The Color of Law: A Novel Mass Market Paperback – August 29, 2006

It is so much fun to discover a new author who shows such promise that you expect he will be writing entertaining novels for some time to come. Mark Gimenez looks as though he may fit that bill. Wisely, Giminez has chosen to write about something he knows about; i.e. the practice of law from the perspective of a member of a large Dallas law firm. A. Scott Fenney is our boy and he has ridden his reputation as a star running back at SMU and his intelligence and ambition to a partnership in one of Dalla's most successful law firms, Ford Stevens arriveing at this apex in just eleven years since joining the firm. He has a Ferrari, a 3 million dollar plus home in Highland Park, memberships in prestigious clubs in the area and a georgeous wife who is as ambitious as he is and whose main goal in life is to be chair of the Cattle Baron's Ball. His main client is a ruthless real estate developer named Tom Dibrell who is good for 3 million dollars in billings a year. A. Scott knows all the tricks of the trade on keeping Dibrill happy and the money flowing in.As the story opens, A. Scott is giving a speech to members of the Texas Bar Association in which he reminds them that everyone thinks lawyer's jokes are hilarious and challenges them to ask themselves if they as lawyers are really doing good, or are they just doing well? Are they noble guardians of the law or just greedy parasites? Are they making the world better or just themselves richer? He then thunders into a litany of how lawyers are making the world better and are fighting for justice and that hif he is elected President of the Texas Bar that he will remind people that society is better because of lawyers and that he will tell people that "he is proud - damn proud, to be a lawyer...because lawyers - do - good!" Of course he doesn't believe a word of it as is quickly revealed when he remarks to a fellow lawyer who admires his gift of oratory that "you don't get laid or elected by telling the truth."One member of his audience has been wondering about a problem during A. Scott's speech. That member is US D.Ct. Judge Samual Burford who has been wrestling with the question of who to appoint in his court to defend what may be a very high profile murder case. One in which representation of the defendant may be very difficult and unpopuar. The speech gave him his answer and soon thereafter A. Scott got a call from the judge.The case involves the murder of the son of Texas's senior US Senator, Mack McCall. Clark McCall is one of Dallas's most eligible bachelors. Rich, handsome, the Chair of a federal agency thanks to his father's influence, Clark is back in Dallas for the weekend to pursue his favorite pastimes; doing drugs and engaging a hooker. This time, his interests have resulted in his murder and a black hooker has been charged.From this beginning, we watch as A.Scott's world slowly disintegrates and what effect it has on him, his family and his ambitions. Not a new story line in writing novels, but the beauty is in how it is written and how it reads and this story will pull you along as though you were floating in a large raft on a raging river. Giminez has the gift of a geat story teller and he spreads it throughout the book.I haven't enjoyed a read of this type this much in some time and I hope you will give this new author a look. He has great promise and I for one cannot wait to see how he does with the future novels that will surely follow. If he is more than a one trick pony, we are all in for quite a treat.

This is the best legal thriller I have read this year. It is an emotional story of legal, ethical and personal dilemmas faced by a young and successful lawyer, written by someone who has been a partner in a major law firm and has run his own small business who gives an edge of real authenticity to the story.A. Scott Fenney's Mother always said that he had a gift but he didn't really understand what it was. Before bed she would read a chapter of To Kill a Mocking Bird and say `Scotty, be like Atticus. Be a lawyer. Do good.'. Scott was always a great achiever, topping class at law school with an fantastic record of success on the football field. He was recruited by a top legal firm in Dallas and soon became their youngest and most successful performer. He believed that his gift had made him rich, and had given him a beautiful wife and daughter, a million dollar house, a Ferrari and designer clothes.When he joined the the firm his boss told him "Scotty, the color of law isn't black-and-white, it's green! The rule of law is money - money rules! Money makes the law and the law protects the money! And lawyers protect the people with money!" In following this creed Scott no longer recognized the difference between making a deal and compromising his integrity. It was also very clear that the color of his law practice was also white, not black or latino.One day this was tested when a Federal Judge appointed him to defend a black hooker, Shawanda Jones, a heroin addict accused of killing the wayward son of a Federal Senator. As this was pro-bono work Scott's first reaction is to hire a cheaper defense lawyer so that he could keep up the billable hours but Shawanda was adamant during pre-trial that he should be her lawyer. She also asked him to make sure that her 9 year old daughter Pajamae living alone in a dangerous part of Dallas was kept safe during the trial. By taking the case and looking after Pajamae the color of Scott's law had changed from green to black.From then on Scott is faced with a dilemma when pressure is placed on him by powerful people to drop the case, pressure that could kill his successful career. Scott soon finds out that the the pressure isn't a game and he is forced to understand that life should really be about truth and justice, not money or power or color, and that only his real gift can save his defendant's life.Gimenez is a skilful author who gears up the tension, not only with the pressures on Scott's professional and personal life but also in how he can defend someone who looks guilty but continues to plead her innocence. It was a skilfully crafted emotional roller coaster which continued to the last page.By chance I read the sequel  Accused  first (also a great legal thriller) and I took a long time to get around to reading this book because the sequel told me a lot about what happened earlier. If you have not read any books by Mark Gimenez (now one of my favourite authors) I strongly recommend that you read this book first - you will not be disappointed.

