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Primal Fear por William Diehl
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Primal Fear (1993)

por William Diehl (Autor)

Series: Martin Vail (1)

MiembrosReseñasPopularidadValoración promediaMenciones
9251422,706 (3.98)19
"Spine-tingling...Mr. Diehl can sustain suspense." THE NEW YORKTIMES Martin Vail, the brilliant "bad-boy" lawyer every prosecutor and politician love to hate, is defending Aaron Stampler, a man found holding a bloody butcher's knife near a murdered archbishop. Vail is certain to lose, but Vail uses his unorthodox ways to good advantage when choosing his legal team--a tight group of men and women who must uncover the extraordinary truth behind the archbishop's slaughter. They do, in a heart-stopping climax unparalleled for the surprise it springs on the reader...… (más)
Miembro:burritapal
Título:Primal Fear
Autores:William Diehl (Autor)
Información:Ballantine Books
Colecciones:Tu biblioteca, Actualmente leyendo
Valoración:****
Etiquetas:Ninguno

Información de la obra

Instinto asesino por William DIEHL (1993)

  1. 20
    Shutter Island por Dennis Lehane (ACannon92)
    ACannon92: Similar themes dealing with insanity
  2. 11
    Los hombres que no amaban a las mujeres por Stieg Larsson (ACannon92)
    ACannon92: Similar Themes, Well-Written
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» Ver también 19 menciones

Mostrando 1-5 de 14 (siguiente | mostrar todos)
courtroom. Martin Vail. Good right to last sentence.
  derailer | Jan 25, 2024 |
It would have been 5 stars but for the unnecessary sex scenes.
The judge trying the court case of Aaron Stampler is categorized this way by the retired judge that Vail has on his payroll as a consultant:
1993 Paperback, Random House
P.100:
" 'I'm sure you'll give shoat something to Stew about,' the judge had said. Then he'd laughed. He harbored little respect for Hangin' Harry Shoat, considering him a cold-blooded politician in a job that called for compassion, understanding and empathy. The judge believed one should be a statesman of the law, not its executioner."

The psychologist that vail hires to analyze stampler says:
P.116:
" 'that's how you see your clients, as human sacrifices?'
'Molly, I know the law very well. I'm damn good at this, but I'm also pragmatic as hell.'
'and aggressive...'
'Absolutely.'
'Single-minded..'
'I call it focused.'
'cynical...'
'That's absolutely essential. Don't believe anyone, don't believe anything. Don't believe what you see, what you hear, what you read. And for God's sake, don't trust a soul.' "
(I would agree, Martin vail.)

Driving to daisyland, Illinois state's mental institution to meet an interview Aaron stampler for the first time, Molly arrington muses on the patients dwelling within:
P.138:
"For a time she had experimented with hallucinogenics, hoping to pierce the shroud and enter those forbidden and camouflaged precincts, but to no avail. She had even once tried electric shock therapy in order to understand its effect on the human mind, but the fear was so literal, so massive and overwhelming, that she forbade her own patients from submitting to the treatment. Because the disorders that crippled the mind were so inexorably linked to suffering, pain in any form became unacceptable to her. Ultimately her experiments had side effects. She had created her own singular Cosmos where pain and pleasure were so closely fused that one begot the other, and because pleasure and pain were twins, she avoided both, rejecting even the Ecstasy of orgasm as an unfair prize in the delicate struggle between joy and sorrow. she became a daring innovator who took copious notes on her own experiences, for she was well aware that negotiating the rim of that abyss was a perilous inquest. She carefully cataloged her own neuroses, knowing full well that a misstep could plunge her over the side into her own unmapped and perhaps inescapable nether world. The clues she left behind might help one of her peers lure her back to reality. And so she approached each new patient with both exhilaration and apprehension, wondering how close the next journey would take her to the edge."

