Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Book Review - A Conflict of Interest


A Conflict of Interest

By: Adam Mitzner
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publishing Date: May 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4391-9643-4
Reviewed By: Mary Lignor
Review Date: March 2012

This offering is a novel that will keep you interested by a fairly new author who really knows his subject.

The story begins in Florida, where Alex Miller, a Criminal Defense Attorney has travelled, to attend the funeral of his father. Alex meets an old friend of his father’s, Michael Ohlig, who now runs a brokerage firm in Florida and is about to be investigated by the Government for his business practices. After speaking to Ohlig, Alex decides to represent him in court, if it should go that far.

This case is about a ruthless scam that has cost Ohlig's investors millions of dollars and this defendant is so self absorbed that he firmly believes he is innocent. The man is extremely slippery in his dealings with others, most especially his lawyers. Alex prefers to think that his client is innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately, the rest of the legal eagles on the defense team are a bit more cynical, including a beautiful and very smart lady lawyer, who is a close colleague of Alex’s. This is not your usual securities fraud case (like the movie Wall Street). The lawyers work to free Ohlig and when the case is finished, Alex gets some very bad news. His mother has died mysteriously and he is thrown back into ‘investigative mode’ of a whole different kind.

It seems that the ever present Michael Ohlig is somehow involved in the case of Alex’s mother’s death and a different court case comes into the foreground blaming Ohlig for murder. This brings the reader into one of the most attention-getting conclusions this reviewer has ever read. While reading this book, it was almost impossible to believe that this was a first attempt by this author. It is a definite keeper and readers will look forward to the next Mitzner book with anticipation.

Quill Says: This novel will not let the reader rest. As soon as one problem is settled another will pop up with gusto. As they say in The Godfather, “Every time I get out they pull me back in!” This is very true of this book.

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