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The Out-of-Town Lawyer

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What to expect

USA Today bestselling author Robert Rotstein is back with The Out-of-Town Lawyer, a gripping legal thriller that throws a community into chaos and questions the very foundations of our morality.

The Quartz County, Alabama, district attorney has charged Destiny Grace Harper with murdering her unborn twins—a crime punishable by death. However, Alabama v. Harper isn’t your ordinary homicide case. Harper’s babies suffered from a rare disorder called TTTS, a fatal condition if left untreated, but correctable with minimally invasive surgery. Harper refused the surgery on religious grounds, resulting in the death of both babies, and now Harper is on trial.

Enter Elvis Henderson, a traveling criminal defense attorney who roams the country in his campervan. He receives assignments from Hazel Curnow, a once iconic trial lawyer turned recluse. When Curnow assigns Elvis the Harper case, he balks—Quartz County is his home turf. He left Alabama under a dark cloud at age eighteen and has no intention of returning.

When Elvis arrives to meet his paralegal, Margaret Booth, they immediately realize the case is fraught with complications: a desperate client whose story keeps shifting; a local populace who vociferously defend the rights of the unborn; a charismatic minister whose family lords over the town; a ruthless DA with political ambitions; an old-school judge who relishes handing down capital convictions; and a sheriff who might just want Elvis dead.

An action-packed ride to a shocking verdict, The Out-of-Town Lawyer is a gripping legal thriller that explores family love, reconciliation, and the moral and legal issues that draw a fine line between tragedy and crime.

Critics Review

  • “This novel both hearkens back to the golden age of legal thrillers—a tale that would make Grisham and Turow proud—but also elevates the genre to new and contemporary heights. Robert Rotstein has written a masterpiece that explores the morality and dignity of being a lawyer, and a thriller for the ages.”

    Alex Finlay, author of If Something Happens to Me
  • “If Jack Reacher practiced law, he might look a lot like Elvis Henderson, the engaging itinerant lawyer at the heart of this new series from Robert Rotstein. All Roads Lead to Justice tells the timely story of two preventable deaths and their aftermath. Following her fundamentalist religious beliefs, a young mother refuses to undergo a straightforward surgical procedure to save her unborn twins. The girls’ deaths are called murder, and the maverick lawyer Henderson returns to his Alabama hometown to defend his stubborn, self-righteous client, Destiny Grace Harper. All Roads Lead to Justice sparkles. A provocative and stirring clash of science, faith, and the law.”

    James W. Ziskin, author of the award-winning Ellie Stone mysteries
  • “A highly original courtroom drama ripped from the headlines and then some.”

    Kirkus Reviews
  • “Robert Rotstein takes his readers on an intense ride in The Out-of-Town Lawyer, an original courtroom drama laced with intriguing characters, thought-provoking issues, and suspenseful twists. The main character, Elvis Henderson, fights for justice in a high-profile case with dogged tenacity in the face of insurmountable odds in the deep of Alabama. This book will seize you and not let go until the end.”

    Allen Eskens, USA Today bestselling author of nine novels including The Life We Bury and Nothing More Dangerous
  • “The courtroom scenes sizzle and twists abound in Robert Rotstein’s The Out-of-Town Lawyer, a smart and stylish legal thriller with sparkling dialogue and a fresh take on the conflict between government and personal autonomy. Reminiscent of Anatomy of a Murder and The Verdict—which is to say, electrifying, compelling, and authentic.”

    Paul Levine, author of the Jake Lassiter series
  • The Out-of-Town Lawyer will keep you fascinated, and along the way, you’ll accidentally learn some things. I did.”

    Thomas Perry, bestselling author of over thirty novels

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