Bill’s Pick
February 2016
The Verdict
Nick Stone
Pegasus Crime, New York, NY (2015)
Nick Stone’s most recent novel, The Verdict, is set in London. Terry Flynt is a legal clerk working at a large firm, Kopf-Randall-Purdom (KRP). Hired on initially as a temp in the firm’s criminal group, Terry is trying to move up to a paralegal position and the fully funded law degree that the firm awards periodically to its best clerk. The problem is that the criminal group – which is small in size and brings in less in the way of billings than the corporate and tax groups – has never had a clerk win the award. Flynt is hopeful that that might change with Janet Randall in charge. Randall is seeking to expand the size and influence of the criminal practice section.
When Flynt gets the opportunity to work on a major case involving a wealthy financial executive accused of murdering a woman in his hotel suite, Flynt’s prospects for getting the award seem to improve significantly. But the assignment puts him in the cross-hairs of other clerks in the firm and forces him to confront his past. The executive charged with the murder, Vernon James, is a childhood friend of Flynt. The evening before being arrested for murder James was awarded the Ethical Person of the Year by an international organization. At his trial, the barrister representing James tells the court:
I don’t like him one bit. I don’t think he’s what you’d call a “nice person,” or a ‘’good person.” Over the course of the trial, I expect you’ll agree.
Twenty years earlier, James betrayed his friendship with Flynt, and Terry has waited for the day when he might get revenge. At stake, however, are not only James’s freedom, Terry’s career, and the choices that Terry must make as he participates in the investigation of the case, but also the integrity of the firm and judicial system.
Stone has developed an interesting group of characters, plot elements, and lines of attack as the story moves through the alleged crime, the selection of counsel, the background of the relationship and conflict between Flynt and James, the investigation, and finally to the preparation for and trial itself. Things move along at a fast pace; the writing is crisp; and the story holds your attention. The Verdict could be just what you need for a dark, wintry weekend.