Key Witness

by J.F. Freedman

A corporate attorney turns public defender and risks everything to defend a seemingly indefensible young black man charged with seven rape-murders, while the city's racial tensions erupt into violence. Reprint.

Genres: Fiction, Legal Thriller, Mystery, Legal, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

640 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1997

About the author

J.F. Freedman is the New York Times bestselling author of Against the Wind, The Disappearance, House of Smoke, and In My Dark Dreams, among other titles. He is also an award-winning film and television director, writer, and producer. He lives in California.

Reviews

[Manugw · Rating 5 out of 5]

ENJOYED EACH AND EVERY WORD

Freedman with his powerful storytelling skills knows very well how to keep his avid readers well fed, awake and interested every step of the way from beginning to end.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

PROTAGONIST: Wyatt Matthews, attorney
RATING: 4.0
WHY: Wyatt Matthews is a very successful corporate attorney finds his work has become meaningless and volunteers to serve as a public defender. The defendant is a young black man who has been accused of murdering 7 women. His confession to another inmate looks like they’ll throw away the key. Although the book was 630 pages long, I found it moved really well and kept my interest throughout. I didn't care for the secondary thread involving Wyatt's wife.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good court room story. The author did an enormous amount of research I would think. Some of the different descriptions of events and happenings were very, very good.
I would recommend this book to everyone except one who might be a little uncomfortable with the few but graphic sex scenes.

[Daniela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true nail biter, great book

[Marie Lutz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvin, a violent not too bright black hoodlum, is defended by Wyatt, a brilliant corporate attorney who is taking a 6-month leave of absence from his firm to become a public defender. Marvin is ultimately charged with being a serial killer after a jailhouse snitch lies and says Marvin told him he committed the rape/murders. In the meantime, Wyatt struggles with his marriage when his wife can’t support his temporary career change.

This novel is a mixed bag. Some of the characterizations are very good (Marvin, for example), others just OK. The excellent description of a violent black neighborhood is interspersed with preachy diatribes against white racism and the evils of guns (the preachiness was boring). Parts of the plot are of the can’t put it down variety. Other parts are dull or repetitious, and the novel is overly long. Not everything is believable. When the judge at Marvin’s trial recites his social security number out loud in court so a witness can point out all the things he can learn online from that information, I didn’t know whether to laugh or groan. More seriously, it wasn’t at all clear why the prosecution never conducted DNA tests. The prosecution was so sure Marvin was guilty, you’d think they’d have done the tests to cinch their case, although, of course, Marvin would have been cleared.

The ending is abrupt and leaves open a number of questions. We don’t know what happens to Wyatt’s marriage or to his daughter’s dream of being a dancer, or to Wyatt’s subsequent career.

[Joseph M. Suozzo, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read multiple J.F. Freedman novels and really liked each one (except the one about the runner, too dark for me). Developing the characters and plot is a strength of Freedman. I didn't find the prosecutor very nuanced but was fascinated with the marital issues of the protagonist and his wife.
He was able to see the larger world, have some recognition of systemic racism and the struggles of Black people. His wife was locked into her easy life and much more self-absorbed. It is always interesting to read an early work where you are already familiar with an author from his later works (I thought this one stood up well).

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good storyline with page filler redundancy that made it about 100 pages too long. Believable and relatable characters (except for the wife where her entire personality and demeanor changes on a dime). The most disappointing was the ending …. bring closure to their marital status, did the daughter recover so she could continue her pursuit of dancing, did he continue with criminal law, etc. After 629 pages, I needed a little more finality with the ending.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edge of your seat type of book. Kept you guessing all the way to the end. A jail snitch is the key witness against Marvin White who is charged with the rape and murder of 7 women. Computer hacking is involved. Wyatt takes leave from his high powered lawyer job in corporate to take a break and try to defend a criminal. His wife hates it and does something awful which she blames on him. It is a good one but there was a part at the end that left me a bit confused (science).

[JoAnn Ainsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the plot and the characters. The story moved along and kept up the drama.

Only problems: Having worked in a law firm, I knew the amount of work taken on by the attorney and his paralegal could not be done by them alone and that quickly. Knowing this, tripped me up at times. Also, there was no blood on anybody’s clothing right after the murders.

[Wendy Borgstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Provides insight into the legal world showing the possibilities of corruption and class barriers.

Very much enjoyed reading this legal thriller. Anyone who enjoys suspense novels would enjoy this book. I enjoyed the fact that not all people are racist!

[Susan Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wyatt Matthews is a supremely successful corporate lawyer in a mid-life crisis. This is the main reason why he takes a leave from his corporate lawyering to work in the Public Defenders office. He picks up a case of a scum bag accused of serial rapes and murders. But, his scum bag didn't do it. Freedman writes a great legal mystery and this is as good as any of his.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first time I have read a book by this author. I thought it was very well written, the characters were not one dimensional, the storyline plausible. Compared to the likes of James Patterson, this book was an absolute delight, but then any book would be an absolute delight compared to James Patterson's books!

[Sandy Gurile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once I got totally engaged in this book, I could not put it down. I was on the edge of my seat until the very end. This has been sitting on my bookshelf since 1997 and I'm only sorry I didn't read it sooner.

[Brandon Conner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even while being based in the late 90s this book has a fun element of suspense and action. It reminds us of a time with limited technology compared to today. Awesome plot with twists and turns. A main character you have moments to love and hate. Excellent read. highly recommend.

[Josephine Downer · Rating 5 out of 5]

nail-biter

Fast moving and even though you thought/hoped it would end okay, you were never sure. Great characters, exciting plot. Couldn’t wait to find out the end and hated it to be finished.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a little long, but a good story.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The court room drama of this story was somewhat confusing, however it ended excellent.....

[JL Salty · Rating 2 out of 5]

language & sex = R

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story. Good character development.

[Linda Humphries · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought this was really good.

[Diane French · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

This is a great read. Keeps you on your toes waiting for the next foot to fall. An exciting read. Thanks for writing a great book.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good legal story. A lot of twists on the road to “not guilty”.

[Jennifer Fehling]

A lot of extraneous detail tobwade through to get to the trial which was pretty well done

[Connie Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

intriguing legal thriller

If you like legal thrillers, I highly recommend this one. It has Believable characters, some surprises, good story line, engrossing.

[melanie mosher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edge of a seat book

I enjoyed this book and found the characters all to be quite authentic. The pace was excellent, the build up and crashes and twists all so exciting.

[Sophie Bergan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was SO good! First book I’ve ever read about a lawyer. Shoutout Grandma T for always having the best book recommendations.

[Barbara Nussbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing!!

Grabbed me from the beginning and pulled me in deeper and deeper. Could barely breathe towards the end. One , if not The best books ive ever read!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

First 2/3 of this book tended to drag along.finally moved on at the end. Ok story.

[Mary Newcomb]

It is unusual to encounter a coming of age story with a grown person combined with a legal thriller. Wyatt Matthews is living the good life—a highly respected attorney in a lucrative practice, a loving family and all the material things which would seem necessary. Then he decides to do pro bono work at the Public Defender's office and becomes embroiled in a very complicated case. As he untangles that, his personal life becomes more tangled. The resolution was interesting although I think one element was represented twice, slightly differently each time.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reason I am giving this book only three stars is that it could have used some MAJOR editing! There was so much written that could have been skipped or left out. The first few hundred pages were tough going because of this- I felt like I was waiting for the story to start while the author wrote about a trip to the blues club and talked about the atmosphere for pages. But, it hit it's stride midway and got much better. We'll see how much I enjoy his next book.