The Judgement

THE JUDGMENT By D. W. Buffa
Joseph Antonelli Series No. 3
Warner Books - May 2001
ISBN: 0446527378 - Hardback
Contemporary Thriller
Location: Portland, OR

Reviewed by Beverly Rowe, MyShelf.com
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Buffa writes with sophistication and panache. This story starts at a leisurely pace, gradually pulls you into the plot and won't let go. It is a brilliant revenge novel by a master storyteller that will keep you guessing until the end.

When the intellectually acute but detested Judge Calvin Jeffries is murdered, the culprit is caught, confesses, and promptly commits suicide. The case is closed with no loose ends...or are there? The man who succeeds him as judge is killed in exactly the same way, in the same place a short time later. It looks like a copycat murder.

When the perpetrator is apprehended, it turns out to be a mentally handicapped, homeless man who doesn't even know his own name. Attorney Joseph Antonelli agrees to defend him, but when he begins to unravel the leads to the real killer, he discovers the trail to a diabolic plan that seems to be the perfect crime.

This is Buffa's third novel; it is a masterpiece of action and courtroom drama, with fully developed, likable characters and an intricate plot. Buffa definitely knows his way around the courtroom scene. After reading this novel I am eager to find THE PROSECUTION and THE DEFENSE