| Gordon Seegerman, the hero of this debut novel, is an attorney. He works on the lowest level of the public defender's office dealing with misdemeanors, and he has no ambition to get any higher in the legal hierarchy. He is the "misdemeanor man" and seemingly proud of it, and he is obsessed with Barry Manilow. In his spare time, he sings with a Manilow cover band.
Gordon is given the case of Harold Dunn, a mild mannered book keeper and rehabilitated alcoholic, who has been accused of exposing his member to a woman and a little girl in a department store. He has been caught red handed so to speak and identified by the victims. The case seems open and shut, but peculiar things start to happen. The defendant is being held in special custody. The DA on the case just happens to be Seegerman's ex-girl friend, and she refuses to consider a reasonable plea, and indeed seems to be interested in piling on other charges. When he finally gets to meet Dunn, he discovers a quiet man who says little but insists on his innocence, refusing a plea even were one to be available. Further complications arise when Gordy discovers that Dunn is seeing a transvestite prostitute, and may even be involved in a murder. Moreover the charitable organization he was working for, a social agency for rehabing substance abusers called Giving Out Dinners, may be corrupting political officials in a real estate scam. Gordon suspects that Dunn is being railroaded to protect these corrupt officials, and that that is why he was given the case in the first place. He sets out to find the truth. Still through it all Gordon and his band must also rehearse for their big break, a performance to which Barry Manilow himself has been invited. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - very humorous Time/era of story: Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Legal Thriller Yes Legal Plotlets descript. of violence and chases - 20 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - California Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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