The Substitution Order by Martin Clark

 

An interesting legal thriller. I see why the blurbs and reviews mention Hiassen and Leonard and Grisham--those are among them a pretty decent set of comparisons (though Clark doesn't write such mannered prose as Leonard, which is a good thing). Definitely built around the American legal system and the ways it can be bent to one's aims, and lots of one determined lawyer working to bend it to his (relatively well-intentioned) intentions. Very quippy-funny, not quite so much Strange Local Color as Hiassen tends to have, very readable. In some ways deeply cynical but in others strongly romantic, an interesting admixture. I'll be looking for more, hoping I can find it at the libraries.