Anthony Franze

When I learned that Alex Finlay, one of my go-to authors, also writes under the pen name Anthony Franze, I read the Franze novel, THE OUTSIDER, to find out why. Is there a difference between Franze and Finlay novels?

The obvious difference I see in THE OUTSIDER is the subject matter. Here the concentration is on the lives of lawyers and judges and their work (and escapades).

Grayson is a young lawyer who grew up in a rough neighborhood and did not graduate from an Ivy League school. But he got his foot in the door of the Supreme Court of the United States by working there as a messenger. He really wanted to be a law clerk.

That happens when Grayson interrupts a mugging of the chief justice of the Supreme Court. Now he is a law clerk. But he soon finds that the FBI is investigating whether the mugging is somehow related to other crimes that were all committed on the fifth of the month. And, of course, he gets himself involved.

The subsequent mysteries are convoluted and not predictable. This Franze thriller is every bit as good as a Finlay thriller.

Don't forget to read the author's "About Authenticity" after the story ends. You might even want to read it first.… (más)

This is the second legal thriller by Appellate and Supreme Court lawyer Anthony Franze. He puts his professional insights into, and experience with, the Supreme Court into his thrillers, of which there have been three so far. I read the third one, The Outsider, first, and enjoyed it enough that I wanted to go back to his other books.

In this story, Sean Serrat, formerly of the Office of Solicitor General, is on the shortlist to be the next Supreme Court nominee. But Sean’s life is upended when his daughter Abby, a law school student, is found dead in the Supreme Court library, having been brutally murdered. Her boyfriend, Malik Montgomery, is arrested. Malik is a clerk at the Supreme Court and happens to be black (Abby is white), adding racial complications to the case. Although a number of circumstances point to Malik’s guilt, there are just as many that imply Malik was set up. But by whom, and why Abby? Sean can’t escape the feeling that somehow, it has to do with him.

Meanwhile, Sean’s teenaged son Ryan thinks he caused Abby’s death, since Abby was trying to help him get out of a sticky and dangerous situation he wanted to keep his parents from knowing about.

Sean tries to investigate what happened on his own, inadvertently putting the whole family at risk.

Discussion: Franze contributes some of the history of the Supreme Court and of famous cases into his narrative, adding a lot of interest. He also explains a lot about the vetting process for selecting new justices, which is quite fascinating. But some of the villains seem cardboard-ish. The family dynamics, on the other hand, showing how Sean, his wife, and his remaining two children cope with the death of Abby, are quite well done, and there is a good build-up of suspense in the story.… (más)