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Defense Of An Other
Defense Of An Other
Defense Of An Other
Ebook379 pages5 hours

Defense Of An Other

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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Defense of an Other begins in the French Quarter with a day in the life of a young lawyer named Matt Durant gone horribly awry. After a few beers, Matt works up the courage to visit a gay bar, where he meets a stranger named Joey Buckner. When Matt and Joey duck into an alley behind the bar to take a leak, three drunks target them for a hate crime and beat up Joey, which forces Matt to attack and kill one of the men. Matt is then arrested for murder, thrown in Orleans Parish Prison and calls his boss for help, forcing him out of the closet. The novel then follows the course of his trial and explores its consequences. Defense of an Other is the debut novel from a trans, practicing lawyer born and raised in Louisiana, who graduated from Dartmouth College and then became the Editor-in-Chief of the University of Chicago Law Review. Her seventeen year career has included a one-year clerkship for the appellate court with jurisdiction over Louisiana federal trial courts and 16 years of civil litigation. Heavily influenced by political fiction like Bryce Courtenay's The Power of One, in Defense of an Other southern storytelling meets the gritty legal realism of Law & Order.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 13, 2018
ISBN9781912262267
Defense Of An Other
Author

Grace Mead

Grace Mead is a leading US trial attorney and a transgender woman. This is her first novel.

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Rating: 3.1 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The short blurb bit: Life can change in a split second. Lawyer and amateur boxer Matt Durant is out at one of the many gay clubs in New Orleans. He’s curious about his attraction to men, curious, but taking it slow.

    He meets Joey … they talk, dance and the night is going well. When the bathroom line up is too long, they both head out into the back alley to relieve themselves.

    In the alley, Joe is the victim of hate-motivated crime. Matt steps in and defends Joey and one of the assailants is killed. Matt finds himself on the opposite end of the law for the first time in his life.

    The descriptive bit: If you’re a fan of courtroom drama, the legal system or prison life-stories, then you’re probably going to enjoy this novel. Mead’s experience as a lawyer shines through in the writing.

    It’s a slow-burn legal thriller. The story is much more about all stages of the legal process than it ever is about the characters.

    Keep in mind, Matt is convicted of a crime in 2007 when there were far fewer protections under the law for LGBTQIA folks. Things have changed since 2007, but many of the issues discussed in the book are still relevant.

    My thoughts bit: This novel is being promoted as LGBTQ fiction and that’s an interesting choice. When Matt is introduced into the story… and later when he’s arrested … he isn’t even completely convinced that he’s gay. He progresses to a relationship with a man during the course of the story unfolding but that’s secondary to the plot.

    Most of Matt’s reactions to events in the novel were quite flat. As fascinating as the legal story was, I felt that I would have liked some more development of the characters.

    I’ve written before that I don’t want gay to be the entire plot, but I felt like it really didn’t weigh heavily enough into the story.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I have just finished reading Defense Of An Other by Grace Mead. I excepted a book about a trial of a man who had murdered another in a brawl. This however was only part of the story. Mostly it is about Matt Durant, a gay convicted lawyer and his time spent in prison and trying to survive not only being gay but also trying to win a new trial. This book was very well written and it flows very fast. It kept my interest more so during the time in prison than before Matt was incarcerated. I had a hard time putting this book down wanting to reach the end. I am looking forward to future writings from this author. I like to thank Net Galley for my advance copy.

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Defense Of An Other - Grace Mead

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