
The
Fifth Witness
Published: April
2011,
Little Brown and
Company
Formats: Hardback,
Audio
CD,
Kindle
Hardback:
ISBD-13: 978-0316069359
Pages: 416
Plot:
In tough times, crime is one of the few things that still pays, but if
defense attorney Mickey Haller was expecting an uptick in business
during the economic downturn, the reality is a different story. Even
people needing legal representation to keep them out of jail are having
to make cutbacks, it seems. In fact, the most significant part of
Mickey's business right now is not about keeping clients out of jail
but about keeping a roof over their heads, as the foreclosure boom hits
thousands of people who were granted unrealistic mortgages in the good
times and now face being kicked to the curb in the bad times.
Lisa Trammel has been a client of Mickey's for eight months —
his very first foreclosure case, in fact — and although so
far he's managed to stop the bank from taking her house, the strain and
sense of injustice have taken a toll. The bank recently got a
restraining order to prevent her from protesting against their
practices. Now, a high level bank employee, Mitchell Bondurant, has
been found dead in the bank's parking lot and Lisa is about to be
indicted for murder.
For Mickey, it's back to what he does best on the biggest stage of all,
but if he thought defending Lisa Trammel was going to be a walk in the
park, he'd be wrong. Not only is he about to learn some startling
truths about his client, but also about himself, and by the time the
verdict is in, Mickey's whole world will have been turned upside down.