What a shock when readers find out that the murder victim, the "saint of lakeside drive", Bishop rushmore, turned out to be a pedophilic pervert.
P.178:
" 'I'll tell you what I do know. I know your name's Alex and I know I got one of your earrings and I'm about to take the other one.'
he pulled on the earring and Robin's ear lobe stretched a half inch. The kids screamed.
'Don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me,' he begged.
'Then get level with me.'
'He had some books... '
goodman pulled harder.
'Ow! God, Please, man.. '
'one more lie and I take off the ear.'
'it was a television tape!' he cried.
'Of what?'
'you don't know?'
'just answer my question, what was on the tape?'
'it was a show!'
'what kind of show?'
'altar boy shut.'
'What do you mean, altar boys shit?'
'you really don't know, do you?'
Goodman leaned very close to him, pulled hard on the earring and held it. The boy writhed with pain. 'You got one more answer, alex.'
'Porn,' he yelled.
Goodman snapped back with surprise. He eased off the ear slightly. 'Porn?' He said.
'Yeah. A fuck tape.'

Judge shaughnessy, the judge who forced Martin Vail to take Aaron stampler's case pro bono, tells Vail:
P.210:
" 'white-collar crime has always been dealt with as a kind of popular law. Look, eight, 9 years ago, the supreme Court legalized abortion. The law changed. But Mark my words, in a few years it'll swing the other way. God knows what the country'll be like after reagan. A lot of laws can change once that bunch gets in office.'
'what's your point?'
'my point is that judges interpret the law. They also swing with the mood of the country. Malam prohibitum laws are the way society defines behavior. So if everybody in the country wants to drink booze and booze is against the law, the law gets changed. But malum in se never changes. If everybody in the country suddenly went kill-crazy, they wouldn't legalize murder.'
'so a banker or a stockbroker screws a lot of people out of their savings, the judge slaps his wrist because he wears the right color tie and gives him 6 months in some country club prison. That's malum prohibitum. On the way out of the courtroom some poor slob goes ballistic because his life savings have been wiped out, blows away the banker, and ends up doing hard time life because he is offense is malum in se.' "
And here it is 2021 and William diehl was right about the abortion laws.

Molly arrington, after videotaping Aaron in an episode where "Roy" comes out, explains about it, in the end of the video, to Martin Vail. but I'm not sure I agree with her when the author has her say that "sexually and religiously disoriented" are the two main causes of mental illness. This was written in the '80s. I wonder if the author meant the causes of schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder?
P.241:
" 'it's easy to understand how this could have happened, considering what we know about Aaron's childhood and his teen years here. There are strong possibilities that he has been abused, sexually, physically and mentally, and that he could be sexually and religiously disoriented dash which are the two main causes of mental illness.' "

Leading up to the case, Vail practices, in his house, with Molly arrington, what it might be like as the prosecutor questions her on the stand:
P.261:
" 'okay, you're on the witness stand,' he said. 'How would you explain all this to 12 layman?'
'I would tell them that the mind is a marvelous instrument consisting of three parts, like three boxes. The first box is the ego, which contains conscious, everyday thoughts and learned responses, all the things that permit us to perform normally -- everything from cooking eggs to arguing a case in court to sweeping the floor. Second, there's the superego. Also conscious. This is where our values are stored. Ideals, imagination, integrity. Consequently, it also controls our morals. It prohibits certain acts -- like lying, for an instance -- and punishes with guilt feelings if we commit them.'
'your conscience?' vail asked.
'Yes, that's a reasonable analogy,' she said. 'Finally, there's the id, the subconscious. It contains our basic instincts, but it's also where all our repressions are stored. All our suppressed desires lurk in the id. Finally there are two basic drives, aggression, which prompts most behavior patterns, and the libido, which is the sexual drive.' "

