Dead Even

Brad Meltzner weaves a fairly entertaining yarn -- and writes well enough to keep you interested as the story twists this way and that.
Novelists and screenwriters play upon their audience's "suspention of disbelief" to get them to buy into the fictional worlds they create. At its best, the audience identifies with a character whose only real existence is on paper and ink. We cheer the author's heros, we boo the major and minor villans.
Credible fiction is a tough business -- and in all fairness, Meltzer does a halfway decent job. Where the novel fails as fiction is where it attempts to inject violence and drama into the story. I still have trouble believing that an attorney who is physically assaulted by his own client -- repeatedly -- could still hold the kind of dialogue he had with him. Clearly, the author was much better at offering credible dialogue of the main characters' strained marriage -- and between the ADA and her quirky legal assistant. Simply killing characters does not by themselves make a story dramatic. Doing so in a cavalier fashion with little explaination of the whys kill the story.
Meltzer has an entertaining and engaging voice, and I hope he has a better time with his next novel.

Sara Tate, an assistant district attorney, has gotten an ordinary buglary case on her first day on the job. The case changes to murder and she realizes it is anything but ordinary.
Jared, her busband, gets a client who will bolster his chances of becoming a partner in a law firm. The catch: he will square off against his wife, and anything less than acquittal results in death for the one he loves.
Will they be able to surmount the difficulties at home? And what will be the price of their rivalry, because no matter who wins he loses.
Brad Meltzer gets high marks for content; a couple slugging out it out in the courtroom is indeed fertile land in the malnourished plains of legal fiction.
Still Dead Even is no immacaulate conception. The dialogue is puerile, the plot asinine, the ending insignificant. No one stands up to the thugs as they go around harassing Jared and Sara.
The novel resembles a house painter's effort on canvas.

Brad Meltzer is a wonderful writer - he has a real way with words - too bad he doesn't have better story lines - my sister gave me his 3 books when I was bedridden after surgery for a broken ankle - you find the same characters (with different names) in all three books: the goofy assistant/friend, the girl - can you trust her or not, the main character who does something stupid, thinks its earth shattering and then tries to save himself, only making it worse (and getting someone killed) - if he had gone to the proper authorities in the first place we would have had a 2 chapter book - it wasn't that big of a deal to begin with. Meltzer's 1st book 'The Tenth Justice' is his best so far.

In his second novel, Brad Meltzer defies the sophomore slump and produces a great book. I enjoyed the Tenth Justice for its novel take on the legal thriller, but felt the ending pulled a few too many tricks. Dead Even is dead on. The premise is one of the most original in a long time - husband and wife attorneys on opposite sides of a criminal trial where both have been threatened regarding the other's life. This allows Meltzer to follow two parallel plot lines, the case and the relationship, and the result is enthralling. Rather than just throw in a legal cliffhanger at the end of each chapter, sometimes there is a relationship quandary. It was impossible to know not only the likely outcome of the case, but whether the couple would ever be able to rescue their badly damaged marriage. As a lawyer myself, I also appreciated the realism and attention to detail- down to the videophone in ECAB (early crime assessment bureau) at the Manhattan DA's office. I couldn't put this book down and even closed my door at work a few times so I could read "one more chapter" (don't tell the boss). Pick it up, you won't regret it.

I wonder if Scott Turow realized what he started when he wrote "Presumed Innocent". Since then, it seem that American lawyers spend more time writing books than practicing law. Maybe that's a good thing, the US has more lawyers than it can possibly need, but it sure is hard to pick out a good legal thriller these days.
I guess I am supposed to be amazed by the deep legal knowledge that Meltzer possesses, but somehow I just couldn't care less. Very helpful to be told that there is no such thing as Breaking and Entering in New York state... I enjoy books that are simply entertainment as much as the next man, I have no demands for deep messages, but the characters here are as two-dimensional as a centerfold except not as attractive. If you, like I had, have the choice of reading this book or nothing at all during a long flight: go ahead and read it. If your option is to spend time with your family or friends, do that instead.
Coincidentally, the author's first book "The Tenth Justice" was a little bit better.

Meltzer is an interesting author. His prose is interesting and well done. However, he has several significant limitations:
1. His plots are too predictable.
2. His characters remind me of cartoon characters. Too flat. They always whine. Too much self doubt.
3. His lawyers are always the dumbest lawyers in literature with the hero or heroine role. Don't they teach ethics in law school anymore. His hero always seem to have failed ethics. Once they cross the ethical line they never seem smart enough to know how to correct the situation. I wish the author wrote about lawyers that knew the law.
This is a good book to read in the waiting room. It is mildly entertaining but I never objected if I was interrupted while reading.

Why bother spending your hard earned money on this brain-dead "bullet-train" fiction? Why not just set fire to the $25.00 in your wallet? The flames would be prettier than the prose, the feeling afterwards would last longer than the story, and it would be over a lot faster. Hackneyed, lackluster, sold-it-to-the- movie-producers-before-I-typed-a-word Brad Meltzer is in it for the dough. And his work gives me more reason to HATE all lawyers-turned-writers. Slimy, contrived, and bogus to the core, "Dead Even" should be dead last.

The characters were totally unbelievable and rather unlikable. In the right hands the plot could've been clever. These were not the right hands. The lack of tension was remarkable. One didn't care about Sara or Jared's fates. For Sarah to start an office flirtation at that point in the narration was simply not plausible. Death threats aimed at her loved ones, new job, career in jeopardy, multiple murders, and Sara has time to be attracted to a co-worker! Talk about straining credulity... Grisham needn't lose any sleep!

