A gripping legal thriller from a celebrated L.A. defense lawyer, who knows how the system really works.
Bobby Earl is the guy you call when it’s time to fix bayonets and go to trial. But when he’s tapped to defend a notorious safecracker arrested for killing a decorated LAPD officer, Earl’s own life is suddenly in danger, and Earl must dive into LA’s dangerous underworld, and battle a court system in which the news media and politics corrupt the wheels of justice.
ACCLAIM FOR THE INEVITABLE WITNESS
“A Los Angeles lawyer defends a professional safecracker accused of murder in Rucker’s debut legal thriller…. Earl’s a shrewd, worthy protagonist, surrounded by exceptional characters, including reliable investigator Manny Munoz and second-chair district attorney Samantha Price. This novel certainly doesn’t skimp on twisty plot turns, but retains an understated, authentic approach to the law.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“An absolutely smashing first novel. Simply what the best legal thrillers have been all along. Rucker’s debut delivers the same intelligent and compassionate punch as those first memorable novels of Grisham and Turow. The Inevitable Witness will appeal to readers who like old-fashioned storytelling mixed with modern courtroom drama. A powerful tale written by a man who knows what it is like to stand before a death-penalty jury – a tale driven by characters you care about and believe in. As I read the book, something in Rucker’s style reminded me of the great books of Raymond Chandler and Erle Stanly Gardner…thoughtfully constructed suspense where murder is an element in a sophisticated thriller…not a blood-soaked rampage.”
— Thomas Eidson, author of Agnes’ Stand and The Missing (Random House)
“Veteran defense attorney Ed Rucker knows the realities of the darker side of his profession and has transformed this experience into a gripping work of fiction which is as detailed as the notes on his yellow legal pads and as harrowing and absorbing as the work of the best of today’s L.A. Noir masters. If I ever got in a jam, I’d want Rucker’s lawyer-hero, smart and dedicated Bobby Earl, standing for my defense.”
— Jon Wilkman, author of Floodpath (Bloomsbury Press)
“Ed Rucker takes us inside the mind of those who practice the law, those who enforce it and those who cannot help themselves but to bend and break it.”
– Richard Lourie, author of Hunting the Devil (Harper Collins)
“Edward Rucker’s compelling novel manages to be both wonderfully entertaining and intellectually satisfying. The Inevitable Witness delights with a cast of off-beat characters, a richly-evoked L.A. setting, flashes of wit, an insider’s critique of ‘the system,’ and plenty of plot twists and surprises.”
— Elisabeth Gitter, author of The Imprisoned Guest (Picador), and professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
“I downed the book in two sittings, the pages flew by, and I was sorry to have to leave Bobby Earl to his next adventure. Tightly plotted, no strains on belief, and lots of ‘Wow, I didn’t know that.’ What if a policeman got shot? And you were charged with the crime? And the DA wants the death penalty? And in fact you didn’t do it? I would recommend two things: read this book, then find an attorney as good as Bobby Earl, the crafty, witty and insightful lawyer who is the star of The Inevitable Witness. You couldn’t be in better hands, and you can’t read a better book.”
— Steve Greenleaf, author of The Tanner Detective series