Eighteen books were submitted for the 2014 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. The distinguished selection committee included Kevin Blackistone, Fannie Flagg, Dan Kornstein, Adam Liptak, and Marianne Szegedy-Maszak, among others.
Three finalists were chosen for the 2014 award: Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson, Sycamore Row by John Grisham, and The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout.
Grisham’s Sycamore Row was awarded the 2014 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. In Sycamore Row, Grisham’s protagonist attorney from A Time To Kill, Jake Brigance, returns to defend the will of wealthy many who committed suicide by hanging himself from an old sycamore tree, leaving the bulk of his fortune to his African-American housekeeper, against challenge by the man's greedy children.
Grisham was presented with the award during a special ceremony coinciding with the Library of Congress' National Book Festival held at the Madison Building in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 2104.
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Sycamore Row
John Grisham
In this novel the author takes you back to where it all began in A Time to Kill. Now we return to that famous courthouse in Clanton as Jake Brigance once again finds himself embroiled in a fiercely controversial trial a trial that will expose old racial tensions and force Ford County to confront its tortured history. Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier. The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly? And what does it all have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row? -- From book jacket
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The Burgess boys: a novel
Elizabeth Strout
Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown of Shirley Falls for New York City as soon as they possibly could. Jim, a sleek, successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, and Bob, a Legal Aid attorney who idolizes Jim, has always taken it in stride. But their long-standing dynamic is upended when their sister, Susan—the Burgess sibling who stayed behind—urgently calls them home. Her lonely teenage son, Zach, has gotten himself into a world of trouble, and Susan desperately needs their help. And so the Burgess brothers return to the landscape of their childhood, where the long-buried tensions that have shaped and shadowed their relationship begin to surface in unexpected ways that will change them forever. With a rare combination of brilliant storytelling, exquisite prose, and remarkable insight into character, Elizabeth Strout has brought to life two deeply human protagonists whose struggles and triumphs will resonate with readers long after they turn the final page. Tender, tough-minded, loving, and deeply illuminating about the ties that bind us to family and home, The Burgess Boys is perhaps Elizabeth Strout’s most astonishing work of literary art.
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Once we were brothers
Ronald H . Balson
A different version of this book was previously published by Berwick Court Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois --T.p. verso;" The gripping tale about two boys, once as close as brothers, who find themselves on opposite sides of the Holocaust. Elliot Rosenzweig, a respected civic leader and wealthy philanthropist, is attending a fundraiser when he is suddenly accosted and accused of being a former Nazi SS officer named Otto Piatek, the butcher of Zamosc. Although the charges are denounced as preposterous, his accuser, Ben Solomon, is convinced he is right. Solomon persuades attorney Catherine Lockhart to take his case, revealing that the true Piatek was abandoned as a child and raised by Solomon's family only to betray them during the Nazi occupation. But has he accused the right man? Once We Were Brothers is the compelling tale of two boys and a family who struggle to survive in war-torn Poland and a young love that incredibly endures through the unspeakable cruelty of the Holocaust. Two lives, two worlds, and sixty years converge in an explosive race to redemption that makes for an enthralling tale of love, survival, and ultimately the triumph of the human spirit -- Provided by publisher"
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Killer ambition: a novel
Marcia Clark
A mystery novel;"Special Trials prosecutor Rachel Knight teams up with Detective Bailey Keller to investigate the death of a Hollywood director that has far-reaching ramifications throughout Tinseltown"
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The Green Line
E C. Diskin
Abby Donovan is a lawyer whose dream of a partnership at her prestigious Chicago law firm is about to occur when she steps onto a late-night train headed in the wrong direction
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The last alibi
David Ellis
James Drinker is a bit of an oddball. A funny looking geeky loner, he walks into Jason Kolarich's office one day with a preemptive concern. Two women have recently been murdered, seemingly by the same killer, and Drinker thinks he will be the main suspect. One woman was his ex girlfriend and the other was a friend. He's the only link between the victims and he has no alibi for the night of either murder. Believing he's the target of a frame up, Drinker hires Kolarich for his defense. Something about James Drinker seems off from the start but Kolarich doesn't give it too much thought. Until another murder occurs. And then another. And as he begins to probe his client's life and story more closely it quickly becomes clear that nothing about James Drinker is what it seems and that the target of the frame up isn't Drinker but Kolarich. Unable to stop a serial killer and prove his own innocence without breaking his sworn attorney client privilege, Jason Kolarich must hunt for the truth about James Drinker, the series of brutal murders, and why he's been set up to take the fall. The answers will be beyond anything he could have imagined
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Death angel
Linda A. Fairstein
Discovering the murdered body of a young woman in Ramble urban park, New York Assistant DA Alex Cooper and Detective Mike Chapman uncover disturbing links between the savage crime and a string of cold-case disappearances. In this novel the author, a former prosecutor for the City of New York, explores the rich, and little-known, history of New York City's Central Park. Here she takes readers into the storied history of Central Park as Assistant DA Alex Cooper and Detective Mike Chapman race to track down a serial killer before yet another young woman is found dead. Is the body found in the Ramble the first victim of a deranged psychopath, or are other missing women in years past whose remains have never been found connected to this savage attack? Is this enormous urban park a sanctuary in the middle of the city, as it seems to the thousands of New Yorkers and tourists who fill it every day, or is it a hunting ground for a killer with a twisted mind?
