Book Review: Offer of Proof

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Offer of Proof     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Robert Heilbrun
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller
Morrow, Sep 2003, $24.95, 297 pp.

New York legal-aid public defender Arch Gold is assigned the Damon Tucker murder trial. Damon is a poor kid from Harlem accused of killing businesswoman Charlotte King during a mugging incident. Besides the obvious class warfare angle, the media frenzy focuses on the first New York death penalty case since the early 1960s when the state tested the impact of electricity on Wood.

Arch believes that his client is innocent and thanks to Damon's persistence, he checks into the background of the victim to see if anyone had a motive. Arch quickly learns that Charlotte had an affair with her employer, James L. Yates of Yates Associates. Feeling he has found the real culprit, Arch tries illegally breaking and entering before turning to former clients in a desperate attempt to free Damon and place Yates on trial.

OFFER OF PROOF is sure to be considered by legal thriller fans as one of the top five sub-genre novels of the year. The story line is action packed and loaded with a strong often eccentric cast of characters. Arch is a great protagonist willing to cross the legal line to insure justice occurs. This book offers anecdotal proof that Robert Heilbrun is on his way to the sub-genre supreme court of authors.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner