Degree Of Guilt Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Degree Of Guilt Book

The core of Richard North Patterson's legal thrillers is characterization, and Degree of Guilt, the novel that relaunched his career in 1993, features two captivating individuals: Christopher Paget and Mary Carelli. Paget, the upstart hero of Patterson's 1979 Edgar-winning The Lasko Tangent, is now a sophisticated trial lawyer doing his best to raise a teenage son in San Francisco. He's a man to be admired: famous for bringing down the president in a financial scandal, he has settled into the comfortable life of a successful attorney. His life is transformed, however, when his former lover (and mother of his son), Mary Carelli, pays a visit. The novel begins in a San Francisco hotel room as Mary, now an NBC journalist, surveys the torn landscape of author Mark Ransom's apartment. Ransom is, or was, America's most eminent writer. As she tells the police, Ransom had uncovered new recorded evidence of an affair between a long-dead starlet and a now-sainted senator (shades of Marilyn Monroe and JFK). While Ransom and Mary were listening to the tapes, she claims, he tried to rape her and she killed him in self-defence. Mary turns to Paget to defend her in what becomes a complex case of missing and conflicting evidence. Old emotions are stirred between the two just as Paget begins to doubt Mary's innocence. The suspense of Degree of Guilt is grounded in the twists and turns of the trial at the novel's centre, but just as compelling is the emerging history of Mary and Paget, and Paget's struggles to keep his son out of the media frenzy surrounding his mother's case. Patterson also addresses the deeper ethical questions that face many lawyers as they decide which cases to take and which evidence to use. Capturing archetypal characters and situations, Degree of Guilt becomes a parable of American law. --Patrick O'KelleyRead More

from£N/A | RRP: £8.99
* Excludes Voucher Code Discount Also available Used from £N/A
  • Amazon

    An American courtroom drama in which the defendant's claim of self-defence is slowly undermined and the truth is gradually revealed. The defence attorney is faced with an inescapable dilemma of ethics and emotion, as the secrets of his own life become intertwined with the murder trial itself.

  • TheBookPeople

    Christopher Paget is a trial lawyer with a famous past: as a young investigator in Washington he unearthed a scandal that brought ruin to the President - and an abrupt end to his affair with journalist Mary Carelli. Now, fifteen years later, Carelli is a famous TV journalist in New York and Paget is leading a relatively tranquil life raising their son in San Francisco. Until a charge of murder changes everything. The victim - a world famous (and infamous) novelist. The accused - Mary Carelli. When Paget agrees to defend her, largely for the sake of their son, her claims of attempted rape and self-defence seem water-tight. But gradually secrets from her past come to light and Paget is suddenly facing an explosive mix of public trial and personal conflict leaving his own and his son's fates vulnerable and exposed.

  • 0099296918
  • 9780099296911
  • Richard North Patterson
  • Arrow
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 605
  • 1st
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click through any of the links below and make a purchase we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Click here to learn more.

Would you like your name to appear with the review?

We will post your book review within a day or so as long as it meets our guidelines and terms and conditions. All reviews submitted become the licensed property of www.find-book.co.uk as written in our terms and conditions. None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.

All form fields are required.