Book detail

	The Prosecution Rests Author: Edited by Linda Fairstein Published: April 19, 2009 by Little, Brown & Back Bay Publisher's Weekly calls this "a stellar anthology" of "consistently high quality." I agree! In "Hard Blows" I thought of the two worst things that could happen to a prosecutor -- you may have sent an innocent man to prison and someone is coming after your family -- and had both happen to this poor prosecutor all at the same time. It's called "Hard Blows" because a prosecutor is supposed to strike hard blows, but fair ones. Every story in the book is excellent. My favorites include Twist Phelan's "Time Will Tell," a tale with a vividly unforgettable prosecutor and a nice twist at the end; Phyllis Cohen's "Designer Justice" in which an accused murderer receives a bit of surprising justice after the trial; Joseph Wallace's "Custom Sets" where the consequences of child pornography are powerfully driven home; James Grippando's "Death, Cheated," a medical/legal mystery featuring lots of greed; and Linda Fairstein's own "Going Under," a fictional account about undercover work so accurately told it reminds me of my day job. This collection was so good I didn't want it to end. The other terrific stories include "Follow Up" by Jo Dereske; "By Hook or "Crook" by Charlie Drees; "The Letter" by Eileen Dunbaugh; "Spectral Evidence" by Kate Gallison; "Knife Fight" by Joel Goldman; "My Brother's Keeper" by Daniel J. Hale; "The Flashlight Game" by Diana Hansen-Young; "Mom is My Co-Counsel" by Paul Levine; "Quality of Mercy" by Leigh Lundin; "The Mother" by Michele Martinez; "Red Dog" by Anita Page; "A Clerk's Life" by Barbara Parker; "The Evil We Do" by John Walter Putre; "Night Court" by S.J. Rozan; "Bang" by Angela Zeman; and "The Secret Session" by the late Edward D. Hoch.