Now Vail does a videotaped run-through of what the court session might be like, him being the defense lawyer, and her his witness, questioning her about multiple personality disorder. Once again, I disagree with the author. Nobody becomes "dysfunctional" without sex. On the contrary, once you get it out of your system, you become your own best friend.
P.296-7:
"vail: this is not unique, then?
Molly: well, every case is unique, but the disease is not uncommon. Since 1974 at least 11 investigation teams throughout the world have reported clinical or research experience with 10 or more multiple personality disordered patients each. That's 110 documented cases that we know about in the past 6 years.
Vail: do these other personalities differ only in attitude? By that I mean, are they all just like the host?
Molly: on the contrary. Sometimes an alternate personality can be a different sex, even a child or an old man. I have seen cases in which the alternate speaks a different language than the host, has a talent -- painting, for instance -- which cannot be attributed to the host. In fact, the multiple personalities are usually very unalike.
Vail: are there any specific causes of these disorders?
Molly: about 60% of all mental disorders are caused by either sexual or religious disorientation.
Vail: by 'disorientation' you mean..?
Molly: mixed signals, mixed information, usually from parents or mentors.
Vail: are Aaron stampler's problems sexually or religiously oriented?
Molly: both. The libido -- the sex drive -- is as relentless as the drive for food or water. But you die without food and water, and without sex all you do is become dysfunctional. Sex has become the moral battleground for Christian ethics and at the same time it has become a major cause of mental disorders."

Lieutenant's Stenner, the detective in charge of the case, is questioned by vail on the stand. The origin of his religious faith is put to the test, because Vail has noted that's Stenner does not believe in the fugue State brought on by a multiple personality disorder:
P.352:
" 'are you a christian, lieutenant?'
'Yes.'
'Go to church every sunday?'
'yes.'
'do you believe in the resurrection?'
'yes I do.'
'is the resurrection a matter of fact or a theory?'
'objection, your honor. Lieutenants Stenner's religious beliefs have nothing to do with this case.'
'on the contrary, your honor. If I may proceed, I think I can show the relevance.' 'Overruled'. . .
'lieutenant?'
'it is a matter of faith, sir.'
'So you believe in scientific fact and you believe in religious faith, but you question the scientific reality of a psychiatric disorder which all psychologists agree exist and which is included in dsm3, which is the standard by which all psychiatric disturbances are identified, isn't that a fact, sir?'
'It can be faked, you can't fake 2 2, but you could sure fake a fugue state.'
'I see. And how many people do you know for a certainty have faked a fugue state?'
Stenner paused for a moment, then said. 'None.'
'How many people do you know who have had experiences with faked fugue states?'
'none.'
'Read a lot of examples of faking a fugue state?'
'No.'
'So you're guessing, Right?' "

As other readers have noted, this has an overwhelmingly surprising ending. I'll go further than that: it was super creepy, scary, and terrifyingly surprising. Since I had read others remarking on the surprise ending throughout the book, I kept trying to imagine what it could be, without peeking.
( )
  burritapal | Oct 23, 2022 |
"He's probably thinking that when the jury returns he'll own a small piece of the real Estate he's looking down at, a hunk of the city which for a year now he has casually stomped into dust".

Primal Fear (Vail/Stampler, #1)
by William Diehl

It doesn't really get any better then this for thrillers.

So if you don't know this book was also a movie and it is the movie that made Edward Norton a star. And no wonder! I still am electrified by that last scene in the film.

The book and the movie are really pretty much the same. No major changes here. Although I preferred the movie, the book is still great and can make it's own intense impact.

END SPOILERS:

One of the best twists in History! It gets five stars for that alone! ( )
  Thebeautifulsea | Aug 5, 2022 |
Martin Vail, is defending Aaron Stampler, a young man found in a confessional booth, holding a knife, assumed to have been used in the murdered of archbishop Rushman.
A very enjoyable and interesting read ( )
  Vesper1931 | Jul 29, 2021 |
4.5 stars

This review can also be found on my blog https://pagesflyingfree.wordpress.com

Martin Vail is the attorney prosecutors hate and the accused love. On the heels of another win in court, Vail is handed the pro bono case of Aaron Stampler, the young man accused of murdering the city’s archbishop, who is called the “Saint of Lakeview Drive.” The evidence is stacked against Aaron and Vail is guaranteed a lose. However, that doesn’t stop Vail from dedicating all of his resources to this case. As he and his team get to work, his psychologist makes an astounding discovery: Aaron Stampler has Multiple Personality Disorder. With a surprising avalanche of new information about Aaron and the archbishop coming to light, Vail may not be facing a total loss after all.

Primal Fear is a well-crafted story that flows from beginning to end, never meandering or deviating. Tightly written, it focuses on the story it is telling. Little by little, revelations about Aaron and the archbishop and the murder itself are made in a logical progression, each piece tying together with those that came before, letting the tale unfold naturally. There are twists and turns that make the story interesting, compelling the reader to go a little further, but not enough to be confusing or lose sight of the overarching story. Primal Fear, though, did not become especially compelling to me until the idea of multiple personalities came into play. With a background in clinical psychology, I was particularly interested to see how it played out and what impact it would have on the trial. I greatly enjoyed this twist and the portrayal of Multiple Personality Disorder had an authentic ring to it, despite the fact that the existence of this disorder is questionable. Ultimately, the idea of MPD offered a truly unsettling and thought provoking and to an already complex story and individual.

The story Primal Fear tells is helped along by the thoughtfully created characters that tell it. Who they were, what they did, and how they ended up there fit nicely. Though some of the backstories ran a little long and sometimes felt a little convoluted, it helped flesh out each character and gave them a unique personality and place in the story. Despite a large cast, each character, including those that we only meet once, was thoughtfully created to be an individual who had something to offer to help drive the story forward. Of note, I found Aaron to be particularly well-crafted, especially when the second personality came to light. The personalities were distinct and Diehl did a great job of exploring this virtually non-existent disorder, making Aaron, whose perspective we never get, extraordinarily complex with a mind and motivations we cannot even begin to comprehend.

Though Primal Fear is told by several characters, my one complaint is we never hear from Aaron himself. Instead of getting the story through one character, we get it from those that witness each new fact and take that comes to light. We get to experience the action and the reaction of the character experiencing it along with them instead of getting it all secondhand. While some parts are told this way, the reader, for the most part, gets to experience the story as it unfolds, leaving some space for us to make sense of it before Vail gets his hands on it. It helps give Aaron and the archbishop complexity and depth even as they are the only ones we never hear from, the latter being, understandably, dead. While I would have loved to get into Aaron’s mind, it makes sense that this would be impossible. The story would be very different and the end wouldn’t be as haunting. Still, I am very intrigued by what was going through his mind and how he experienced the story Diehl told.

Diehl’s writing style was a good complement to the story he told. A psychological thriller that delves into human nature and motivation, it called for a sort of suspenseful writing that both told a story and left the reader pondering. The writing was down to Earth, gritty without any niceties. The dialogue was believable and matched the character speaking. Though I had some difficulty getting into the first quarter of the story, due to slow setup and multiple introductions, it was worth it to keep going. I did note some missing words and grammatical mistakes, but, considering I was reading the Kindle version, the conversion to ebook might not have been perfect.

Bottom line: an overall excellent psychological thriller exploring crime, human nature, and Multiple Personality Disorder (I admit the last was what really hooked me) with an intriguing story and great writing, despite some scenes that were a little too unsettling for my tastes. ( )
  The_Lily_Cafe | Jun 28, 2020 |
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There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.
Montesquieu, 1742
Dedicatoria
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés. Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
This book is for
my children, my grandchildren,
and their husbands and wives
Cathy, John, Katie, Emily, and Chelsea
Bil and Lori
Stan, Yvonne, Nicholas and Jason
and Temple
And always for
Virginia
Primeras palabras
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February 26, 1983

When Archbishop Richard Rushman, known to Catholic, Protestant and Jew alike as "the Saint of Lakeview Drive" because of his great charitable works, stepped out of the shower, he had less than ten minutes to live.
Citas
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Er bestaat geen wreder tirannie dan die welke bedreven wordt onder het schild van de wet en in naam van het recht. (Montesquieu, 1742)
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"Spine-tingling...Mr. Diehl can sustain suspense." THE NEW YORKTIMES Martin Vail, the brilliant "bad-boy" lawyer every prosecutor and politician love to hate, is defending Aaron Stampler, a man found holding a bloody butcher's knife near a murdered archbishop. Vail is certain to lose, but Vail uses his unorthodox ways to good advantage when choosing his legal team--a tight group of men and women who must uncover the extraordinary truth behind the archbishop's slaughter. They do, in a heart-stopping climax unparalleled for the surprise it springs on the reader...

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