The president's lawyer A novel

Picturing a former U.S. president sitting in a courtroom on trial is not the stretch of the imagination it once was, but in Robbins' debut legal thriller, the scenario sharpens when Jack Cutler is accused of murdering his lover, White House counsel Amanda Harper. Since the trial will expose his unsavory penchant for violent and kinky sex, facts Cutler wants kept under wraps, at best, or at least handled deferentially, Cutler chooses his lifelong best friend and acclaimed DC attorney Rob Jacobson to represent him. Jacobson, however, is loathe to accept the case. Not only does their deep friendship present an obvious conflict of interest, but Jacobson was also romantically involved with the victim. Through the investigation leading up to the trial and during the intense cross-examination of witnesses, the complexity of this unorthodox client-attorney relationship is revealed in tantalizing and staggering ways. Robbins' expertise as a high-profile trial litigator is on full display in this tautly constructed novel that exposes the slippery confluence of evidentiary facts and emotional trauma.

Attorney Robbins debuts with a taut legal thriller that recalls the work of Scott Turow and John Grisham. Criminal defense attorney Rob Jacobson is offered the "case of the century" when his former mistress, White House lawyer Amanda Harper, is murdered, and President Jack Sherman Cutler--Rob's lifelong friend--is charged with the crime. Though Rob has spent a lifetime in Jack's shadow, including as the victim of his teenage cruelty, he fervently believes in Jack's innocence. Other suspects abound, including Rob's schizophrenic son, Amanda's drug dealer, and former first lady Jessica Friedland (another of Rob's old flames). Initially, Rob exploits those possibilities to sow reasonable doubt, but when the jury hears about Cutler's depraved sexual kinks and his closest ally testifies against him, the case against the president starts to look like a slam dunk. Robbins falls victim to some clumsy pacing and a smattering of legal thriller clichés, but his courtroom scenes crackle with authenticity, and the climactic reveal is sensational. Despite a few missteps, the verdict comes down decisively in Robbins's favor. Agent: Lane Zachary and Max Moorhead, McQuilkin Massie. (Oct.)