Violent Ward

From Publishers Weekly

Deighton's latest, an enjoyable departure from his tales of British espionage ( City of Gold, etc.), introduces a protagonist with definite series potential. Harried L.A. lawyer Mickey Murphy is plagued by a slew of eccentrics who fully bear out the book's epigraph: "If America is a lunatic asylum then California is the Violent Ward." Among them are an ex-wife who tries to get more alimony by perching on the ledge outside his office, a slightly over-the-hill actor in search of a handgun, a Robert Maxwell clone called Sir Jeremy Westbridge and a Trump-like entrepreneur named Zach Petrovich, who owns Murphy's law firm and is married to his high school sweetheart. Their maneuverings spark a complicated plot whose many ramifications include a charitable organization that doubles as a clearinghouse for those seeking to fake their own deaths and the set-up of a tax-free Peruvian corporation through the use of bearer shares, but Murphy keeps all the craziness in perspective with a first-person narration that unfolds as a series of quiet, subtle surprises. Told in perfect Dashiell Hammett style, with the clues all noted but never underlined, this novel respects the reader's intelligence and almost begs for a rereading just to savor how skillfully Deighton has woven everything together. Author tour. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-A masterfully crafted tale awaits both teens seeking leisure reading and those looking for a contemporary author for a literature assignment. Within the first six pages, evidence is given to support the title lead in: "If America is a lunatic asylum, then California is the Violent Ward." The lives of Mickey Murphy, a LA criminal lawyer; and the entire cast of con artists and people on the cusp of legitimacy, Hollywood wannabes, old friends, and especially Mickey's childhood sweetheart, Mrs. Ingrid Petrovitch, are deftly woven into this plot that is full of humor and unexpected twists and turns. The surrealistic combination of media coverage juxtaposed with the first-person accounts of the rioting following the first Rodney King trial provides a fitting context for the physical and intellectual resolution of this story. Barbara Hawkins, Oakton High School, Fairfax, VA Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.