Felony Murder

By: Joseph T. Klempner

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

On the surface, the court-appointed case that lands on young Dean Abernathy's desk is a biggie; he is slated to defend a homeless man accused of the felony murder of the popular black New York City Police commissioner during an early-morning mugging attempt. But at second look, the case promises to be a routine conviction. The evidence is overwhelming. The police have come up with an eyewitness, they have physical evidence, and Joey Spadafino has given the arresting officers a signed confession.

Dean's course seems obvious: Get Joe Spadafino, an ex-con, to plead guilty, bargain for the most lenient sentence possible, and figure you can't win 'em all.

Before he can talk to his client about a plea bargain, however, he finds that the prosecutor has already offered one - which Joey refuses. Dean, not only a conscientious defense attorney but a former investigator, starts looking harder at the seemingly incontrovertible evidence.

What he turns up changes a foregone conclusion into something very different. The district attorney, although outwardly cooperative, seems to be trying to keep Dean from interviewing the eyewitness - and the reason becomes apparent when Dean, challenged, digs deeper into her background. Anomalies and discrepancies in the government's case crop up.

Dean realizes that he is drawing closer to a particularly nasty truth, one that not only puts his life and those of others in immediate peril but confronts him with a moral dilemma that is even more difficult to face.

©2016 Joseph T. Klempner (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Engaging Premise If You Like Conundrums

Clever plot, well written. Wish Klemper had not abruptly shifted from showing to telling in an unnecessarily long epilogue. There is a ton of interesting but not plot-advancing detail in the first two-thirds here, that makes this book so long - detail that could easily have been edited out in order to allow a reader-satisfying denouement as the plot continued into revealing the consequences of actions upon the appropriate characters. Instead, all of this was stuffed into one long narration.

Okay, perhaps this was a first novel, but that's what editors are for. But an editor's blue pen could have allowed the author to continue what he does best and show us the consequences of actions through the emotions of the relevant characters. Pity... what was a very good book became less so.

Still, I'll follow Klempner and look for another Dean Abernathy book should Klempner write it. But then again, I love conundrums and this one at the heart of 'Felony Murder' coupled with the grit of Klempner's characters really works.

Good Read

My second Klempner novel. I enjoy his style of writing, it is a good read with some cliffhanger moments that are highly entertaining. The performer was spot on and helped make the story enjoyable.

It's Good but Not Great

I liked the story to a point but it should have ended far sooner than it did. The narrator was good. I probably will listen to the author's other books.

Well Done

This is an excellent legal mystery. Well written and performed even better. I would have given it a solid 4 stars but there was an excess of gratuitous sex.

Good story, great performance!

Peter Berkrot's performance of "Felony Murder" was excellent! His characters, voices and accents were just right and kept things interesting with out being cliche, too heavy, or over-baked. This is the first of Mr. Berkrot's narrations that I've had the pleasure of listening to, and it will not be my last. I'll be seeking out his others.

The story itself was good and compelling enough to keep me coming back. There is a plot hole or two and some devices used by the author were, I felt, over used, but it was still a fun story to enjoy.