Mean Streak (Cass Jameson Legal Mysteries)

Description

When the man who had broken her heart is accused of bribery and requests her help in defending him, Brooklyn attorney Cass Jameson begins to question his innocence in the wake of several witness murders. Reprint.

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Carolyn Wheat, one of the mystery world's emerging stars, proves that she's the equal of any of the best writers in the legal jungle in her new Cass Jameson novel. The courtroom crackle and icy insights into the hearts of lawyers, criminals, cops, and judges that the author soaked up in her years as a Legal Aid defense attorney are apparent on every page, and her writing is full of energy and compassion. Jameson's ex-lover, a manipulative mob lawyer, is charged with bribery and wants her to defend him. But is he counting on her brains or her heart to get him off? Other Wheaties in paperback are Fresh Kills and Where Nobody Dies.

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Customer Reviews

WONDERFUL book, part of a PHENOMENAL series
Although I have read -- and enjoyed -- virtually every book in every series by the most famous female mystery writers, Carolyn Wheat unequivocally remains my favorite.

This series is about a Legal Aid attorney named Cass Jameson. As such, it introduces fascinating glimpses into seldom-seen areas of the legal system -- along with providing excellent mysteries. This is one series I buy in hardcover as soon as each book is published.

The books are all very well-written, fast-moving, and entertaining. I cannot sufficiently recommend them. IMHO, this is the best mystery series available.

1998-08-24 | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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Crooked cops align themselves with shyster lawyers
Carolyn Wheat tells a mean and believable story of a lawyer tangled in his own deceitful web. When mob lawyer Matt Riordan seeks the help of his ex-lover, Cass Jameson, he may be asking for more trouble than he is ready to deal with. Because Cass is street-tough and honest--an unbeatable combination in a regular courtroom, but how about in Federal Court? Cass faces a prejudiced judge (against her client BEFORE his day in court), a conniving prosecutor and an assistant who scores big on her back. How Cass solves the mystery of mob deaths and obtains justice for her client make a good read and a classic mystery. Parts of the book are slow, but hard to put down because you want all the loose ends knotted before you stop reading. If you enjoy Grisham, you will love Carolyn Wheat--she is Grisham with a bite!

1998-04-25 | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 4

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More of a Ferris Wheel
The title refers to the thrilling roller coaster the protagonist enjoyed after initial reluctance. "Mean Streak" had little of the thrills of a roller coaster and more of the plodding of a old steam engine.

The references to the wild new legal territory for the attorney were too great in number to be justified. Characters were introduced with little coloring to match their supposed epic status. Some of the courtroom passages were intriguing, but I found it hard to visualize much of the other narratives. Maybe that's my own weakness, but I think some editing could have made for a more direct, hard-hitting novel.

1998-03-31 (Hickory, NC) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 3

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How to Write Killer Fiction: The Funhouse of Mystery & the Roller Coaster of Suspense

Product Details

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• ISBN13: 9781880284629
• Notes: Manufacturer New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Requirement: NEW

Description

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Customer Reviews

killer fiction indeed
Great book, clear and to the point. Basic for all the people starting in writing seriously.

2009-08-31 | Tavo (Monterrey, Mexico) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Fiction the only way to grow
The book how to write killer fiction is wonderful. This show me how to show what I'm writing instead of telling. It has lots of good points and I really like the book. I would recommend it to my other writer friends.

2009-08-05 | Ocean View (Otis, Oregon USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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How to Write Killer Fiction
I'm finally getting around to reading this book because I have a project in mind. Mystery seems like a very complex genre to write and this book serves as a great guide. Not only does the author go through how to write Mystery and Suspense, but she explains the differences between the two and between the sub genres.

Throughout the book she also uses examples from specific authors and their novels to help illustrate what she's saying. And it would probably be a very good idea for a new mystery writer to read at least a few of these books.

The author explains everything very thoroughly and gives the reader a good foundation from which to start writing. It's a wonderful book with tons of solid and useful information. I'm glad I have it and wish I'd gotten around to reading it sooner.

2008-09-22 | book crazed | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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Wonderful Analysis, Helpful Guide
I can't say enough about how readable and insightful this book is! Carolyn Wheat covers all aspects of plotting, characterization and fine writing, and it is a book I will be returning to again and again.

