Cross Examination
A Jamie Carson Legal Thriller
A murder investigation and corporate intrigue tie into meditations on the fragility of justice in the thought-provoking thriller Cross Examination.
Efforts toward justice clash with corporate conspiracies in James E. Carroll’s thrilling novel Cross Examination, about truth, power, and moral compromise.
Jamie is a veteran trial lawyer, tasked with defending Herbert, a stockbroker, against a routine weapons charge. His case is transformed by a homicide investigation, though, that’s connected to the gun. As representatives of the prosecution and defense face off in Connecticut courtrooms, Jamie’s team uncovers tax fraud at Herbert’s firm, too. Their inquiry sweeps from forensic ballistics labs to London legal chambers, driven by incisive cross-examinations and behind‑the‑scenes maneuvering.
The story alternates between swift courtroom scenes marked by Jamie’s sharp questions and calibrated investigative sequences that expand its geographic and thematic scope. Chapters often close on cliffhangers that are used to maintain tension across the bevy of subplots, as with a bombshell ballistics report and a surprising witness declaration. Boardroom betrayals mix with people’s backstories, each subplot having clear stakes. Points are revisited when they stand to be most potent; by the finale, details that seemed minor at first have accrued more significance.
The book’s descriptions are economical, though they give sufficient shape to hushed legal corridors and fog‑lit streets abroad. And its characterizations are attentive: Jamie is fleshed out most in terms of his principles as a litigator. A man with a passion for the truth, he makes all of his work quite personal. There’s a satisfying quality to the way he uncovers new information, adapts his legal strategy, and executes his intricate plans in the courtroom. His colleagues and his fiancée, Sydney, are also developed in terms of their personal triumphs and frustrations. Their exchanges are quite professional in tone, though barbed courtroom conversations and quiet reflections in London pubs also appear.
Indeed, beneath the pulsing murder investigation and corporate intrigue lie meditations on the fragility of reputation and on the complex ethics of legal advocacy. The interplay between people’s individual motives and institutional imperatives, as embodied by IRS agents pursuing tax fraud cases alongside prosecutors hunting a murder suspect, underscores the multifaceted nature of the justice system. This layering adds weight to the book’s straightforward procedural elements, inviting considerations of people’s motivations and of why justice matters.
Ethical dilemmas abound in Cross Examination, a taut novel marked by legal and corporate suspense in which a moral lawyer is driven to uncover the truth.
Reviewed by
John M. Murray
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
