Genre - Legal Thriller / Mystery & Suspense
Rating - G
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To have described Thursday 11th March as simply One Of Those Days for solicitor Alex Harris would have been a woeful understatement.
With his newspaper clients’ libel trial only days away, he realises just
how dirty a fight his opponents intend to contest, as they pull a last minute rabbit
out of the hat in the form of printed apologies to past libel victims that Bill
Holroyd, the editor, had been compelled to publish in days gone by. Apologies
that are now to feature in the documents bundle that will be placed before the
judge and jury, in the hope of poisoning their minds against the editor, regardless
of the fact that he was then in charge of a downmarket tabloid, not the same
newspaper that is now on trial.
Thinking on his feet, Alex finds a counter-measure to demonstrate that
whenever Holroyd decided in his past editorial role to stand firm against a
libel allegation and go to trial, he was never defeated. Little did Alex know
that this would not be the last dirty trick…
But the clients’ problems and Alex’s fightback on their behalf almost
pale into insignificance alongside a sudden escalation of his firm’s internal
political struggle. Breaking into his working day, by way of direct response to
his defiance of a recent personal affront, a decision from the Management
Committee to spark off a formal process that will put his status and his
livelihood on the line. And all because of what?
Just at the wrong moment, in comes Stewart Robbins, Alex’s head of
department, for a private word, evidently knowing about the Management
Committee’s intentions and looking to play the part of some kind of honest
broker. If ever a man was in the wrong place at the wrong time…
Page 99 is where what had been a steady build up of tension in Alex’s
working life becomes a virtual torrent. There is no turning back. From this
point onwards, it is evident that neither the libel trial nor the partnership
conflict stand any chance of striking a happy medium and reaching an outcome
where everyone involved can make a concession or two, resolve the disputes and
feel that they have achieved something. They will both move remorselessly
towards an outcome where there can only be one winner. And one loser.
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