A. Scott Fenney is a man who lives the perfect life; a rich, charismatic lawyer at the best law firm in Dallas, unbound by morality, with a trophy wife, a young daughter, a mansion in the posh part of town and a Ferrari. He has everything he wants. Until he is forced to represent a woman called Shawanda Jones, a heroine addicted prostitute accused of murdering the son of the state senator, and potentially the next president.Soon Scott’s life dives into a spiral of declining misery as the senator uses everything at his disposal - including his influence at Scott’s law firm to get Scott to throw the case - to ensure Shawanda is tried and convicted for the murder of his son.The only problem?A. Scott Fenney has grown a conscience, and he is determined to give her a fair trial and represent her to the best of his ability, even if he doesn’t believe in her claims of innocence himself.The characters were well written and interacted very well and in a believable way. You genuinely feel for A. Scott Fenney as his life is slowly ripped away from him. Scott’s character growth is intriguing too, as we see him slowly develop a conscience; questioning the lives around him as if it was his own life and the lives of his family. It is also interesting to see characters enter and leave the plot, and the effect they have on other characters.I really enjoyed the pacing of the book. I was never left getting a bit bored with one aspect of the story or another or left feeling that one part of a mystery went on for too long. It drives itself forward and you want to be along for the ride.Drawing inspiration from the classic To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Mark Gimenez manages to mix law and morality into one novel while keeping it a modern thriller in the same vein as Harlan Coben and Michael Cordy.The Colour of Law is an excellent book, and without a doubt is one of my favourite books of all time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it immensely readable. The synopsis is well covered elsewhere so I won't repeat others' work. The caustion referred to is that you will almost certainly enjoy the book enough to want to read the other two in the series. Now £4.99 for an e-book is just about acceptable, the next book is £5.99 and the last one £6.99. All for e-books with minimal or no production, distribution, delivery or bricks 'n' mortar overheads. Books furthermore that one can, at best, share with only one other person - unlike print. So a total of £18 for three kindle books, I did buy the second and now refuse to buy the third at that ridiculous price. I'm OK with teaser pricing to get people into a new author and often expect subsequent books in the series to be a little pricier but I consider these to be excessive.I have now spent £11 in total. Had the books all been priced all at £4.99 I would have spent £15. The author and Amazon have both lost revenue due to their sheer greed. I can't believe I'm the only one put off by this grasping price structure.

I bought this book a couple of months ago solely on seeing an advert in a train station (not something I normally do).Anyway, it was an enjoyable read and I ended up finishing it in a matter of a few days.It has a somewhat predictable storyline - rich son of a politician who has a tendency to beat and rape women meets his match in a poor, black, heroin addicted prostitute....ends up dead.....prostitute is charged with murder in the first.....faces a potential execution if convicted.....step in the good looking, rich corporate lawyer who up until this point never represented anyone for free...etc..etc.I've left loads of other important detail out but to cut it very short - Does the prostitute who hasn't had much of a life so far go down for the crime or does the lawyer save her from certain execution??A few nice characters plus a few not so nice ones thrown in for good measure.Overall, very entertaining and not a bad first book by this author.I'm looking forward to his next one.

I bought this book for a friend as we were going on holiday and from the minute she picked it up, she had to keep reading. Wondering what was so gripping, I read it immediately afterwards and from start to finish it was so good I couldn't put it down. To start with, the hero appears selfish but throughout the book he has to deal with his own prejudices in order to give his client a fair trial. He does this at great personal cost. The plot moves briskly and you always want to know what will happen next. When I finished this book, my only sense of disappointment was that I would have to wait this author's next book to come out. Buy it and read it, it's worth every penny!

Brilliant !!...this was my first novel written by Mark Gimenez and I now intend buying all his other novels...the story flows like a well-oiled machine and is a page-turner in every sense of the word. Move over John Grisham !One annoying FACT aimed at Amazon...the date given for the publishing of this novel is 2013 !!.....GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT AMAZON, THIS BOOK WAS PUBLISHED IN 2005 !!!!.......I have the book in front of me !!.......as I said "get your facts right!