2007-11-05 (Long Island, NY USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Great Desk Reference
The first chapter of descriptions and comparisons between mystery and suspense was a little redundent in places. I've only got through the mystery half because that is what I've been having trouble with. If you're not a regular mystery reader and need to add mystery without spending time analysing the greats, this is the book you need. If you are already an experience mystery reader/writer and need more suspense, I'd bet the suspense half would be equally as good. Mystery and suspense are the bones of a plot line and genre/characterization is the setting and the meat of the story.

2007-08-19 | aspiring writer (McCook, NE United States) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Sworn to Defend

Description

Carolyn Wheat has been praised as "a strong, smart writer" (New York Times) and "a natural storyteller" (Kirkus Reviews). In Wheat's newest legal thriller, Brooklyn lawyer Cass Jameson finally has an innocent client. But she later finds out that Keith Jernigan is guilty of a crime far worse than the robbery she proved he didn't commit--he permanently disfigured his former girlfriend by throwing corrosive acid in her face. Cass receives information indicating that Keith's ex framed him in the robbery--and that Keith is out for revenge. Meanwhile, Cass is threatened by the husband of a woman she is representing in a divorce case, and she soon realizes she is in danger of losing her career--and possibly her life. In order to protect herself, Cass must investigate two people--the husband of her new client, and the man she had sworn to defend...

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Of all the legal eagles nesting in the thriller trees these days, Carolyn Wheat is definitely the one with the brightest feathers. Her dialogue-- in and out of court--crackles with focused energy, and her obvious knowledge of and respect for the trappings of the law immediately add verisimilitude. "If the Appellate Division, First Department, courthouse in Manhattan, where I'd taken my oath as a lawyer, was a Gothic cathedral of the law, then the Second Department was a Protestant meetinghouse," she has her alter ego, Cass Jameson, say as she approaches that Brooklyn edifice to plead a case. "Its austere lines and jewel-box proportions were in sharp contrast to the ornate, overblown style of its Manhattan counterpart, with its stained-glass dome and overpowering wood-and-brass ornamentation. This courthouse was equally dignified, but without the florid Gilded Age excess. The cloakroom didn't boast long brass pegs on which 19th Century lawyers once placed their beaver hats while addressing the court." Cass is in the building that day to defend an apparently framed client. She succeeds, unfortunately--and Keith Jernigan turns out to be a stalker who directs his dangerous attention toward Cass. But Cass's problems don't end with Jernigan. There's also a very nasty drama critic upset over Cass's handling of his wife's divorce case, and a troubled cop with a mysterious agenda. If you like your legal thrillers fresh, feisty, and grounded in reality, harvest this latest Wheat. Past crops in paperback: Troubled Waters, Where Nobody Dies, Mean Streak, Fresh Kills. --Dick Adler

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Customer Reviews

Very enjoyable and fast paced mystery.
Brooklyn lawyer Cass Jameson gets Keith Jernigan out of jail and scheduled for a new trial. However, she begins to question whether, although innocent of the crime he was jailed for, he may be guilty of more serious crimes, and a present danger to women - including her. However, this is only the start of the serious problems Ms. Jameson will shortly face.

This a face-paced story with new twists, plot developments, and surprises in every chapter. The novel is hard to put down, and as you approach its end, it's almost impossible to do so. The solution of the mysteries, there are some minor subplots, may prove surprising, and the quite sudden and unexpected resolution of Kate's nightmarish problems may remind one a bit of the sudden resolution in the last paragraph of Poe's "Pit and the Pendulum"

Along the way, one learns a bit about Japanese antiques (netsuke, sagemono collections, choba dansu, etc.), darkroom techniques (now disappearing in these days of digital photography), and the religious practices of New York's Crown Heights Hasidic Community

If you like to be kept completely in the dark about later plot issues, please skip the next paragraph until after you read the book, and go directly to the conclusion below. However, if you don't mind some minor discussion of plot issues, or you have already read the book and are looking at other reviews - read on.

With this mystery there are some minor discrepancies, e.g., at the end of Chapter 19 Cass tells us that she is looking at a photograph, not at the image, but at the angle it was taken. As an avid photographer, Ms. Jameson should certainly have been able to distinguish the differences in perspective and depth of field between a wide-angle and telephoto lens. This novel clearly demonstrates Ms. Wheat's superb ability as a story teller and writer, while it concurrently reveals a slight weakness in developing a flawless mystery resolution.