I could not believe that these characters, smart lawyers, could be as dumb as found in this book.
Where in a large American city can a person die who is not under the care of a doctor and an autopsy not be done on the body? Appears so in NY. I just grew tired of the character's silly antics and stupid decisions.

"Legal thrillers" I still wonder how they didn't come to be called "legal borers". I hate legal thrillers-except this one that's why I wanted to review it! This was one comes in like a bomb in the middle of your living room. In most legal thrillers the romance seems to be a footnote; but not this book. It is the tension in the plot-and boy does it have a plot-compared to most legal thrillers this plot is like tic tac toe against three dimensional chess.
This is one of the very few legal thrillers that actually thrills.

The second book by Brad Meltzer is DEAD EVEN. Not nearly as good as the first book. A man and wife, attorneys, oppose each other in court in a must win case for both. It just gets out of hand and the ending is a little disappointing. I thought the book was simply,ok. But I will read the next Meltzer book, attacking them in order.

I have now read the Tenth Justice and Dead Even. I really enjoyed Dead Even as much as the Tenth Justice. I rarely get into books lately due to lack of time, and I've got to say everyone should read these books! I get so caught up in the stories that I don't want to stop reading until I can barely stay awake! You need to pick up a copy of Dead Even soon!!

Pretty much everything that needs to be said about this stinker has been said in other reviews - a ridiculous premise carried forth by astonishingly artificial dialogue. I tried twice to read it, but life's too short. Turns out it is one of Meltzer's first novels, maybe his very first. Subsequent efforts are much better. Ditch this one and read The Zero Game or The Millionaires.

A shrinking violet type hears the voice of her rapist on an open forum radio program and begins to plan retribution. Author Emma Brookes keeps the plot moving and generates some suspense, but the contrivances will create far more chuckles than gasps. Weightless and formulaic made for tv style fluff.

Just like "Tenth Justice," Meltzer provides another exciting, funny thriller with good dialogue and a compelling story. Hard to tell the bad guys from the good. This story requires you to suspend belief a bit (some of the espionage tactics are incredible), but the excitement is nonstop to a truly surprising ending.

Although there were glimpses of brilliance in The Tenth Justice, I agreed with many of the reviewers that it was written almost as a "Grisham wannabe" for the Generation X-ers. I was able to get a copy of his latest prior to publication, and all I can say is...WOW!!! What a great book. Meltzer shows a great deal more maturity and style in this new thriller. Many predicted superstardom when "Justice" was released. After the reading public devours this one, he will surely get the critical and popular acclaim that he now deserves.

What if you're the defense attorney for a scumbag who threatens to kill your wife if you don't get him off. And what if your wife is the prosecuting attorney and she's been threatened that you will be killed if you do get him off. And you can't tell each other. Very interesting, complicated reading. I liked it.

Good read, and very likeable characters. The book had a great premise, and setup but just lost it at the ending. There were to many questions that were left unanswered. Once I knew more about the villians, I was pretty disappointed.
This could have been a great book but none the less a good read.

Very interesting plot. Unfortunately the last pages don't have the same force as the rest of the book. For the last two chapters of the book, when Meltzer gets away from the courtroom and legal thriller the plot loses its strength and starts to fall at some common fights and shootings.

Fabulous page turner! I couldn't put it down and stayed up until all hours reading dying to know what would happen next. If you like legal thrillers you will love Dead Even. If you are tired of legal thrillers you will love Dead Even. Excellent book. My husband who usually only reads biographies or historical novels is reading it on my recommendation and loving it as much as I did. I can't imagine who would not like this book.

Very interesting plot. Unfortunately the last pages don't have the same force as the rest of the book. For the last two chapters of the book, when Meltzer gets away from the courtroom and legal thriller the plot loses its strength and starts to fall at some common fights and shootings.

Fabulous page turner! I couldn't put it down and stayed up until all hours reading dying to know what would happen next. If you like legal thrillers you will love Dead Even. If you are tired of legal thrillers you will love Dead Even. Excellent book. My husband who usually only reads biographies or historical novels is reading it on my recommendation and loving it as much as I did. I can't imagine who would not like this book.

This was a great book. The main characters are unique and interesting. The story and plotting were fresh and inventive. The tension throughout was palpable and continuous. My only complaints are a lackluster climax and occasionally insipid dialogue. This book was a much more enjoyable read than the author's previous novel "The Tenth Justice".

I bought this book at the airport in Seattle, WA. I had a non stop flight to Washington,DC and was hoping to find a book to occupy my mind. Well, I read non stop during the entire flight. I kept thinking what a great movie this would be. The plot was fast paced. Some things seemed far fetched, but this is fiction, right. Very entertaining! I hope to see this book become the basis of a movie in the near future.

I sat and read straight through this book- it surprised me with both the intensity at times, and the humor that the author managed to incorporate into it. I found myself laughing aloud at times- This is the first book of Brad Meltzer that I've read- but I plan on going out and getting Tenth Justice and hoping it's just as good- if not better :)

The novel boasts suspense, mystery, and emotional thrill; none of which it shows. After about 15 pages you want the main character to die. Thats how boring it is. "Tenth Justice" is to "Dead Even" just like "Jurassic Park" is to a story about Barney the purple dinosaur. It looks like the two books were written by two different people.

I enjoyed reading Emma Brookes' work very much. A witty sense of humor as well as a well crafted mystery. The story has a great pace and thanks to Emma Brookes, I've missed some sleep unable to put down her writings. Loved Face Off as well!! If you are a fan of Emma please check out author G.F. Bale!!