If you combine elements of (1) the old Perry Mason TV show, in which Perry Mason cracks the case and extracts a confession from the witness just before the closing commercial; (2) John Grisham’s book “The Street Lawyer”, in which a high powered lawyer recognizes the needs of the poor; and (3) Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” except this time, the jury gets it right, you might get an idea of what “The Color of Law”, by Mark Gimenez, is like. In this book, high powered attorney Scott Fenney’s corporate practice is interrupted when a Federal Judge appoints him to represent a young black prostitute accused of murdering a powerful politician’s son. There’s a “feel good” flavor to the book, in which the abusive politicians and greed lawyers get what’s coming to them, the handsome lawyer changes his way from greed to compassion, and racial barriers are broken down, all of which makes it easy to enjoy even if the outcome isn't too much of a mystery.
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Reminiscent of Grisham for me. I see others say it reminded them of Perry Mason, but I've only read a couple Perry Mason books. I guess the ending where the PI comes up with the evidence reminds me a bit of the most recent Perry Mason book I read. There are also many references to Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird".

WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS (READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION):
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A. Scott Fenney is a lawyer living the high life. He's got a house in an exclusive neighborhood, 2 expensive cars (one for him and one for his wife), a partnership in the law firm where he works, can go to the dining club or the fitness center or the country club at a whim. He's married (though they don't seem happily married), has a daughter whom he loves. He wants to be the next bar association president--but something he says in that pitch causes a Federal judge to appoint him as counsel to Shawanda Jones, an African-American woman accused of killing the son of a senator.

(Note: For some reason, his daughter calls him "A. Scott" instead of dad, daddy, papa, etc.--and it's never explained why. She seems closer to her father than her mother, yet she doesn't call her mother by her first name.)

Rebecca, the wife, seems more enamored of what Scott's money brings her than she does of her husband or daughter. Her big ambition is to be head of the Cattleman's Ball. She doesn't appear to have ever wanted a child and is content to leave her daughter in the hands of their illegal Mexican maid, Consuela.

Unfortunately, Scott's boss, Dan, has designs on being the President's lawyer and Scott's involvement in the trial could jeopardize that. Yet, they can't afford to antagonize the judge who appointed Scott in the first place. The first hope is that Shawanda will make a plea deal, but Shawanda doesn't cooperate with that. Dan comes up with farming out the grunt work to another lawyer so that Scott can continue to bill his clients--what they'd pay the other lawyer would be only a small part of what Scott brings in. Enter Scott's college friend, Bobby.

Unfortunately, Shawanda is impressed by Scott's rich-looking suit over Bobby's off the rack clothes and refuses to let Scott bow out of her trial. Bobby does most of the work, however--at least until the end of the book.

Shawanda has a daughter--Scott ends up taking her to his home to get her out of the unsafe neighborhood in which she lives. This upsets his wife's "perfect life" view.

Scott has to make a choice: do what's right or do what you need to keep your comfortable life. He's made promises to his daughter--I guess he thought he was too above everything to have "it" happen to him? The promises weren't always ones he could know he would keep (like not losing his job and having to move out of their house).

But the other side had choices too. They chose to try to intimidate Scott--first by having his illegal maid taken by INS, next by revoking his memberships, then by getting banks to call in his loans, then by getting his biggest client and his boss to fire him. At first that fires up the former-sports-competitor in Scott, but eventually, he comes to see that he needs to represent Shawanda because it is the right thing to do, not because he wants to get back at someone else. ( )

It took until page 363 before the main character realizes he has missed an important piece of evidence; that I as the reader had already noticed at the beginning of the book. And I think this was on purpose, because it is only now that A Scott Fenney comes face to face with himself? his client?. It took all that writing for the character to evolve, bringing along the reader step by step. A memorable trip.

A totally absorbing book and also scary. For every book I read by Gimenez, I learn more and more about the legal profession How he gets away with it is a mystery.

And like his other books, the ending is realistic and couldn't have been otherwise. I always enjoy the city/nature descriptions, along with the bit of history about the surroundings. The writing is clear; the humor always in the right place.

And we all knew what the A stood for. Page-turner of first quality. ( )

Pretty good,snappy narrative sections, but also bit clichéd. I will read his other books. ( )

This was a book "recommended" to me by the Kindle store, because I like legal thrillers. What a find!! I really enjoyed the story, the writing, the main character....really enjoyed it!! As others have said, this is like early John Grisham-ish type story, although I actually prefer it to many of Grisham's later works. This character appears in one later book, but Gimenez generally writes one protagonist at a time. He's more popular in England and South Africa, and I'm not sure why. I've now read all his novels and can't wait for more. Highly recommend to those who love legal thrillers. ( )

This is this author's first novel and I just love his books. A bit like an early John Grisham - this book is another unputdownable book and a page-turner. A legal thriller but so readable.

