This was the last story in a book of Readers Digest Condensed stories I received. I think that the condensed version cheats theauthor and the reader. I thought that reading a condensed book would allow me to read something that I otherwise would never read, but Idon't think it's worth it. This book started out strong. The rather unlikable character,Peter,makes a horrible mistake at his father's law practice and he is exiled to the practice of one of his father's friends who is a public defender in a small town. He meets an old buddy who is also an attorney , his buddy's fiancée, and her brother. The brother, who is mentally slow, is caught peeking in a college girl's window and Peterintercedes for him with the police and he is let off with a warning. When another college coed is found murdered in the park, the brother is charged with the murder. Peter's buddy is now married to the boy's sister. Maybe that's why he can't defend him ,but Peter takes the case . That's when the story wonders off into a whole lot of improbabilities the first being that a lawyer who had handled only a few minor cases is allowed to defend in a capital murder case. Also, his buddy who had been a little shifty becomes downright evil. Even the identity of the real murdered seemed to be plucked out of thin air.
Peter Hale is a young attorney struggling to make his own mark in his father's venerable law firm when he is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime.During the trial of a multimillion-dollar case, Peter's father, the lead counsel, suffers a heart attack and asks Peter to move for a mistrial until he's feeling better. Peter decides this is his only chance to prove to his father that he is the terrific lawyer he knows himself to be, and he chooses to carry on with the case against his father's wishes. In his zeal to prove himself, Peter neglects his client and ends up losing everything--the case, his job, and his father.Unemployed and disinherited, Peter takes the only job he is offered--that of a public defender in a small Oregon town. He hopes that if he can make good there, he can reinstate himself in his father's good graces. But his ambition again gets the best of him when he takes on a death-penalty case, representing a mentally retarded man accused of the brutal hatchet murder of a college coed. He's in way over his head, and it's only when Peter realizes that his greed and his ego may end up killing his client that he begins to understand what it really takes to be a good lawyer--and to become a man.
What do You think about The Burning Man (1997)?
I loved the opening pages of this book, but just over 80 pages in, I had to quit reading. I felt uncomfortable with some of the subject matter (a mentally challenged - not sure what the politically correct term is, but I know it's not what is now being called the "R word" - adult with sexual fantasies) and there are just too many good reads out there to spend time on one I wasn't enjoying.I don't feel good about giving a one star review, and I have enjoyed some of Margolin's novels in the past, but honestly, I didn't like it.
—Ruth Donald
Peter Hale is a cocky young lawyer who thinks he’s capable of trying a murder case. But, the truth of the matter is his lifestyle dictates that he’d better get making some money or he’s going to have to make some drastic changes. Harnessed to his attorney father’s agency, Peter makes a fatal career decision when his father has a near-fatal heart attack. Destroying a woman’s hope for settlement from an accident, Peter is disowned by his father and sent to po-dunk America to work for an old college friend who owes him a favor. Horror upon horrors, Peter finds himself in despicable conditions, and then tossed into a winless murder case. The biggest question is, can he redeem himself?
—Marilyn
A retarded man in a small Oregon town is accused of murder and he may very well pay with his life -- the evidence makes a persuasive case against him. Meanwhile he is defended by a lawyer who has just been thrown out of his father's firm for a selfish screw up. The concept behind this book is interesting. But there is something about THE BURNING MAN that I did not like as much as his previous books and I suspect that it has do with the central character, Peter Hale. Part of Margolin's goal with this book was to try to work on character. Unfortunately, if lawyer Hale were real, he'd be shallow, so there isn't much improvement on paper. Nevertheless if you've read all the others, try this one. Otherwise I highly recommend reading one of the previous books first. I normally like to read Margolin's books for the same reason that I like to watch The Practice on TV; they both show the job of the criminal defense attorney and the less than flattering side of American justice.
—Judi
