Cash Call

The latest in the mystery series starring lawyer Stan Turner. Manchee, a lawyer, pulls out the stops and it's all go as Turner and his wife Rebekah get involved with friends who are in great trouble with impending bankruptcy. Turner is involved in a spiral of hounding creditors, arrests, murder, diamonds, gangsters, and a pell-mell pace that holds readers glued to the pages. All sorts of interesting California episodes are here-the Rendevous Club and lap dancing, a Peruvian pottery that is supposed to contain diamonds but doesn't, the business of lawyering by a lawyer who is always struggling with clients' payments, the lives of his four growing children, the IRS, interviews with police-and engrossing attorney procedures, in court, in documents, which Manchee knows so well. An old romantic interest complicates matters and creates problems between Turner and his wife. The action moves forward at a brisk pace with surprising (and ingenious) plot twists, and this deeply felt book may be Manchee's best work to date. The extraordinary and ordinary: "Feeling a little better with one more problem resolved, I went home early and took the family to dinner. It was Thursday, our bowling night..." Manchee writes a very realistic prose, exact, viewing the sharp edges of reality wisely, and he also gives us glimpses beneath the surface, wondering, sympathizing, fearing. There are a special power and grace here, about family, friends, death, and all the ties that bind one into a non-stop chase to unwrap puzzle within a puzzle.

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