Currently the market for the genre of legal thrillers is
abundantly populated and while many legal thrillers do turn out to be pretty
decent reads – there are some that really are of a better class. Death on
a High Floor, written by lawyer-turned-author Charles Rosenberg, happens to
fall into the better class of legal thrillers. Available in paperback or e-book edition, this
book is a very well written legal thriller that captures the reader’s attention
immediately with its tightly devised plot.
The story continually moves at an exciting pace and the creative plot
twists continue to keep the reader absorbed until the very last word.
Death on a High Floor
starts out like most legal thrillers; there is a murder of senior partner Simon
Rafer and a central character that seems like the most likely suspect – sixty
year old senior partner Robert Tarza. Robert
Tarza is a seasoned partner in the Los Angeles based law firm of Marbury Marfan
and a known collector of very rare coins.
It is Robert Tarza’s dealings with his rare coin collecting that lends
to evidence placing him as the main suspect in this murder mystery. The rare coin aspect of this story also leads
into some very interesting plot twists. The
central plot of the murder mystery is exactly where this book’s similarity to
the others in the genre ends.
As the story develops, other characters are introduced that
are seemingly just as viable as Robert Tarza as potential murder suspects; such as Jenna James the intelligent, ambitious
and attentive young lawyer that eventually becomes a major player in Robert
Tarza’s defense. The fun in reading this
book is not only moving along with the story as the murder mystery is
unraveled; the fun is in the well paced and realistically written court room
scenes and pragmatic dialog between characters. This story does not lose a step; the
enthralling pace throughout the story remains consistent. Also, this story works better than most
because of the down-to-earth portrayal of the drama, the novel court room
antics, and the original encounters with the press, photographers and
bloggers. The author’s expertise as an
attorney is well represented in the verbiage that is used both in the court
room and among the attorneys within the story. Death on
a High Floor is not over laden with confusing legal terminology and it is
very easy to follow for readers that are unfamiliar with the legal world. Although the eventual conclusion of the story
is predictable, it is the road to the end of the story that is not.
I enthusiastically recommend this story to all those readers
that not only favor legal thrillers but also savor the elements of an
intriguing mystery. On a scale of one to
five stars, I would rate this book a full five stars.