In conclusion, this is an interesting action-filled story whose twenty-five chapters will keep your attention from start to finish, which, in spite of some minor weaknesses, is highly recommended.

2007-01-12 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Another fascinating legal thrillerby the great Ms.Wheat
At the Appellate level, Brooklyn attorney Cass Jamison proves that her client Keith Jernigan could not have committed the robbery that he was previously convicted of, thus obtaining freedom for the innocent man. Subsequently, Cass gets embroiled in a divorce case when her tenant Nellis Cartwright wants her previous settlement with her former spouse, Grant Eddongton, re-negotiated because she insists her attorney, a friend of Cass, botched up the case.

Keith reappears in Cass' life when the son of her secretary is arrested after forming a friendship with the man. Cass suspects that Keith had something to do with the arrest and begins to investigate the man. She learns that though he was framed for the robbery count that she got him acquitted on, he threw acid into the face of a former girlfriend. When Nellis is shot in her office, Cass thinks that she might have been the intended target and wonders if she is again going to on guard until she gets some answers.

SWORN TO DEFEND is a great 250 page mystery novel that fans will swear is one of the best fictions pieces of the year due to an intriguing twist on the story line in which the client is innocent of the charges, but culpable for a more devastating crime. However, the final few pages seem as if Carolyn Wheat needed an upbeat-like ending for a climax, which thankfully fails to take away from a greatand fast-paced tour of Brooklyn that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Fans of urban legal procedurals need to read this novel and Cass' previous two stories (DEAD MAN'S THOUGHTS and MEAN STREAK) for some of the best the crime genre has to offer.

Harriet Klausner

1998-06-21 | Helpful Votes: 8 | Rating: 5

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Troubled Waters (Cass Jameson Legal Mysteries)

Description

Brooklyn defense attorney Cass Jameson faces the most difficult case of her career when she is called upon to defend her brother Ron against a murder charge from years ago...

Carolyn Wheat is the acclaimed author of many legal mysteries, including the Edgar Award-nominated Dead Man's Thoughts and Mean Streak
Troubled Waters has received rave reviews from Kirkus Reviews, The New York Times Book Review, Booklist, Library Journal, and other publications
Another mystery featuring Brooklyn attorney Cass Jameson

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Carolyn Wheat must be the best listener in the mystery business. The former Brooklyn, New York, defense attorney has the awesome ability to capture and create whole characters in just a few perfectly shaped sentences of dialogue. She also knows how to move her people through a complicated narrative without losing focus. This book about lawyer Cass Jameson flashes back and forth from the present to 1969 and 1982, as Cass looks for connections between some old activist friends, her Vietnam vet brother, and the 15-year-old murder of a Federal agent that links them all. Other top-grade Wheat paperbacks include Fresh Kills, Mean Streak, and Where Nobody Dies.

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Customer Reviews

WONDERFUL book, part of a PHENOMENAL series
Although I have read -- and enjoyed -- virtually every book in every series by the most famous female mystery writers, Carolyn Wheat unequivocally remains my favorite.

This series is about a Legal Aid attorney named Cass Jameson. As such, it introduces fascinating glimpses into seldom-seen areas of the legal system -- along with providing excellent mysteries. This is one series I buy in hardcover as soon as each book is published.

The books are all very well-written, fast-moving, and entertaining. I cannot sufficiently recommend them. IMHO, this is the best mystery series available.

1998-08-24 | Helpful Votes: 4 | Rating: 5

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An excellent, tightly plotted mystery
I eagerly await each of Carolyn Wheat's mysteries. Troubled Waters is an excellent, well plotted mystery. The character development is strong and the story line demands the reader's full attention.

I have read each of her previous Cass Jameson mysteries and thoroughly enjoyed each of them. This one reaches new heights of excellence with its amazingly plotted and executed story line.

My one suggestion to the author is that she utilize a medical advisor to check medical procedures and equipment. One can not speak while on a respirator and when visiting a patient in ICU with a head injury there would be no need to gown. Other than those minor errors, I thought this book was her best yet. I eagerly await the next offering in this wonderful series.

1998-05-28 (Mt. View, CA USA) | Helpful Votes: 5 | Rating: 5

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These Waters Certainly are Troubled
This is an absolutely dreadful book: completely disorganized, with not much of a story to it, and an ending that doesn't make sense.

