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Legal thrillers have staked out their own particular genre in the world of literature. Frequently the tedious give and take of humdrum courtroom conversation morphs into high drama when penned by acknowledged masters of the craft such as John Grisham and Scott Turow. In addition to verbal jousts between the prosecution and the defense, readers become enthralled by the hunt for evidence, the plea deal bargaining, and always the verdict. Someone wins and someone loses. It’s the American way.
Eleazer hones this fictional archetype to a fine edge in his latest legalistic page-turner, The Two-Witness Rule. Starting in a steamy Savannah, Georgia summer, the author tracks the case of a high-profile defense attorney charged with subornation of perjury and influencing witnesses. But in this particular world of lawyers, judges, case files, and courtrooms, Eleazer focuses less on the famous defendant and more on the young, relatively inexperienced prosecutor. He obviously knows it’s always more fun to root for the underdog.
As you might expect, there are serious obstacles to be overcome if the young and principled advocate for the state is to best the renowned counselor, outraged and appalled by what he sees as spurious charges and prosecutorial overreach. What you might not expect are the tactics the latter employs to thwart the former at every turn. You will also likely find the ending unexpected as well.
Reading anything about legal goings-on in Savannah almost always draws comparisons to John Berendt’s Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil. While that acclaimed account of passion and murder was actually nonfiction, Eleazer employs the novel form to capture a similar examination of law, justice, and sometimes the difference between the two, in one of America’s most Southern of cities.