- Hardcover: 387 pages
- Publisher: Fawcett (Aug 25 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 044991139X
- ISBN-13: 978-0449911396
- Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 16.5 x 4.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 1.5 Kg
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Joshua Jin is one of the more interesting protagonists to come along in mystery fiction for quite a while. The Sacramento Chinese American D.A.'s professional life has fallen apart following the death of his daughter and the departure of his wife. So mired in grief that he dissolves in tears while trying a man for murder, he's exiled to an out-of-the-way department where he's handed a politically charged Chinatown child rape case and told to make it go away. It shouldn't be hard, because there's no physical evidence, and the victim, a 13-year-old girl, won't name the man police know was responsible. Further, the perpetrator is represented by a brilliant criminal defense lawyer who happens to be the woman Jin jilted for his soon-to-be-ex wife. But Jin realizes that his personal salvation depends on fighting a system that would ignore a little girl's pain.
This gripping courtroom drama ranks with the best of Scott Turow in its brilliant depiction of the inner reaches of the human soul; the final pages throw a curve that you won't see coming. Lee's voice in this second novel (after China Boy) is confident, sure, and passionate, and his characters memorable and resonant. This is a novel with great heart, and Lee is a writer to watch. --Jane Adams
From Publishers Weekly
His young daughter dead of a heart defect, his beautiful wife gone, his career at the Sacramento DA's office on the rocks, Joshua Jin?the hero of this wooden thriller?has lost nearly everything. All that's left is the one case dumped on his desk, the Chinatown rape of a 13-year-old Anglo girl named Rachel, who refuses to talk or to provide physical evidence of her assault. Jin realizes the case is a loser, just a way for the DA to send a Chinese-American lawman into Chinatown right before an election, but he refuses to drop it, despite suspiciously vehement orders from upstairs. Rachel's rape evokes too many memories of his beloved daughter; besides, counsel for the suspect is Stacy August, his dangerously gorgeous ex-girlfriend. Former deputy DA Lee (Tiger's Tail) has concocted a rich premise here, mixing together Chinese life and American legal practice, political realities and private grief. He obviously knows his way around a courtroom: Jin's efforts to select, then romance, the jury read like a primer on trial practice. But the labored plot is slow to develop, and, when it does, Lee provides constant recaps, underestimating the reader's ability to follow the action. His stock characters (one foul-mouthed detective with a heart of gold, one computer-geek law intern, one femme fatale, etc.) talk and think in notably awkward noir-ese ("I tried not to like her too much, but her words were bread crumbs to a deeper sense of self"). The resolution, implicating far too many characters on both sides of the law, goes down like a two-ton wonton. BOMC alternate.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling personal and court drama.,
By Xury Defoe (Mesa, AZ) - See all my reviews
This review is from: No Physical Evidence (Audio Cassette)
This has been the most compelling crime drama I have listened to in along while. The author expertly combines the conflicts ethnic culture, personal tragedy, and work promblem into a into a court room drama. The plot is the difficulties of doing a child rape trial where the victim is silent. The author also shows the personal and work difficulties the D.A. Jin has to overcome to mount a successful. The only drawback is the subject of child rape is gruesome and I personal had to stop reading at times to control my emotions. I am anxious to look forward to more novels about D.A. Jin.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Sorry, but Mr Lee can't write,
By A Customer
This review is from: No Physical Evidence (Hardcover)
The plot has some interest but Mr Lee is, to be frank, not quite literate. He simply can't write English -- and also has the annoying habit of peppering each short paragraph with one, may be two one-liners. The situations are also constantly unrealistic, for instance, the protagonist's ex-lover, a beautiful lawyer (yes, it's that kind of novel) who practices both corporate anti-trust law AND criminal defense of pederasts. Uhh, sorry, not believable. I am amazed that anyone could give this novel 4 or 5 stars, considering the fact that Mr Lee needs a introductory course in writing.
4.0 out of 5 stars
An "Abuse" Legal Thriller With Surprises Aplenty,
By
This review is from: No Physical Evidence (Hardcover)
Chinese American Writer Gus Lee explores an important area of criminal abuse in this new legal thriller. But Lee, author of four fine novels, experienced deputy district attorney, Army judge advocate, FBI trainer, and executive of the California state bar forgot to review his notes on how the system works. Lawyers and politicians will probably hate this drama. Readers will turn the last page knowing the law is not handled this way, yet will appreciate his passion for what is right, and his love for children and family. His window into the human soul saves this tangled story. A little polish would have helped as Lee creates great sentences in difficult paragraphs and confusing chapters.This book is engrossing despite its flaws. Josh Jin's career and his personal life are slipping away due to his emotional collapse caused by the death of a daughter. Resulting mistakes caused him to lose respect and position. Jin is forced into a case in which he finds himself conflicted from grief, loss of status, ugly politics and morals, cultures, and outrage. A 13-year old rape victim refuses to talk. There is no physical evidence. He has nobody's confidence and no professional support. The accused ex-con may not be the one. Worse, his legal adversary is a powerful ex-girlfriend he once jilted who knows how to pull his chain. He cries in court and colleagues think he is without hope. Jin struggles back from the edge while pulling another from disaster. The reader learns a bit about the Chinese-American culture and very real child sexual abuse, accurately rendered. As the story unfolds, there are surprises aplenty. This BOMC alternate is awkward but remains a page turner. It is a complex crime story based on what is really happening, though a bit overplotted. A tale of lives in crises, untidy politics, horrifying crime, sleazy judges, shoddy legal work, messy lives, committment and personal salvation. Lee toys with the reader right up to the last few words. This is a book of passion dotted with clever observations and characters that resonate. Readers will think about this book for a long time despite it's rather unbelievable legal, political core. Gus Lee could do better and has done so(Honor and Duty) than this sometimes confusing book, but "No Physical Evidence" remains a worthwhile read.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
