DOUGLAS CORLEONE – One Man’s Paradise. St. Martin’s Press, hardcover, April 2010.

Genre:   Legal thriller. Leading character:  Kevin Corvelli; 1st book. Setting:   Hawaii.

First Sentence:   They pawed at each other against the black backdrop of night, the restless Pacific waters purring at their feet.

   New York Attorney Kevin Corvelli has given up life in the Big Apple. A man he rather carelessly defended and was sentenced for murder, died in prison. He was also innocent.

   Corvelli has come to Hawaii thinking he’ll no longer practice criminal law, but only handle misdemeanors. His new landlord has different ideas and Corvelli finds himself defending a young New Jersey man accused of murdering his girlfriend, determined not to have another innocent man go to prison. The killer has different ideas.

   This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Corleone did create a lot of characters. Some were interesting and developed them well while others were not. The voice created for Kevin is one of metaphors, sarcasm and self-deprecating humor, all of which I enjoy: “I let go of the kayak’s leash and the kayak immediately starts to float back to shore. It’s no doubt as frightened of me as I am of it.”

   Kevin’s excessive drinking, in spite of the “reasons” for it, and breaking of his own ethical rules made the character unappealing — someone about whom I came to care less the more I read. The emphasis given drinking for both Kevin and his landlord Jake became almost annoying.

   For the secondary characters left undeveloped, I was occasionally confused as to who they were. What worked very well was Corleone’s attention to detail. Corleone has an eye for detail and description presenting Hawaii from the eyes of someone newly arrived.

   His experience as an attorney is evident. The information on legal process and procedure was interesting without ever seeming analytical. I do love a good courtroom scene, and these were very good.

   The story overall was exciting and, at times, very suspenseful. Unfortunately, I did identify the killer early on, in spite of a couple red herrings and very good plot twists. Even so, the ending was very effective.

   The book won the Minotaur Books/MWA First Crime Novel Award for 2009. While credible, I always take such accolades with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, it comes down to whether I liked it and would read another book by the author. I thought the book was good, but definitely not great, and would probably read a second book by Mr. Corleone, but he’s not yet going on my “must buy” list.

   More law, less alcohol, please.

Rating:   Good.

Editorial Comment:   An online interview with the author can be found here.