Maybe Shakespeare had it wrong when he advised, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Lawyers are not well liked, in general. Often they are depicted as greedy, corrupt and/or incompetent. You do have the occasional quixotic lawyer who is trying to challenge the system, but that is the exception.
Korey Kaul, a public defender in Lawrence, I imagine is a lawyer that Shakespeare would have liked. Kaul, in addition to his legal career, is also the author of a new legal thriller titled “Jury Rig: A Legal Caper,” which is available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon. One twist that Kaul brings to the genre of legal thrillers is to choose a jury consultant and not an attorney for his protagonist. Kansas City-based Kate Summerlin is a plucky, sardonic and earnest heroine who readers will enjoy following through her most adventurous and intriguing journey to represent her clients in this fast-paced novel.
I suppose it is appropriate for me to add my own personal disclosure regarding the author of this novel so as not to appear biased or unethical. I have known Korey Kaul since we met at Landon Junior High as seventh-graders. Still, I am confident that my professional and literary judgment has not been compromised because of my relationship with Korey.
One of the strengths of this debut novel is the humor that Kaul infuses his narrative with. This humor is evident in the opening scene of the text where we are introduced to Kate Summerlin as she is attempting to help her client pick a jury for a capital murder case. Kate subscribes to the theory of “jury chaos,” which posits that if you get one or more annoying jurors in the group, the others will do nearly anything to get themselves away from these oddballs as soon as possible. Summerlin thinks she has identified just such a juror. “As Eighteen settled into her chair, elbows taking command of the armrests on either side, she raised her left buttock almost imperceptibly. No juror, except horror-stricken Nineteen, at whom Eighteen had aimed her silent flatulence, saw the sly maneuver. All apparently smelled it. ... Oh, yes, Eighteen was the perfect juror.” Not only did Kaul do a very fine job of describing the flatulating juror, but also he complements the description with understated humor.
From this opening scene, Kaul launches the reader into a rollicking journey that takes Summerlin through various parts of Kansas City, Lawrence and other locales in Missouri. Summerlin’s normal routine is interrupted when she is kidnapped by a strange Santa-looking man who takes her to an abandoned warehouse to meet her mentor and boss. Farley Greene, her mentor and the author of the standard book on jury selection, is being held captive by this stranger who has convinced a pair of stoner brothers that he might be the devil. In addition to this case, Summerlin is simultaneously working on a case involving a lawsuit brought by an undercover cop whose identify was revealed, a situation that resulted in the officer being shot. Finally, Kate is essentially coerced into representing a group of homeless individuals suing one of the richest men in Kansas City.
This is quite an impressive array of plots and characters Kaul has constructed. I feel that for the most part he keeps everything moving well. At the same time, I feel that perhaps Kaul could have done without one of these threads. He does provide quite a whopper regarding the true identity of the demonic Santa figure.
Kaul does a good job of tying up all the narrative threads by the end of the book. I think that readers will enjoy the character of Summerlin, who I feel is one of Kaul’s most impressive achievements. Not every debut novelist can create a protagonist who is so credible and likeable. I think Kaul demonstrates superb characterization and empathy in crafting a female protagonist like Summerlin. I hope this is but the first of a long series of novels recounting her adventures in the legal profession.
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