Review: The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller

"So, long ago, he'd taken to calling himself Jay Walker, and somewhere along the line someone had blurred that into Jaywalker. Which had been alright with him: the truth was, he'd never had the patience to stand on a curb waiting for a
light..."

The Tenth Case is a fun little legal thriller with plenty of twists and turns, lots of misdirection, and a lawyer that you can actually root for. Jaywalker has been recently suspended from the bar for some slightly shady tactics (like breaking into a police evidence room so his own chemist can analyze some narcotics) and a small indiscretion caught on survelliance video (involving a client who wanted to...express her gratitude). His devotion to his clients and his formidable legal skill are all that save him from being disbarred altogether. His clients are depending on him and Jaywalker takes that very seriously - he convinces the judge to allow him to finish ten pending cases before the suspension takes effect. In a relatively short period of time, he has the list whittled down to one final behemoth: a murder case involving a young, beautiful gold-digger accused of murdering her billionaire husband.

Jaywalker has already defended Samara Moss once, a DUI case involving a totalled $400,000 Lamborghini that belonged to the now-deceased Barry Tannenbaum. Her history is a defense nightmare - she was a runaway and a former prostitute, who married a billionaire when she was 18 and he was 62. Every single piece of evidence points directly at Samara. Fortunately for Samara, Jaywalker hates to lose. He is passionately devoted to winning every case. Unfortunately for Jaywalker, he is smitten with Samara.

Books like this require some suspension of disbelief. The plot twists are a little complicated and the big reveal? Well, let's just say I'm skeptical. Still, it's a fun read and a good story and I would not be at all surprised to see it on the big screen - the characters would translate easily - and I would definitely plan on seeing it.

My copy of The Tenth Case was an Advanced Reader Copy;buy your copy at Amazon.com.

UPDATE: I really should have put this in my original review, but I was reminded by one of the comments. According to the materials I received, this is the first in a series of books about Jaywalker! It's always good to get in on the ground floor of a new series, so that's another reason to pick this one up.