David Adams is flush with his Stanford Law diploma and
accepts a job back in his home state with an upscale Austin corporate law firm.
His goal is simple: make a lot of money. His history includes a period of time
living homeless in a camper with his mom and older sister. After his mom dies while he was in
high school, he started making some bad choices until in older sister brought
him back in line. A knee injury cut short his college QB aspirations, so he
pours his efforts into school, gets accepted by Stanford where he graduates in
the Top 10.
When he arrives in Austin, he keeps up the work effort setting
records for billable hours, but a slightly older version of himself advises him
to be careful with his workload and lust for money. David thinks it’s just alcohol
talking and drives him home. The next day, the firm is stunned to find out that
guy committed suicide. Sad news, but David carries one and a random pool game
results in a hot young thing taking a liking to David and shows him how to look
and act now that he is on the rise.
Taking a shortcut walk home late one night, David is mugged
in an alley only to be saved by a homeless guy named Benny. The mugger beats up
on Benny, and in a fit of guilt and some humanity, David takes Benny to David’s
apartment and cleans him up. Benny is grateful for David’s hospitality and
invites David to the encampment where Benny lives and David is rapidly
accepted by the ‘residents’ of the camp.
The suicide of the associate spooks David and a couple of odd
coincidences make David think one of the senior partners may be connected. A
few months later, Benny is found dead from a gunshot in a forgotten alley and
one of the members of The Camp is arrested. As David takes up the case, the senior
partner goes ballistic to straighten David out. Obviously, something ain’t
right.
A newly accredited lawyer who pulled himself up from lowly
beginnings takes a job at a high-powered law firm only to find they’ve got
something to hide. Sound familiar? The main difference between this and many
other legal thrillers is that David’s humanity is directed to the Austin homeless
population, which is apparently where Zunker has become a strong advocate.
While the story is not autobiographical, Zunker has drawn much from his own
experience to pen this book.
It’s short, only about 200 pages, and is easily read on a
travel day. The tale unfolds rapidly with enough twists to keep you interested.
But it’s lack of depth to the backstory was, for me, a disappointment. It’s a
good story, just not a lot of meat to it. Think of it as a lighter variation on
The Firm.
Publication date: 1 NOV 2019
ECD
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