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The adversary
Reece Hirsch
Former DOJ cybercrimes prosecutor Chris Bruen walks into a dark apartment in Amsterdam to confront a hacker known as Black Vector. The hacker has stolen the source code for the world’s most ubiquitous operating system, which powers everything from personal computers to the NSA’s data centers. This should have been a routine assignment for Bruen, but instead of obtaining a confession, Bruen finds the hacker’s dead body and uncovers a hidden flash drive that contains the code for a remarkably sophisticated computer virus known as Lurker. Upon his return home to San Francisco, Bruen finds himself the target of a shadowy group of hackers who plan on unleashing Lurker, which will bring a major US city to its knees in seven days. Bruen doesn’t know why he’s the target, but the answers seem to lie somewhere in his troubled past. Suddenly, Bruen is framed as the planner of the cyberattack, making him the top suspect in an international manhunt. Bruen must stay ahead of the FBI and CIA in a race across Europe while he tries to decode the virus, find the hackers, and clear his name. With the lives of tens of thousands of people hanging in the balance, and his own life about to be destroyed, Bruen must go beyond the brink to stop the hackers.
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Speak of the devil
Allison Leotta
A Touchstone book. ;"Prosecutor Anna Curtis, assigned to bring a terrifying man known as Diablo, who led a vicious attack on a brothel, to justice, calls into question everything she believes about good and evil when her investigation leads her to one of America's most brutal street gangs and a devastating discovery"
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The Ophelia cut: a novel
John T. Lescroart
Defense attorney Dismas Hardy returns to defend a close friend against murder charges in New York Times bestselling author John Lescroart's most suspenseful and intricately plotted novel to date -- Provided by publisher
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The condor song
Darryl Nyznyk
nspired by the Sierra Club 1960’s battle with the Walt Disney company over a proposed ski resort in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, former attorney and best selling author, Darryl Nyznyk, brings captivating realism to this riveting new thriller.Sean Donovan lost everything: his wife, kids, job, and license to practice law. Abandoned by his wife, betrayed by a friend, and fired by his firm, it has taken thirteen years for Sean to come back, now barely eking out a living on minor cases while his former firm thrives.When Buck Anderson, renowned environmentalist from Sean’s hometown is murdered, Sean reunites with Buck’s niece at the old man’s funeral. She begs Sean to join the Sierra Club’s case to stop a major ski development by a Disney-type company, the very case on which Buck was working when he was killed. Sean agrees, but learns too late that his former firm represents the opposition with motives more sinister than their client’s ski development.THE CONDOR SONG is an environmental legal thriller set against California’s rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains in which a man lost to the world he thought he knew tries to find redemption in the face of impossible odds.
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Olsen's nation: a story of hope for change
Randy Quarles
A comical look at government involvement in the minutia of daily life
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Accused: A Rosato & Associates Novel
Lisa Scottoline
New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author Lisa Scottoline revolutionized crime fiction when she introduced her all-female law firm of Rosato & Associates, thrilling readers with her twisty, fast-paced plots and capturing their hearts with her cast of strong yet totally relatable female characters. Fans have been clamoring for more stories with the characters they've come to know and love, so Bennie Rosato, Mary DiNunzio, Judy Carrier, and Anne Murphy are back with all cylinders firing in Accused. They'll face their most challenging and dangerous case ever. It begins with an astonishing request from a thirteen-year-old prospective client. Allegra Gardner's sister Fiona was murdered six years ago. It seemed like an open-and-shut case: the accused, Lonnie Stall, was seen fleeing the scene his blood was on Fiona and her blood was on him most damningly, Lonnie Stall pleaded guilty. But Allegra believes Lonnie is innocent and has been wrongly imprisoned. Taking on the case seems foolhardy to Mary DiNunzio, because the Gardner family is one of the richest and most powerful in the country and Allegra's parents do not believe in reopening this case. But the Rosato & Associates firm can never resist an underdog. Was justice really served all those years ago? It will take a team of unstoppable female lawyers, plus one thirteen-year-old genius, to find out. Accused kicks off an annual fall series featuring the new adventures of Rosato & Associates, delivering all the emotion, action, and humor we've come to expect from one of the best writers in the business.From The New York Times bestselling author comes a much-anticipated new thriller featuring the all-female law firm, Rosato & Associates -- Provided by publisher;" New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author Lisa Scottoline revolutionized crime fiction when she introduced her all-female law firm of Rosato & Associates, thrilling readers with her twisty, fast-paced plots and capturing their hearts with her cast of strong yet totally relatable female characters. Fans have been clamoring for more stories with the characters they've come to know and love, so Bennie Rosato, Mary DiNunzio, Judy Carrier, and Anne Murphy are back with all cylinders firing in Accused. Their most challenging and dangerous case ever begins with an astonishing request from a thirteen-year-old prospective client. Allegra Gardner's sister Fiona was murdered six years ago. It seemed like an open-and-shut case: the accused, Lonnie Stall, was seen fleeing the scene his blood was on Fiona and her blood was on him most damningly, Lonnie Stall pleaded guilty. But Allegra believes Lonnie is innocent and has been wrongly imprisoned. Taking the case seems foolhardy to Mary DiNunzio, because the Gardner family is one of the most powerful in the country and Allegra's parents do not believe in reopening it. But the Rosato & Associates firm can never resist an underdog. Was justice really served all those years ago? It will take a team of unstoppable female lawyers, plus one thirteen-year-old genius, to find out. Accused kicks off an annual fall series featuring the new adventures of Rosato & Associates, delivering all the emotion, action, and humor we've come to expect from one of the best writers in the business -- Provided by publisher"
