouse is an immigrant from the Middle East whose own perceptions of the American legal system perverted it to suit his own needs and tastes. Remarkably, he had a range of successes in his quest to test the legal system. In the process, he alienated every attorney and law enforcement officer in the area who came to know him too well as someone who was not one of them and needed watching. In short, the plaintiff was an outcast just because he came from somewhere else.
Having been wrongly accused by both local and federal law enforcement, the plaintiff's mysterious connections retained a well-known lawyer from another part of the state. The client-attorney relationship was difficult and more than once (perhaps 10 times?), the attorney thought of dropping the case. He persevered however, with the help of an ex-wife (now a law professor at that flagship university) seeing constitutional issues at stake. Faced with a hostile judge, country prosecutor, national attention, and community, the case spirals on through a series of unusual and procedural twists and turns. It also involved side plots perpetrated by the local equivalent of the Aryan Nazi movement with a strange overlay of biblical justification, to the strained relationship of the defense attorney and his ex-wife.
In the end fundamental questions can be raised about the legal systems in rural America, and the changing pattern of law enforcement after 9/11. They provide a sober conclusion with as many questions as well as answers as the novel ends.
A truly great read and highly recommended.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thought Provoking and Entertaining, August 6, 2008
I'm normally in bed at ten, but I stayed up until almost one o'clock last night finishing Keep and Bear Arms. The last hundred pages compel you to continue reading to find out the dramatic ending.
A not very likeable naturalized U.S. citizen, born in the Middle East and suspected of terrorist leanings, is in the crosshairs of the post-9/11 state and federal justice systems. Accused of a heinous murder of a judge, the defendant is subjected to an entire legal system that now seemingly believes "guilty until proven innocent".
The court room scenes are highly charged and very real. It gives one pause to consider what happens when everyone presumes guilt. This is a must read for liberals and conservatives alike.
Benjamin Blue - author of the mystery/thriller novel Storm Killer
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
White Knuckled Love, August 27, 2008
It takes a special person to write a book on a topic which is likely to cause some debate. Case in point is Mr. Auler's thriller Keep and Bear Arms.
A book with a topic that certainly digs into our own personal beliefs, and challenges our preconceived prejudices. Robert keeps our minds entertained and our hearts learning to open, and perhaps become a bit more understanding.
Excellent writing and understanding of legal system are what is offered in a book that I humbly suggest was a bit short, and the authors grasp makes you want to read more.
Edgy, dark and a perfect late night read.
Check this book out!
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