The Big Law: A Novel

By Chuck Logan

Book Overview

An emerging master of the thriller pits brooding hero Phil Broker against the legendary Witness Protection Program, which has unwittingly hidden his ex-wife's killer. In The Big Law , Logan unfurls a sublime premise-- The Fugitive in reverse--and graces it with ingenious plotting and fascinating explorations of the forces that drive men both to selfless heroism and murderous greed. The Big Law's intricate mechanics are set in motion by one fatal choice: Broker's naive ex-wife Caren decides to blow the whistle on her feckless husband, Keith Angland, a St. Paul cop who's moonlighting as an informant for the Chicago mob. Unwisely for her, she confides in Tom James, a disaffected reporter nursing dreams of the perfect crime. Seeing a way out of his dead-end life and into his dreams, Tom cajoles Caren into entrusting him with the suitcase full of greenbacks the mob has paid her informant husband. When Caren is killed, Tom frames Angland, absconds with the suitcase, runs to the FBI (known to its employees as the Big Law), and wangles himself a berth in the Witness Protection Program. Only Broker senses something amiss in Tom's testimony, and he sets out to find the truth. But to do that, he must find Tom, who has the Big Law and a big suitcase full of cash on his side. Logan probes the inner workings of the Witness Protection Program. as no novelist has before. He also brings to this tale an unsurpassed knack for combining white-knuckle action with subtle characterizations and direct, lyrical prose. The Big Law proves how thoroughly he deserved to be called "one of the best of the new thriller breed." ( Publishers Weekly )

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060191333
• ISBN13: 9780060191337
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.2" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

Chuck Logan does it again!!

I can't believe this book sat on my shelf for over a year and I didn't read it. I finished it in one day! Once again, Chuck Logan immerses the reader in the world of his protagonist,in this case, Phil Broker. Hopefully we'll see more of Broker in future books. This is a great read and the "daddy" scenes are winners. The reviewer who says Broker doesn't care about his wife and child didn't read this book very carefully. What about the last sentence????? Maybe one has to understand about "compartments" to understand Phil Broker.

Well-written !

You'll stay up to finish this one! A page-turner thriller with multi-dimensional characters and great plot twists.

Walter Mitty - stop dreaming

A colorless reporter tries to make his dreams come true. And he almost succeeds. Fabulous plotting, always new angles, never a dull moment. Tightly written. Interesting characters.This is the way mysteries should be written.

Fantastic!! Once read, twice hooked.

C.L. is the better version of almost all of the authors who're trying to get the grip of the genre of mystery and thriller. Fantastic, C.L., you did it again, although this one is not as intensive as 'The Price of Blood,' but it's already good enough for me to give you a HIGH 5, again. Keep it coming, man, but please don't rush it okay?

Cleverly plotted and an offbeat thriller

Chuck Logan can write!! I have read all three of his thrillers and he is getting better with each outing. His characters have depth and, in this case, the reporter turned killer is one of the more interesting characters I have come across in some time. The idea of a "good guy" trying to get at someone in the federal witness program is a real turnabout. One thing I did get tired of (I guess I feel it has no place in a thriller even though I realize that the hero has to be shown as a "Mr Mom" rounded person)was the child. Reading endlessly about baby poop and pablum all over the place is a turnoff in a thriller. Is it possible that the author is a late life recent father??Just wondering!!