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The Defense
D.W. Buffa Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Defense
"This is the first book in the series about Joseph Antonelli, the Oregon criminal defense attorney who never loses a case. Judge Leopold Rifkin, asks Antonelli to represent Johnny Morel. Morel is accused of raping his 12 year old stepdaughter. Antonelli is fairly sure that Morel is guilty, but he defends him and gets a not guilty verdict.

A few years later, Morel is murdered. His wife, Diane, is accused of the murder. She asks Antonelli to represent her. He declines because he has found out about many bad things that Diane has done.

A few years later still, Diane is murdered in Judge Rifkin's house. The Judge is accused of the murder and Antonelli represents him. The question is : "Who really murdered Diane?"."

Susanna Marlowe, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Defense
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - depressing/sad
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Legal Thriller Yes
Legal Plotlets - finding out whether someone is really guilty

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - a lawyer creature
Age: - 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - power
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - druggie/wino disease

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Pacific NW

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 3-4
Sex Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to The Defense
Red Dust by Gillian Slovo
Straw Men by Martin J. Smith
Body of a Crime by Michael C. Eberhardt
The Innocent Man by John Grisham
Primary Justice by William Bernhardt


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D.W. Buffa Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Harriet Klausner  

SCHOLARS:
David Gordon  Susanna Marlowe  


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