Back Cover Blurb:
A. Scott Fenney is a Dallas corporate lawyer in the prime of his life. Raking in $750,000 a year, with a beautiful house, a beautiful wife and an adored daughter. Life could not be better. But when a rich senator's son dies in mysterious circumstances, Fenney is asked by the federal judge to put his air-conditioned lifestyle on hold to defend the accused: a black, heroin-addicted prostitute.
Scott believes in justice - but is his belief strong enough to withstand the loss of everything he holds dear - his salary, his lifestyle, his wife, his child? ( )

Lives in Bedford, comes to FW, very nice man - uses CDT ( )

JOHN Grisham has a lot to answer for. He was one of the first writers of blockbuster legal thrillers and paved the way for a host of imitators.

While Mark Gimenez is not quite “a major new talent,” his debut novel The Colour of Law is an entertaining and competent book in the Grisham mould.

It is a universal maxim that children and animals will always steal the scene and, like Grisham, Gimenez uses the device of a cute, precociously intelligent and threatened child to grab the reader’s sympathy, and redeem the hero.

Despite its blatant manipulation of the sensibilities, this is a ploy that usually works in the hands of any even halfway decent writer — and a decent writer Gimenez certainly is.

The initial scenario is all too familiar to anyone who has read a legal thriller in the last decade: corporate lawyer A Scott Fenney is a brilliantly successful lawyer in an enormously successful firm earning unbelievable sums of money and lording as one of the crème de la crème of Dallas society.

His former best friend Bobby Herrin has nothing in common with him apart from his profession: Bobby is a down-and-out store-front criminal lawyer from the worst part of town. He has nothing going for him except the goodwill of his many impoverished clients.

When Fenney is manoeuvered into defending a prostitute accused of murdering the son of the man tipped to be the next US president, the firm hires Bobby Herrin to take over the case.

Naturally, nothing goes according to plan and in the best tradition of moral American writing, Fenney has to choose between keeping his prestigious job, his beautiful wife, his sexy car, his expensive home and his hard-won position in society, or saving a possibly innocent woman from being railroaded into the electric chair.

The book wouldn’t be over 400 pages long if he capitulated to self-interest, so it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Fenney aligns himself with the side of righteousness, loses everything apart from his daughter, but saves his client and regains his integrity.

The Colour of Law is written to a tried and tested formula, relying heavily on clichés and caricatures, but Gimenez sets out to entertain, not to write a literary masterpiece.

This is fast-paced, excellent light reading for people who want something more substantial than a magazine, and it should sell well at airport bookstores.

John Grisham does have a lot to answer for, and three cheers for him if he has encouraged writers like Gimenez, who can hold one’s interest for the entire duration of a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town. ( )

This is a first novel by a lawyer cynically setting up the franchise on a character he expects to run and run. It is novel-writing by numbers, with more than the expectation that film rights will follow. Does that sound bad?

Actually I enjoyed it a lot. As a lawyer Gimenez feels compelled to explain more about the law than is strictly necessary for the reader (and I expect that was much more of that before the editors go to work). The central characters are types rather than rounded human beings. The plot is full of holes. Who cares? It's an excuse for Gimenez to write a satire about Texas politics, greed, rapaciousness, racism, hypocrisy and lots else besides. It's essentially a Western set in Dallas. The man in the black hat becomes, reluctantly, the man in the white hat, teams up with his old buddy, and rides into the sunset until the next installment.

If the subsequent novels are simply cranked out on a production line, like a number of other crime novellists I could mention, Gimenez will sink from view. But if there's enough satire and spice to tease the reader, he could last the course. ( )

Quite Good! ( )

“The Color of Law�€? by Mark Gimenez is a fast paced legal thriller by a new author. A. Scott Fenney went straight from fame in football to a successful career in a Dallas law firm. He has it all: the client, the house, the club memberships, the cars, the wife and daughter. Or does he? He’s about to find out when a judge assigns him a pro-bono case defending a black heroin-addicted prostitute accused of murdering the son of a senator. The pressure is on as Scott is stuck in a no-win proposition. This is an immensely satisfying first novel with well developed characters, an intense plot, and a dash of humor.

Excellent debut novel! Flows easily and holds reader's interest to end ( )

Better than Grisham ( )

Former college football star Scott Fenney has worked his way to the top of the heap at the Dallas firm of Ford Stevens. But when Clark McCall, wayward son of a Texas politician, gets himself murdered after a night of booze, drugs, and rough sex, Scott is assigned to defend the prime suspect, a heroine-addicted hooker named Shawanda Jones. The powers that be want her convicted—and Scott’s future at the firm may depend on it. But unfortunately for Scott, Shwanada claims she’s innocent, and he believes her.