HORRORS OF THE PAST

Legal thrillers, I once believed were plain courtroom dramas. But “Shadow of Power” changed that notion. Paul Madriani seems to be the Sherlock of the legal world as he effortlessly untangles complex judicial knots. Given their compactness and heavily guarded privacy, courtrooms have made the judicial process seem minimalistic. Be it the prosecution or defence, the law is tricky especially because humans and emotions are involved. So, here's the plot. Fighting against time and shoddy police work, Madriani and his partner Harry go above and beyond to acquit an innocent victim who has gotten embroiled in the controversial death of a trouble-making writer Terry Scarborough. 

In his afterword, author Steve Martin throws light on the problematic history of the US in the 1700s and 1800s when their constitution was drafted by the founding fathers. Although Jefferson’s letter plays a significant role as a fictional entity in this story, it sparks a sense of wonderment in readers about its existence. Official abolition of slavery wasn’t as easy as it sounds in our civics books. even after the laws got into print, unethical compromises and unlawful practices were allowed to continue for the exchange of materialistic personal gains for capitalists and politicians of the old world. Sometimes, rereading history and relooking into the past easily pushes us to question everything we have learnt to accept and let go. This novel is not yet just a fictional legal thriller but a mirror that reflects the horrors of the past. Here I go, adding a few more series starring Paul Madriani to my book cart while I write this.