The Best People
A Tale of Trials and Errors
by Marc Grossberg
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Pub Date Oct 08 2019 | Archive Date Nov 03 2019
Greenleaf Book Group | Greenleaf Book Group Press
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Description
Paddy Moran, a former cop from Brooklyn, is a newly licensed attorney in Houston with dreams and aspirations to make it big. He survives early rough bumps and ethical challenges. Then, through networking, he lands two high-profile clients. With his brash moxie and brilliant legal strategy, he gets outstanding outcomes that put him on the success trajectory to the upper echelons of the city's divorce bar. But, faced with difficult choices in high-stakes litigation, will he balance his thirst for recognition and respect with his sense of right and wrong?
The Best People also follows Pilar Galt, a sensuous, intelligent single mother from the Houston barrios, for whom a temp assignment evolves into a relationship with the richest man in town. Her path intersects with Paddy's and eventually converges with his during a pivotal time in her life when she must overcome self-destructive tendencies to survive.
A legal drama and social satire set after Enron and before the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, The Best People portrays a Houston as it is: a glitzy meritocracy populated with larger-than-life characters. It is the landscape where the country-club and café-society sets clash amidst clever legal maneuvering, big law firm politics, a Ponzi scheme, and judicial corruption.
Advance Praise
"Marc Grossberg has the experience and the smarts to make Houston come alive on the page. The Best People will even take lifelong Houstonians to places they've never been. As they say in Houston, if it ain't true, it oughta be." --Mimi Swartz, Executive Editor of Texas Monthly, two-time National Magazine Award winner, author of Ticker, New York Times contributing op-ed writer
"Not in many years has Houston been so vivid a character in a novel about third-coast justice. The high stakes conflict of money and power are anything but a backdrop to Brooklyn cop turned divorce lawyer Paddy Moran's journey through the steamy bayous, bedrooms, and courtrooms of the biggest small town in Texas. They are both the prize and the cost for the human characters so brilliantly developed in Marc Grossberg's debut novel The Best People."
--Kim Ogg, Harris County District Attorney
"I fell in love with Paddy as he was transformed from a rough-and-ready New York cop into a suave Houston socialite and successful lawyer and followed him though his triumphs and tribulations. Pilar is another memorable character whose beauty and strength are marvelously portrayed. The Best People is a fast-paced, well-written story, and I could not put the book down."
--Bapsi Sidhwa, author of Cracking India (made into the feature film Earth) and The Crow Eaters
"It's a real lawyer story. A real Houston story. A really great story well told. Grossberg nailed it!"
--Steve Susman, Founder and Managing Partner at Susman Godfrey LLP and internationally acclaimed trial lawyer
"A realistic and entertaining read about Paddy Moran, a young personal injury and divorce lawyer, who learns his trade in Houston and blunders into some shady stuff. As his dreams get bigger, his crimes grow darker. Attorney Marc Grossberg knows his way around the courtroom, and his intricate plot is sure to surprise. The Best People is also a paean to Houston. 'This may be the fourth largest city in the United States, but everyone knows everyone here. It's a bad place to fall, ' Grossberg writes. Amen."
--Andrea White, best-selling author of Surviving Minimized and former editorial page writer for the Houston Chronicle
Marketing Plan
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Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781626346550 |
| PRICE | $23.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 432 |
Featured Reviews
Paul V, Reviewer
An interesting and well-executed premise. This is probably one of the better mysteries I've this year. It kept me engaged with plot twists, great characters, and good dialog (a few funny parts as well). Recommended. 4.5 stars.
I really appreciate the advanced copy for review!!
Stephani B, Reviewer
Hooray for more legal fiction! It has become one of my favorite genre’s (I should have become a lawyer) anytime I see a chance to read a legal thriller or legal drama, I am right on it. When the opportunity came to pick this one up, I knew I had to and I loved every minute of it.
This is a story that takes place in Houston, Texas where we meet Paddy Moran, a former cop in Brooklyn that just passed the bar and ready to start practicing law. He always wanted to be “the lawyer” that everyone goes to when they need a divorce and it isn’t long until that happens. We also meet Pilar who I didn’t particularly care for but she does have an interesting story that does add a bit of flair and intensity to the story line.
This story is really navigating the choices made of good, bad and the ugly and the consequences from those certain choices made in the world of the rich and the famous. It was well written and addicting from beginning to end. Fascinating really how the author wrapped up all the issues into one at the end which was tied up nicely.
As a debut novel, Marc Grossberg did a captivating job with making this such a thought-provoking story and making the reader realize what could be wrong or right in the legal world. I definitely recommend this book to those who love this genre and also those who watched the show ‘Suits’ as it had a very similar vibe.
Lisa G, Reviewer
This was an entertaining legal drama. It was well written and I love the characters. The writing was very atmospheric and I enjoyed reading about the city of Houston
Many thanks to Greenleaf Book Group and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.
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