Death Row Defender
Ray Dix
(Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan)
2005 Hard Shell Word Factory
ISBN: 0759942609

A retired Public Defender takes on a Florida death row inmate's case.

Woody Thomas is no longer so sure of anything: the cases the police have made, nor the judicial & penal systems. Now, facing this desperate man, Woody struggles with his doubts as to his innocence & his own ability to save his client's life.

Sr. Associate Reviewer Narayan Radhakrishnan writes:

The legal thriller mystery genre is sure facing a boom, with lawyers churning out thrillers year after year. Some lawyers like John Grisham, Scott Turow & Richard North Patterson have achieved legendary status in the industry, & many a lawyer has followed their footsteps to success of their own.

As a self-proclaimed numero-uno legal thriller lover, I also keep my eyes open for legal mystery thrillers written by those authors who have chosen the small press to publish their books - like 1stbooks, iUniverse etc. & more often than not, I have found myself enjoying the works of these authors, more than that of the hi-fi authors. & Ray Dix is one such author, a& Death Row Defender is one such book that has impressed me; impressed me a lot.

Here, Ray Dix’s vast experience as a criminal trial lawyer is well revealed, & the intricacies of the law & the legal system fully projected. As a lawyer myself, I found the novel a must-read for any student of criminal law - it really showcases & highlights the importance of the concept “proof beyond reasonable doubt.” & not since Robert Traver's Anatomy Of A Murder, (yup, the Jimmy Stewart movie), have I read a novel focusing on this intricate question of law.

Jon Clayton's in the slammer accused of the rape-murder of one Donella Nash. Clayton's a man who you would love to hate. With a brutal record of violence & crime, no one doubts his guilt. & when election time comes around, the Governor of Florida decides that this is a juicy case to project his stand on crime, (or as the media calls it the war on crime), & win a few votes. & so Jon Clayton is scheduled to be executed by electrocution.

But Clayton solidly maintains his innocence. & he seeks the help of retired public defender Woody Thomas. Though Clayton admits having committed other crimes in the past, he keeps averring he did not commit this particular murder; but has no convincing explanation as to how a bullet from his pistol found a place in the victim’s head.

Woody has his own troubles & a hard time convincing himself of his client's innocence. He believes it a “gone” case - but a deep probe into the incident, a re-examination of the witnesses, convinces Woody that there is something more to the crime than what meets the eye. & there is room for “reasonable doubt” When he faces stiff resistance from the police & when federal agents begin to follow him, the professional case of Woody Thomas slowly turns to personal one - & he slowly realizes that his life is in imminent danger. What follows is legal action at its best, culminating, to put it mildly, in a fantabulous finish.

Loved Death Row Defender, the blurb informs us that the author has started work on the next Woody Thomas thriller. Looking eagerly for it.

Highly recommended & a must read for the student of criminal law.

Do check out Narayan's Interview with this Author.
(11/20/05)

Narayan
2005©Narayan Radhakrishnan
A RebeccasReads.Com Sr. Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I am a 26 years old lawyer practicing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Along with my legal practice, I have finished post-graduate studies for both Business Law & Human Rights. I am a self proclaimed numero-uno legal thriller lover & am the proud owner of all of Grisham's & Turow's novels. I enjoy John Mortimer's Rumpole & relish an occasional Martini & a rare Scot(ch)t-oline with a Patterson on the side.

My work A FICTION OF LAW is now about 500 pages in length & features 500 lawyer authors & 2000 legal thrillers covering a 300 year period - inclusive of entries from the USA, UK, Asia, Europe, China, Middle East etc. Still in search of a publisher.
www.keralatourism.org