Book Review Of the Burning Man By Phillip Margolin :: essays research papers

Book Review of "The Burning Man" by Phillip Margolin     Peter press, the son of Richard Hale, a four-year associate at Hale,Greaves, Strobridg, Marquand, and Bartlett, has lived his life under the shadowof his contract. contempt having a high five-figure salary and fire-engine-redPorsche, Peter was constantly trying to overcome the expectations of his high-class lawyer of a father, who was former president of the Oregon State Bar. manipulation single gnomish-time cases did not present Peter with the opportunity tooutshine his father, who was also a second-team All-American football player andNational Champion wrestler, yet when his father had a heart attack and could nolonger handle a million dollar case in which Peter had been helping him, Petercould not let the opportunity pass. As Richard Hale lied helpless in a hospitalbed, he demanded Peter ask for a mistrial, but it seemed only to go in one earof Peters and out the other. Peters boldness woul d be costly though, as hewould lose the case and lose his father. Richard did not die, but when he heardof his sons error he could not forgive him and couldnt bare to see him anymore.     Only a fatherly instinct would force Richard to find a meager job forhis helpless son in a small town with an old friend who was looking for mostonetrying to regain place as Peter now was. Whitaker was not as exciting asPortland was to Peter, but he began to be accustomed to the town when he beganhis handling small criminal cases and ran into an old friend who graduated withhim from highschool, Steve Mancini. Steve, like Peters father, was a footballstar, but at the Division II level for the Whitaker State football team. Halebecame close with Mancini and met many other residents of Whitaker through Steve.One being Steves beautiful and intelligent fiance, Donna Harmon and herslightly retarded brother Gary. Just as things began to become settled forPeter in Whitaker, he ran int o some problems with Gary Harmon. Peter had tosave him once from the police in a peeping incident and then became Garys leadattorney, under some influence from Steve Mancini, as Gary was charged with themurder of a local college girl.     The night of the murder, Gary had been at a local bar, the Stallion, andhad gotten into an argument with a girl whom he had asked to profane a drink for.Despite the assurance of a local drug-dealer friend of Garys, Kevin Booth andhis friend, Christopher Mammon, the college girl had rejected Gary heavily not