Fatal Flaw

Ethically adventurous Philadelphia lawyer Victor Carl usually does the right thing, but often for the wrong reasons. When old law school classmate Guy Forrest is accused of murdering his beautiful lover, Hailey Prouix, in their Main Line love nest, Carl agrees to represent him -- while keeping silent about his own prior romantic involvement with the victim, and his present determination to see that his client is punished for the brutal crime. But once Carl sets the machinery of retribution in motion, it may be impossible to stop it, even after his certainty begins to crack. Now Victor Carl must race across the country to uncover shocking truths: Who, really, was Hailey Prouix? And why is a killer still waiting in her shadow?

Fortunately, William Lashner is as fine a wordsmith as he is a plotter. The settings are crisply evoked, from Philadelphia and Las Vegas to the dirt-poor Appalachians. All the characters are vivid, and a few--including the murder victim--are well-nigh unforgettable. But it's the narrative voice of Victor Carl that really carries the book. Cynical, funny, streetwise, and ethically flexible, he's an exceptionally engaging guy. And, like some of the wisecracking private eyes he resembles, he can deliver both breezy sarcasm and real emotional power. My suggestion: Reach past those other legal thrillers and put Fatal Flaw at the top of your reading list. --Nicholas H. Allison

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Another great Victor Carl adventure!!, 2007-09-28
William Lashner has become one of my favorite writers because each book is a carefully crafted piece of entertaining and mysterious fiction. Engaging, gripping, and unique, this one from Lashner is another great one. Do yourself a favor and grab anything he writes.


3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Very entertaining, 2007-04-05
Victor Carl, the most unorthodox lawyer outside of Andy Carpenter (from the Rosenfelt novels) really goes overboard in his courtroom tactics, his lawyer integrity, and his warped sense of right and wrong in this fun novel. He is summoned to the home of a man (Guy Forrest) who Victor assumes has murdered Carl's clandestine love interest who was Guy's girlfriend. Victor, in a breach of his ethical responsibility to be free from any personal prejudices with his client agrees to take the case. His first subconscious thought is to sabotage his client's defense so he receives the maximum penalty.

As things progress, Victor realizes that his client may in fact be innocent and he may have ruined his client's chance for any acquittal. With a few leads, from some objects that Victor has secretly taken from his client's home on the night of the murder, Victor tries to track down some answers that may come from a "questionable" accident that had happened many years before.

With courtroom scenes reminiscent of "My Cousin Vinny," Victor pulls off many theatrical tactics (ex. Objecting during the prosecutor's opening statements) that the judge seems to allow with not holding him in contempt. This is a very enjoyable book. I would have given it a full five stars but there was one loose end involving fingerprints that the author did not seem to tie up.



4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

fatal flaw, fatal flaw, 2006-06-13
William Lashner is an author who should never have taken that writer's workshop, never have taken that writer's workshop. He is an extremely talented author, but he has picked up some mannerisms that almost become fatal flaws, they almost become fatal flaws. For example, apparently somebody taught him to repeat for effect, for effect. I almost tossed the book aside, because the characters are not very appealing people, no not even the main character. Later I was glad I didn't, because once Lashner got into the story-telling and forgot what he learned in the writer's workshop, it really took off and was very good.

So grit your teeth and struggle through the beginning, because it gets much better. Much better.


0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

One of the best legal thrillers I've ever read. , 2006-02-27
A morally dubious attorney, Victor Carl finds his friend, Guy Forrest, naked on the steps outside of his home. Crying, Guy tells him that Haley Prouix has been murdered upstairs. The Police think Guy killed Haley, and Carl agrees to defend Guy in court, but Carl doesn't tell him that he was having an affair with Haley. In love with Haley, Carl's convinced that Guy killed her, and he's ready to make sure he pays. But as the facts of Haley's past come to light, questions arise. For instance, just how well can you really know a woman? The ending does not disappoint.


3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Fatal Flaw, 2005-10-22
A love triangle of the most extreme kind. Main character, Victor Carl, is a lawyer from Philadelphia. When a former classmate and fellow lawyer, Guy Forrest, is accused of murdering his lover, Hailey Prouix, Victor comes to the rescue. The only problem is Guy's lover was Victor's lover too! So instead of just defending his client, he is trying to find the murderer to his secret girlfriend while trying to keep the affair quiet. Victor's quest for the truth leads him back into Hailey's childhood. On the way, he gets ran off the road by a shady figure, meets her former boyfriend, meets her uncle in the fancy nursing home, then uncovers the mysterious death of her old friend Jesse Sterrett in the rock quarry. All of this leading up to the trial and uncovering the true mastermind behind the scenes.

The author, William Lashner, has become a well-recognized lawyer novelist. He has written books such as "Past Due," "The Hostile Witness," and "Bitter Truth." "Fatal Flaw" was published in 2003. William Lashner graduated from Swarthmore College and Iowa Writer's Workshop. He was a criminal prosecutor with the United States Department of Justice. He also lives in Philadelphia with his family.

I thought this novel was OK. It started out well enough, but it began to slow down three-fourths of the way through. I found the novel a little wordy especially when describing the scenery, which made it harder for me to want to read it. Although, the book is very realistic and is well written, the plot is just too slow for my tastes. The novel has potential to be an enjoyable for someone who really likes lawyer novels, or just likes intelligent mystery novels.

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