The trial of a lifetime for the highest of stakes takes a young attorney on a journey that will change his life.
This book, which was a finalist for the Best Legal Thriller Indie Excellence Award and received an Honorable Mention for Best Fiction in the New York Book Festival, begins the arc from the racist and sexist past of a rural Southern county to a future where there is hope that the scars of the past may be overcome. A brilliant young attorney is appointed to represent an innocent black man accused of killing a rich white philanthropist, sparking a legal battle that pits him against not only public opinion, but his family, friends, and the only woman he's ever loved.
As he battles to find the truth about his client's plight, the protagonist also discovers truths about himself that are buried in his past. He reaches an epiphany that may change everything for him and for the county where he lives.
Excerpt
“Electric chair? What do you mean?”
Lindsey began to nod over and over again. “That’s how they
did it, Mr. Lockman. They put me in this chair and I began to
feel these…shocks…like I’d touched a live wire or something.
It wasn’t so bad at first…but it kept on for so long…and it kept
getting stronger…and they told me that I was going to die right
there…if I didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear.”
“Lindsey, I don’t know what to say. I’ve never heard of anything
like this before.” He thought to himself, “Except maybe
from somebody locked up by the VC in Hanoi.”
“Mr. Lockman, let me show you my arms and legs. The
shock, it came through my arms and legs. They had my arms
chained down to the arm of the chair I was sitting in. And the
shock, it came up through the chair. You can see.”
Lindsey tried to extend his arms across the table. He had
trouble manipulating his arms because of the waist chain.
J.T. stood and walked around the table. “Hold on, Lindsey.
It’ll be easier if I come around there.”
He stood beside Lindsey and looked hard at his extended
arms trying to digest what he was seeing. It was clear that his
arms were swollen and red, that possibly they had been burned
in some way.
“My legs are worse.” Lindsey hung his head. “Mr. Lockman,
I’m ashamed to tell you this, but…I…I wet my pants. I had
to go real bad and they wouldn’t let me. They kept me in that
chair for hours, and the shocks kept coming and getting stronger.
I asked them to let me go to the bathroom, but they just
wouldn’t do it. Anyway, when I wet myself it seemed like the
shocks got worse.
Professional Reviews
Kirkus Book Reviews
BOOK REVIEW
Black and White by Jerri Blair
FICTION & LITERATURE
Released: March 2, 2016
Reviewed: April 12, 2016
BLACK AND WHITE
by Jerri Blair
"A long but energetic tale that's rife with drama and mystery, both in and out of the courtroom."
A Florida lawyer has the chance to help a former client on trial for murder in Blair's (College Football Etiquette, 2015, etc.) legal thriller set in the late 1970s.Read full book review >
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