Brain Storm - Softcover

Dooling, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099274833 ISBN 13: 9780099274834

Publisher: Vintage, 1999

Synopsis

Joe Watson has been to court exactly once - to be sworn in as a lawyer. He's a Webhead, a research geek who sits in front of a screen all day in the plush officers of his smart firm, looking for copyright violations in video games. But there's been a murder, a 'hate crime' and the fearsome Judge Stang has assigned the case to Watson. Hie wife and the senior partners are as eager as he is to have the case transferred to another lawyer - but Judge Stang's decsions are never revoked and Watson finds himself hurled into a maelstrom of Bigotry, murder and seduction. In a legal nightmre defending a violent client whose guilt seems certain, Watson's only allies are a diminutive, foulmouthed punk defence lawyer, and a brilliant, deliviously sexy neuroscientist whose interest in the case drifts unsettlingly between the pseronal and professional. And when his wife and kids leave, his firm disowns him and his client's gung-ho militia 'friends' start to creep out of the woods, Watson feels he's having a very bad time. . .

About this title

Review:

Grab a cup of strong coffee and settle in for a thrill ride of legal battles, neurobiology, hate crimes and love-starved chimpanzees. Richard Dooling's cyber-legal- detective thriller is tough to categorize, because it is so many things: lawyer-turned-gumshoe murder mystery, paean to free speech, speculative fiction and sex romp, all jumbled together in a hyperactive mix of fun. In near-future Saint Louis, web geek Joe Watson is a non- practising attorney; instead, he fills his days with arcane Internet research in support of his firm's cases--computer game copyright violation, for instance. He's got the wife and kids, and just enough money to afford a big house in an affluent suburb. All hell breaks loose when a leathery old judge assigns him to defend the accused killer of a deaf black man. In pursuit of truth, Watson enlists the help of a punk defence lawyer and a gorgeous neurobiologist, losing the wife, the kids and even his cushy job in the process. The fast- paced action and oddball circumstances make this a winner for thriller fans. The bonus is Dooling's absurd sense of humour and deft characterizations, most notably the cranky Judge Stang. America's obsessions with sex, justice and computers look endearing and funny through Dooling's microscope. Brain Storm is a fast, fresh and enjoyable book.

About the Author:

Richard Dooling was born in Omaha, Nebraska and lived in Sierra Leone in the early 1980s. His novel White Man's Grave was a finalist for the 1994 National Book Award, and his writing has appeared in The New Yorker and The New York Times. He is an attorney and lives in Omaha with his wife and four children.

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0099274833
• ISBN 13: 9780099274834
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416