Review of "The President's Lawyer: A Novel of Suspense" by Lawrence Robbins

This review was first posted on Mystery & Suspense Magazine. Check it out for features, interviews, and reviews. https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/

One-term former Democratic president Jack Cutler has been arrested for murder.



The victim is 32-year-old Amanda Harper - a junior lawyer who worked in Cutler's White House Counsel's Office.



Harper's body was found in Rock Creek Park, strangled, with rope burns on her wrists and ankles. Near the victim was a small, locked briefcase, with a dinner knife from the White House 'James Monroe Collection' wedged into the opening.



Cutler, who's married to Jess Friedland Cutler, and has two teenage children named Gretchen and Harlan, has a reputation for philandering.



And not JUST philandering. Jack is rumored to like the rough stuff, including choking and hitting women during sex.



Cutler knows he's in big trouble, so he calls the best criminal defense lawyer he knows, his lifelong friend Robbie Jacobsen.



Jack, who knows Robbie was once in love with Amanda himself, tells the lawyer, "There's no easy way to say this - Amanda and I, we started an affair." Robbie is hesitant to represent Jack, but the former president insists he had nothing to do with Amanda's death, and Robbie agrees to defend him.

As Robbie prepares for trial, there are flashbacks that reveal both he and Jack had difficult fathers. Robbie recalls an occasion in high school, when he was invited to dinner at Jack's house.



Jack's father Sherm, a hedge fund CEO who was constantly in the business pages, was berating Jack for getting a B plus on an AP American History exam. Sherm shouted, "B plus? You got a B plus? I own bonds with a better rating than that, you dumb f***. " Sherm went on shouting and haranguing until Jack stood up and confronted his father, with a dinner knife clutched in his fist.



As for Robbie, he thinks both his parents were insane.



Robbie's mother Evie suffered from severe depression and his father Nathan had anger issues. When Robbie or his brother Evan got out of line, Nathan would throw Evie's high-heeled shoe end over end, or beat the offender with a studded utility belt that had a large American flag buckle in the front.



Robbie remembers the imprint lasting for hours, even days. This went on until Nathan was fatally assaulted on his way home from work one evening.

After graduating from college, Jack went into politics.....



.....and Robbie studied law.



Jack rose to the presidency and Robbie became a preeminent Washington, D.C. defense lawyer with a knack for representing his clients. This comes in handy when Robbie defends the former president, because there's a mountain of evidence against Jack, including DNA, hair, phone records, the James Monroe knife, and more.



Author Lawrence Robbins is an experienced attorney who understands how lawyers work and what it's like to try cases in Washington, D.C. courthouses. Thus the novel's courtroom scenes feel very authentic, with jury selection, questioning witnesses, cross-examining witnesses, legal maneuvering, and so on.

The alert reader might detect hints about the denouement of the story, but there will still be surprises at the end. This is a devious mystery that will appeal to fans of legal thrillers.

Thanks to Netgalley, Lawrence Robbins, and Atria Books for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3 stars