1997-11-25 | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 1

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Cass tackles the most personal case of her legal career.
"Troubled Waters" is one of the the best mysteries I've read this year. Wheat's compelling narrative shifts in time between the late '60s, early '80s and mid-'90s, charting the lives of a disparate group of idealistic radicals from youth to adulthood, and makes canny use of their collective 30-odd-year-old emotional baggage. At first, the time shifts drove impatient me crazy, but it wasn't long before I was thumbing back every few chapters for clues. Believe me, it doesn't help! Wheat's five previous books in the Cass Jameson series foreshadow so many events here, I sense that this book has been percolating in her head all along. Many mystery writers don't bother to give their characters a past that is relevant in future plots. (I haven't read her books in chronological order, which perhaps frees me from reader expectations.) I was blown away by its climactic ending, and I'm not easily fooled! (Certain people refuse to sit next to me in movies!) Kudos to Carolyn Wheat for her best writing yet! I'm chomping at the bit for her next book but, unfortunately for us readers, her books are published years apart. P.S. I advise beginning this book in the morning. I stayed up until 4 a.m. last night to finish the last chapters.

1997-08-29 (San Francisco, CA) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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The best Cass Jameson book yet
In 1969, Cass Jameson, her brother Ron (at his sister's urgings), Jan Gebhardt, and other idealists helped organize migrant farm workers into unions. By joining his sibling and others in their protests, Ron lost his conscientious objector draft status. Ron was drafted and sent to Nam where he returned home as a quadriplegic. In 1982, Ron was driving his specially built van with Jan and several illegal aliens as part of the sanctuary movement. However, this trip went sour and a federal law enforcement agent is killed. Jan fled to the underground and the charges against Ron were held in abeyance, pending Jan's arrest. ...... In 1997, Jan decides to surrender to FBI officials in Kansas City which, in turn, reactivate Ron's charges. Both are to face a murder trail in Toledo. Cass leaves Brooklyn, to journey home to represent her sibling at the trial. To do so, Cass knows that she must confront her own guilt feelings about her sibling's physical condition and her fear that she will fail him again. She also must look back at her own role and motives as a soldier in President Johnson's war on poverty in the sixties, while watching her personal life become part of the media fascination with the trial. ....... TROUBLED WATER is a great legal thriller that provides a reader with a solid look at the idealistic sixties, especially the motives of the radical participants and the uglier aspects of the eighties sanctuary movement. Though the insight to much of Cass's motives appear in this novel, what truly turns this into a fabulous book is the insight into the primary characters (even the star in her fifth brilliant appearance gets the full treatment) during three different decades. This reviewer strongly recommend this novel and the previous Jameson tales to fans of legal thrillers and anyone who was there during the sixties. ......Harriet Klausner

1997-06-15 | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Female Sleuths (Great Mystery)

Description

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Customer Reviews

Female Sleuths
Good audio book that would have been more interesting with different readers for the books. The same voice playing different roles took away from the stories which were very inviting. This was especially the case for the book by the alphabet murder author. I am so drawn to the voice of Kinsey Milhone in her books that this new voice did not match personality of this detective.

2007-01-15 (Indiana) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 4

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Fun audio collection
So this is a fun audio collection -edited by Sara Paretsky, part of the Great Mystery Series. Includes 4 audio tapes with 8 mysteries.
Narrators are Lorri Holt and Gina Leishman- 1st is American, second is English. Ms Leishman's English accent is ideal for the stories here by some of the United Kingdom's best mystery talent.

Stories are listed here:

1. Settled Score by Sara Paretsky - this one is also included on Skin Deep read by Kathleen Turner- I prefer the Turner reading for the grittier turn she gives to V.I Warshawski.

2. The Scar by Nancy Pickard

3. Lucky Dip by Liza Cody- this is great! Has an English street urchin finding a huge treasure on a dead man and then having to scramble through the London streets to keep her bounty.

4. Full Circle by Sue Grafton- a Kinsey Milhone short story

5. Death & Diamonds by Susan Dunlap- done well here- this is a great short story. Also available in "Crime's Leading Ladies" and read by Sharon Gless.

6. Her Good Name by Carolyn Hart

7. Ghost Station by Carolyn Wheat- scary story with the NYC subways as setting

8. Getting to Know You by Antonia Fraser

2005-07-14 | Super Reader (Phoenix,AZ United States) | Helpful Votes: 7 | Rating: 4

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Your Wheat Free Gluten Free Diet Plan

Description

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