The Rules of Action

It's 1970, and America has a dirty secret. The author of ZigZag--"one of the boldest and most original first novels to appear in a long time" (Carl Hiaasen)--reinvents the legal drama popularized by Michael Connelly, John Grisham, and Scott Turow. Human beings are being warehoused in substandard nursing homes, neglected and left to die under suspicious circumstances. But this is Phoenix in the 1970s, and no one seems to know about it, much less care. Rookie lawyer Connor J. Devlin...
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It's 1970, and America has a dirty secret. The author of ZigZag--"one of the boldest and most original first novels to appear in a long time" (Carl Hiaasen)--reinvents the legal drama popularized by Michael Connelly, John Grisham, and Scott Turow. Human beings are being warehoused in substandard nursing homes, neglected and left to die under suspicious circumstances. But this is Phoenix in the 1970s, and no one seems to know about it, much less care. Rookie lawyer Connor J. Devlin discovers this secret world when he meets One-Armed Lucky, a Vietnam vet and bail bondsman with an uncanny knowledge of the law. Lucky refers Devlin's new client, a heartbroken but tenacious woman who's convinced that neglectful nursing home care killed her mother Ann, a greyhound-racing devotee and Lucky's best friend. But Devlin has a big problem. Taking on a nursing home for wrongful death in the 1970s--one backed by a corporation owned by a hardnosed Texas industrialist--will be almost impossible. Almost. In this "briskly told and well-drawn" (Kirkus Reviews) legal drama, Landon J. Napoleon offers all the thrills of John Grisham and other masters of the genre, while proving that "legal procedure can provide as much action, suspense, and whodunit excitement as any shootout or car chase." REVIEWS "Briskly told and well-drawn... this legal thriller does what many courtroom-based novels and television shows do not: It stays true to the actual practice of trial law... A fast-paced tale of justice in action and a remarkably accurate portrait of a trial lawyer's daily grind... Prospective law students are frequently encouraged to read law-student memoirs or legal hornbooks, but for a realistic view of litigation and a great deal more action, they'd do well to add this legal thriller to their reading list." --Kirkus Reviews "One of the most compelling and entertaining books I have ever read on the strategy and gamesmanship of the legal process." --Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods