In The Presence Of Enemies - Softcover

William J. Coughlin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330308203 ISBN 13: 9780330308205

Publisher: Pan Books, 1990

Synopsis

In the trial to decide many futures, can Jake survive?

It’s been five years since hardworking lawyer Jake Martin started at Sperling, Beekman, Howe, Woods, & Simon. A senior associate, he’s had his eye on the coveted position of partner for far too long...and five years in, it’s make or break time.

When client Augustus Daren finally passes away after a year on life support, Jake is pulled into a world where the truth is more complicated than it seems. Daren’s last will and testament places the control of his bank, Hanover Square, in the hands of his fourth wife, the clever and beautiful Elizabeth Daren, but his two grown children are furious. Gussie and Chip have no need for the money, but they do want the bank — and are willing to go to any lengths to get it.

Claude Louis deSalle, the devious president of Hanover Square, is similarly shocked by the contents of Daren’s will. His ambitions foiled, deSalle works behind the scenes as part of a silent team determined to get rid of Elizabeth Daren.

In their eagerness to destroy their stepmother, Gussie and Chip hire Tiger Sage, an experienced trial lawyer to contest the validity of the will. Canny, quick, and more than able to turn a jury in his favour, he shines in a courtroom in a way that Jake can only dream of.

And when Jake, a lawyer with zero experience of litigation, is unexpectedly assigned the task of trying the case, he finds himself at the mercy of powerful men and women, buffeted back and forth by currents of power.

Ultimately, he realises that when in the presence of enemies, the only person you can truly count on is himself...

William J. Coughlin has combined a career as a United States administrative judge with that of a bestselling novelist. A former defence attorney and judge in Detroit for twenty years, he authored sixteen novels, and his experience living and working provided some of the inspiration for his law- and courtroom-themed thrillers.

About this title

About the Author:

William J. Coughlin, a former defense attorney and judge in Detroit for twenty years, was the author of sixteen novels. He lived in Grosse Point Woods, Michigan, with his wife, Ruth, an author and book critic.

From Kirkus Reviews:

A precariously placed Detroit lawyer with no trial experience finds himself thrust into the courtroom defense of a billionaire client's will. When Jake Martin videotaped banker Augustus Daren's latest will, it seemed a routine precaution; despite a stroke, the old man was clearly in full possession of his faculties when he decided to vest voting control of his controlling interest in giant Hanover Square Bank in his third wife, Elizabeth, instead of splitting the power with his two children as well. But now that foreign banks are sniffing around H.S.B. hoping for a merger or a buyout, whiny Chip and cautious Gussie, despite the millions they're sure to inherit, are trying to keep control of their shares--and the fabulous power they confer--by claiming their father was incompetent at that signing. Jake, who's up for a partnership in prestigious Sperling Beekman, is confident of victory only because he doesn't know that (1) Elizabeth's neighbors in upstate Eagle County, where he plans to enter the will for probate before a jury, would love to see her lose the case; (2) Chip's insider at H.S.B. has turned the two witnesses to the signing against Jake; (3) Chip's insider at Sperling Beekman has stolen both copies of the tape; and (4) the all-star litigator who's supposed to be trying the case for Sperling Beekman is about to pull out. As Jake struggles to hold his own in the often riotous courtroom scenes, his wife is suing for divorce, luscious Elizabeth is coming on to him, and Chip's suave veteran trial lawyer T.G. (Tiger) Sage is quietly turning the local newspapers against him. Guess how it all turns out. Less assured than Shadow of a Doubt (1991) and Death Penalty (1992); the ending comes too easily despite too many unresolved subplots. But Coughlin, who died early last year, keeps you burning the midnight oil up to the very end. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pan Books
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0330308203
• ISBN 13: 9780330308205
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432