a Philadelphia legal thriller centered on a public defender, Harry Whitman, with a juvenile decertification case (a kid facing adult charges) as at least one throughline — courtroom-heavy, dialogue-driven, terse Elmore-Leonard-style exchanges, Philly-specific texture (Dirty Frank's, Sansom Street, the Schuylkill). i adored the prose in this. There's a bar scene with a group of coworkers where the sentences get longer and drier, more socially observant — a line about a couple kissing and the room reacting with the specific, deadpan attention of people who've been waiting to have gossip confirmed. That's a different muscle than the courtroom terseness, and it's the strongest writing I saw in the book: specific, funny, un-showy. very pretty. i am new to this genre, and will pick up more!

I can hardly believe it took me little more than a day to read this book of almost 500 pages in length. I can’t specifically point my finger to anything uniquely compelling about this debut novel by author Daniel J. Salvati, other than it is both unique and compelling, at least it was to me. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an advanced reader’s copy. My review is voluntary.

The book contains an extraordinarily unique writing style and tone: it’s very matter of fact and precise, describing exact moments in time when certain events occurred and precise time calculations regarding how long specific events took to accomplish. Speaking as a former attorney reading a book about a lawyer and various cases he is engaged with over the period of approximately one year, I would say the writing is almost lawyerly, like a person who is familiar with writing legal briefs — almost, but not really — more procedural, like watching a crime show on television, “just the facts, ma’am,” like watching a series of Law & Order episodes, which is exactly what Salvati refers to in a fabulous trial summation at the end of one of the lawyer’s trials. He discusses the “dun dun” sounds heard between each episode’s scenes, noting that each “dun dun” signifies that a piece of evidence, a piece of testimony, a piece of the case’s story has been told and has rung true to the eventual conclusion of the episode. This is a perfect encapsulation of the way the entire book is written.

As I read I kept waiting for the shoe to drop on the attorney’s life, for something bad to happen to the protagonists themselves, the attorney and his girlfriend. Maybe it was because their life over the course of one year is too storybook perfect? They fall in love instantly, move in together quickly, and seem to have a fairytale life, while all of the lawyer’s cases go exactly according to plan, as expected, and maybe even better. I finished reading with a literal tear in my eye and my heart in my throat. I don’t know how Mr. Salvati will manage to top this debut, but I certainly expect something significant from him in the future, and I look forward to it.