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Dead lawyers tell no tales
Randy D. Singer
Landon Reed is an ex-quarterback convicted of organizing a points-shaving scheme. During his time in prison, he found forgiveness and faith and earned his law degree. Now he longs for an opportunity to prove his loyalty and worth. Be careful what you ask for. Harry McNaughton is one of the founding partners of McNaughton & Clay--and the only lawyer willing to take a chance employing an ex-con-turned-lawyer. Though Landon initially questions Harry's ethics and methods, it's clear the crusty old lawyer has one of the most brilliant legal minds Landon has ever encountered. The two dive into preparing a defense for one of the highest-profile murder trials Virginia Beach has seen in decades when Harry is gunned down in what appears to be a random mugging. Then two more lawyers are killed when the firm's private jet crashes. Authorities suspect someone has a vendetta against McNaughton & Clay, leaving Landon and the remaining partner as the final targets. As Landon struggles to keep the firm together, he can't help but wonder, is the plot related to a shady case from McNaughton & Clay's past, or to the murder trial he's neck-deep in now? And will he survive long enough to find out? -- P. [2] of cover
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Crime of privilege: a novel
Walter Walker
Pitted against a powerful family when he reopens the scandalous case of a young woman's unsolved murder, George Becket is forced to confront a haunting mistake from his own past while outmaneuvering wealth-driven corruption
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The partner track: a novel
Helen Wan
A young attorney must choose between the prestige of partnership and the American Dream that she--and her immigrant parents--have come so close to achieving in this riveting debut. In the eyes of her corporate law firm, Ingrid Yung is a two-fer. As a Chinese-American woman about to be ushered into the elite rank of partner, she's the face of Parsons Valentine & Hunt LLP's recruiting brochures--their treasured Golden Girl. But behind the firm's welcoming facade lies the scotch-sipping, cigar-smoking old-boy network that shuts out lawyers like Ingrid. To compensate, Ingrid gamely plays in the softball league, schmoozes in the corporate cafeteria, and puts in the billable hours--until a horrifically offensive performance at the law firm's annual summer outing throws the carefully constructed image way out of equilibrium.Scrambling to do damage control, Parsons Valentine announces a new Diversity Initiative and commands a reluctant Ingrid to spearhead the effort, taking her priority away from the enormous deal that was to be the final step in securing partnership. For the first time, Ingrid finds herself at odds with her colleagues--including her handsome, golden-boy boyfriend--in a clash of class, race, and sexual politics -- Provided by publisher
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Crosstown park
Melanie D. Bragg
Subtitle from cover;" On a flight from New York to Houston, Alex Stockton, a successful young lawyer, meets Reverend Morse. He is in dire need of a lawyer to represent one of his foster home house parents, Jose Gonzales. The Reverend believes that Jose was falsely accused of sexually molesting Chris Jackson, a teenage boy, in Crosstown Park. He convinces Alex that Chris Jackson made the allegation against Jose because his uncle, Voodoo, is seeking revenge against the Reverend for disrupting his illegal drug and prostitution activities. Alex's instincts take over and her long buried memories of her foster home background surface. Before the plane lands she has taken Jose's case, pro bono. She has six weeks to discover what happened in Crosstown Park between Jose and Chris. She teams up with Nic Wright, a handsome former cop-turned-security-company-owner, to save Jose and the poor children at Shepherd's Cottages. As the case progresses, Alex's life and perfect trial record is threatened. Not to mention her lifelong dream of becoming a judge. What she really needs is a witness...--Cover"
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We were beautiful once: chapters from a cold war
Joseph R. Carvalko
We Were Beautiful Once is a psychologically complex courtroom novel that builds an intriguing web of events, creating a sustained sense of anticipation from chapter to chapter in the mold of John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief, where trial lawyer Nick Castalano tries to uncover the fate of Roger Girardin, MIA during the Korean War, and discovers he may have been murdered in a POW camp by Trent Hamilton, a politician (sights on becoming governor) and businessman. Before the war, Jack O'Conner, Hamilton, Girardin and Julie, Girardin's girlfriend and Jack's sister, hung out. In part the story follows the lives of the survivors, who after the war, with Roger's disappearance and Jack and Trent having spent years in a North Korean hell-hole, change dramatically, notably Jack goes through life teetering on the edge of insanity (believing he may have killed Girardin) and that his murderous act will be discovered by his sister, who waits her entire life for Roger’s return.