Arthur Raven
Created by Scott Turow

If you ask me, the best legal thriller writer around (or at least my favourite) is Scott Turow, whose Presumed Innocent kicked off the whole fad. Oh, sure, John Grisham ships more units and gets most of the press and media attention, but Turow is simply the better writer. And Turow writes legal thrillers; not thrillers that happen to have lawyers in them. His novels revolve around points of law as much as they do around his rich, complex, invariably damaged characters.

In Reversible Errors, we meet ARTHUR RAVEN, a lonely, disillusioned middled-aged corporate lawyer from the Chicago burbs who has more than his share of personal problems, including a schizophrenic sister for whom he is responsible. And then he gets saddled by the court with the task of handling the last-minute appeal of quasi-retarded death-row inmate Rommy "Squirrel" Gandolph.

But it turns out Arthur has some fire in his belly and some ideals left after all, not to mention more than a few investigative chops of his own, doggedly pursuing new evidence that might spring his client, and taking on a fiery district attorney and her cop boyfriend, whose testimony helped put Squirrel away in the first place.

In May 2004, CBS aired a mini-series based on the novel, starring the great William H. Macy as Arthur, and co-starring Tom Selleck, Monica Potter and Macy's real-life wife, Felicity Huffman. As an added bonus, the teleplay was by Alan Sharp, the man who wrote Night Moves, one of my all-time favourite P.I. flicks. Suffice it to say I'm looking forward to this one.

One thing I've always admired about Scott Turow is that he doesn't just talk the talk -- in real life, he continues to practise, and currently specializes in death penalty cases. In fact, he's written a non-fiction book on the subject entitled Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer's Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty.

UNDER OATH

• "Scott Turow's masterful characterization of complex and multi-dimensional people catalyzed by events into searching reexamination of their own motives and ambitions is matched by the intricacies of his plot, which itself is well served by his insider's knowledge of the criminal justice system and his extraordinary understanding of the vagaries of the human heart. The prose is luminescent, the narrative compelling, and the moral implications of Arthur's personal and professional choices beautifully articulated. This is a tour de force for a novelist writing at the top of his game."
  (Jane Adams)

NOVELS

• Reversible Errors (2002)..Buy this book

TELEVISION

• REVERSIBLE ERRORS..Buy this book
  (2004, CBS)
  4-hour mini-series
  Based on the novel by Scott Turow
  Teleplay by Alan Sharp
  Directed by Mike Robe
  Produced by Peter Sadowski, Randy Sutter
  Co-producer: Ted Babcock
  Executive producers: Mike Robe, Robert M. Sertner, Frank von Zerneck
  Starring William H. Macy as ARTHUR RAVEN
  Also starring Tom Selleck, Monica Potter, Felicity Huffman, Nigel Bennett, Ron Canada, Eugene Clark, Stephen Coats, Christina Collins, John Dunsworth, Brian Heighton, Martha Irving, Yanna McIntosh, Gerry Mendicino, Shemar Moore, Frank Nakashima, Glenn Plummer, James Rebhorn, Nancy Regan, Shawn Tanaka

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING

• Ultimate Punishment : A Lawyer's Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty (2003) ..Buy this book

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.