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The Halls of Justice
Out celebrating a surprise win in court, Diane Pierman, a prominent Santa Monica attorney, and her sister are brutally attacked, leaving them badly traumatized.
Their case falls to Deputy DA Sal Milano, a man of strong moral conviction, and a brilliant legal strategist. Though the sisters feel victory is certain, Sal begins to have doubts, as departmental politics and his own growing attraction to Diane begin to overwhelm him. Also, Sal underestimates his opposition, an aging criminal defense attorney with many more years of experience in cleverly manipulating the law to the advantage of his questionable clients.
Through an extraordinary misstep of justice, the trial takes an awful turn, leaving Diane and Sal in a state of shock at how the vaunted rules of law betrayed them. While Sal is able to walk away from the case, the sisters are not, and it is they who concoct a remarkable scheme to exact a terrible revenge on their attacker. Their plan is as shockingly bold to police investigators as it is to Sal, and sets off an amazing chain reaction of legal duplicity that will leave no one unscathed.
In this spellbinding novel of legal intrigue, Lee Gruenfeld delivers a galvanic and powerful tale that will resonate long after the last page is turned. Legal suspense has never been more compelling than in The Halls of Justice.
Their case falls to Deputy DA Sal Milano, a man of strong moral conviction, and a brilliant legal strategist. Though the sisters feel victory is certain, Sal begins to have doubts, as departmental politics and his own growing attraction to Diane begin to overwhelm him. Also, Sal underestimates his opposition, an aging criminal defense attorney with many more years of experience in cleverly manipulating the law to the advantage of his questionable clients.
Through an extraordinary misstep of justice, the trial takes an awful turn, leaving Diane and Sal in a state of shock at how the vaunted rules of law betrayed them. While Sal is able to walk away from the case, the sisters are not, and it is they who concoct a remarkable scheme to exact a terrible revenge on their attacker. Their plan is as shockingly bold to police investigators as it is to Sal, and sets off an amazing chain reaction of legal duplicity that will leave no one unscathed.
In this spellbinding novel of legal intrigue, Lee Gruenfeld delivers a galvanic and powerful tale that will resonate long after the last page is turned. Legal suspense has never been more compelling than in The Halls of Justice.
480 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
40 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 21, 2018
A lawyer went out to celebrate a case that she won with her twin but a guy in the pub has something else on his mind which led to kidnapping & rape case. This book covers the whole procedure of rape case and how a case is prosecuted from start to finish. To be honest, at first I thought that it was kinda eye-opening to the legal procedure but as the story progress, it became something with TOO much information. At one point, I thought and felt like I was in a law lecture listening to a lawyer talking about his case.
Don't make me start how the main protagonist, from whom we got the first person point of view, keep talking in a lot of tangents that it becomes distractions. First person POV is either hit or miss with me because there are times when he is talking about crucial info but not sure whether he's talking to himself or to others.
Despite all that, the cases are quite interesting and made me kept on reading.
July 25, 2008
I like the title of this book because in a way it seems kind of sarcastic since many people believe that sometimes there is no justice in the court of law. When a rapist is sentenced to five years and because of good behavior he walks away with less than he deserves or because of a mistrial or evidence tampering a killer walks free, it makes you wonder if we have a strong justice system or a fair one. With this kind of attitude, it makes some people take the law into their own hands and only then can they be satisfied by providing their own justice.
The Halls of Justice is a novel that deals with a terrible injustice brought upon two sisters - where the law gets twisted in such a manner that a dangerous attacker is allowed to go free. Twin sisters were brutally attacked and their lawyer thought it would be an open and shut case, however, through a mistake in the justice system the case was dismissed.
Well, wouldn't you be pissed off?! The twin sisters end up taking the law into their own hands and providing their own justice due to the damage that was done to them both physically and mentally by their attacker.
The story opens up a can of worms showing all the problems with the justice system and the decisions made by the judges, the conspiracies within the legal hierarchy which makes the sister's attorney realize that it may not have been just a terrible mistake. As the story unravels, you realize that there is more to this than just his case.
I don't usually agree with people taking it upon themselves to get back at their attacker or any type of action like that but when you read through this story you feel compassion for the sisters and you understand where they are coming from. You are on their side all the way and hope that they get away with it. In the meantime, even though their lawyer does not agree with his client's actions, he is doing his own investigation and working towards trying to get an appeal to a higher court.
This is a great story and Lee Gruenfeld makes it seem so real that you will definitely enjoy it!
The Halls of Justice is a novel that deals with a terrible injustice brought upon two sisters - where the law gets twisted in such a manner that a dangerous attacker is allowed to go free. Twin sisters were brutally attacked and their lawyer thought it would be an open and shut case, however, through a mistake in the justice system the case was dismissed.
Well, wouldn't you be pissed off?! The twin sisters end up taking the law into their own hands and providing their own justice due to the damage that was done to them both physically and mentally by their attacker.
The story opens up a can of worms showing all the problems with the justice system and the decisions made by the judges, the conspiracies within the legal hierarchy which makes the sister's attorney realize that it may not have been just a terrible mistake. As the story unravels, you realize that there is more to this than just his case.
I don't usually agree with people taking it upon themselves to get back at their attacker or any type of action like that but when you read through this story you feel compassion for the sisters and you understand where they are coming from. You are on their side all the way and hope that they get away with it. In the meantime, even though their lawyer does not agree with his client's actions, he is doing his own investigation and working towards trying to get an appeal to a higher court.
This is a great story and Lee Gruenfeld makes it seem so real that you will definitely enjoy it!
December 21, 2021
Regular readers of these reviews will know that I love a big, fat book. But, while this one was good, the writer managed to squeeze about 200 pages of plot into 500 pages. Just too much not necessary story. But, the 200 pages of story was good. Twin sisters have been raped. Deputy District Attorney, Sal Milano knows one of them very well. The rapist is caught quickly. And the story starts a series of amazing switchbacks. I just hope that his other books had a better editor.
May 27, 2015
Good read. The book was a little more "lawyer speak" than other books I have read, but I enjoyed the story and the characters. The rape of twin sisters, their trial, their revenge and the lawyers and judges in this story was interesting. Will look for another Lee Gruenfeld book.
November 21, 2012
Good read. Should be, because on the top of the cover is a recommendation written by Nelson DeMille!
June 15, 2014
A story well told. Lee kept me glued to the book from start to finish.
August 15, 2014
Good book. Read this in 2001.
January 16, 2020
Fast action legal thriller. Maybe a little deep in some of the legal details but that doesn’t detract from the story. An excellent read
August 20, 2025
This is an amazing book, by an amazing author! I'd never heard of this author, but his writing rivals John Grisham's! Highly recommended for adults.
September 5, 2025
Excellent court room drama with thrilling twists and turns. Dark and compelling storyline to keep you thinking long after you close the book. Too good to miss.
February 4, 2008
This could have been a good novel in the hands of an author in touch with reality. OK, maybe I'm being harsh.
But seriously, the twists in the courtroom were just too unbelievable to me. True, we've all seen gross miscarriages of justice. But these just defied reason.
But seriously, the twists in the courtroom were just too unbelievable to me. True, we've all seen gross miscarriages of justice. But these just defied reason.
July 16, 2013
Oh my word! By the time I finished this book I feel I could pass the bar for criminal law in the state of California way to much information
October 4, 2014
I made it to page 47 before giving up. Apparently this is a sequel and I'm getting lost in the back story of a prior court case. Too many background characters being thrown at me to keep straight.
February 2, 2016
Good story with a surprise ending. I thought the book had too much 'preaching' and it could have been shortened. I found myself skipping through some of this that was not relevant to the story.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews