The tenth justice

Meltzer is a bit of a wunderkind. A young attorney and speechwriter for President Clinton, he managed to wrangle credit out of Columbia Law School for writing his first novel, a peppy, amusing, and suspenseful little thriller primed for major commercial success with film and foreign rights in the bag and a spot in the Literary Guild lineup. The story begins on Ben Addison's first day at work as a clerk for the Supreme Court. So crucial is the contribution of the clerks to the Court that they are referred to as the "tenth justice," and Ben, precocious and ambitious, is terrifically excited until he's taken down a notch by his brusque co-clerk, Lisa Schulman, a no-nonsense gal who quickly gets involved up to her skeptical eyebrows in Ben's troubles. Too eager to succeed, Ben foolishly breaks the Court's rule of confidentiality and soon finds himself under the thumb of a blackmailing mastermind. Ben enlists the help of his three roommates--a senator's aide, a reporter, and a State Department employee--and inadvertently stirs up a hornet's nest of distrust, fear, and anger. As Ben, his nearly alienated buddies, and intrepid Lisa try to establish the identity of their adversary and his inside source, Meltzer scrolls out dialogue worthy of a high-quality prime-time sitcom. This could be an action version of Friends or Spin City; in fact, picture Michael J. Fox as Ben, and you've got the flavor of this witty, almost violence-free, fresh, and satisfying page-turner. --Donna Seaman

The high price of ambition is explored in Meltzer's debut novel, a crafty legal thriller set in Washington, D.C. Ben Addison, a Yale Law School grad, is working as a clerk for a highly respected Supreme Court justice and being aggressively courted by a prestigious law firm. But this golden boy is brought down to earth when a wily con artist dupes him into revealing the confidential outcome of an upcoming Court decision involving millions of dollars. Terrified of ruining his career, Addison refuses to go to the authorities and admit his mistake. Instead, he enlists the aid of his co-clerk, Lisa, and of his conveniently well-placed D.C. housemates-Nathan, who works for the State Department; Eric, a reporter for the Washington Herald; and Ober, who clings to a menial job in a senator's office. Addison's friends also circumvent the law to help him, putting themselves at risk as lies, suspicions, accusations and betrayals threaten to tear the group apart. Addison is a difficult character to root for, not only because he is so willing to risk his friends' careers and lives to save his own, but because he seems too immature, petulant and self-absorbed. But Meltzer moves the story along at a crisp pace, spicing the action and legalese with lively banter and intriguing D.C. arcana. Meltzer's shadow-filled world will entertain most readers but it will rivet few; as Lisa says of some early threatening events: "This isn't The Firm." Major ad/promo; Literary Guild "Super Release"; author tour; audio rights to HarperAudio; foreign rights sold in the U.K., Germany, Japan, Israel and Finland; film rights to Fox 2000. (May) FYI: Meltzer, 26, wrote this novel while attending of Columbia Law School. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

YA‘This story of friendship and betrayal is set in Washington, DC, where four young men who have grown up together become housemates, each with his first big job opportunity. One of them, Ben Addison, is a brand-new clerk for a Supreme Court justice. Ben and his co-clerk Lisa are two of the best and the brightest of the legal community, their intelligence only barely exceeding their egos. But early in the Court session, he is tricked into revealing the confidential outcome of an upcoming decision to a man posing as a former clerk, and one of the parties in the case uses the information to make millions. Ben is in danger of losing his job, his reputation, and any chance for a place on the ladder to legal fame and success. Desperate to find the man who tricked him, he enlists the help of Lisa and his housemates. When the elusive villain tries to blackmail Ben into revealing further Court decisions, the search becomes even more intense, and Ben realizes that one of his friends is leaking the group's plans to the blackmailer. The story builds to an action-packed and satisfying conclusion, but lives are shattered in the process and the fabric of friendship is torn apart. YAs will be confronted by issues of loyalty, integrity, and trust, and at the same time will learn much about the decision-making process of the Supreme Court.‘Molly Connally, Kings Park Library, Fairfax County, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Hotshot young lawyer Ben Addison is on top of the world. Just out of Yale Law School, he's already landed the highly desirable top job of clerk to a Supreme Court justice, experiences instant chemistry with his new co-clerk Lisa, and shares an apartment with three lifelong friends. Then a misplaced trust leads Ben to reveal a confidential court decision, and his world begins to crash. With Ben's career in jeopardy and a blackmailer on his trail, his friends use their job connections at the State Department, a Washington newspaper, and a senator's office to aid Ben and Lisa in a plot to apprehend Ben's blackmailer. But when their own careers are threatened, allegiance fades and distrust sets in, turning Ben and his former allies against one another as events escalate and they find themselves struggling not to save their careers but their lives. The story flows smoothly in this engrossing legal thriller by lawyer Meltzer‘and the plot is perfect for a blockbuster movie. A good purchase.‘Lori Dunn, Montgomery Cty. P.L., Troy, N.C. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Loose lips sink careers in this barn-burning first novel about a Supreme Court clerk who runs his mouth to a disastrously ill-chosen confidant. The Solicitor General is often called the Court's tenth justice, but don't tell that to the Court's 18 clerks, who are convinced the world revolves around them. So it's not surprising that Justice Mason Hollis's clerk Ben Addison, who knows the results of all the Court's decisions long before they're announced, mentions one of them to Rick Fagen, one of Hollis's old clerks. Alas, Rick is an imposter who never clerked for Hollis, but who's just wormed his way into Ben's confidence to get a tip that will allow him to make millions on the insider info. Worse, Rick seems to know everything about Ben's puny efforts to find out who he really is. Does he have an in with Ben's fellow-clerk Lisa Schulman? Or could he be getting the skinny from one of Ben's roommates--senatorial assistant William Oberman, State staffer Nathan Hollister, or Washington Herald reporter Eric Stroman--all of them childhood friends? Ben determines to nail Rick for his perfidy, but Rick simply responds by stepping up the pressure, demanding further tipoffs on sensitive cases and threatening to reveal Ben's involvement to the U.S. Marshals, who are already suspicious on account of a news story Eric filed on possible Court leaks. The more Rick's noose tightens, the more suspicious and shrill Ben grows about his old friends, whose fear of their bosses and parents and whose unfailingly juvenile dialogue (``Drop it'' and ``He's dead'' are Ben's stock responses to every new threat) suggest the Washington branch of St. Elmo's Fire. Meltzer spins a mean paranoid fantasy that'll have you turning pages in a frenzy to learn whether Ben and his equally strung-out buddies ever grow up. (Literary Guild super release; film rights to Fox 2000; author tour)

Meltzer is a bit of a wunderkind. A young attorney and speechwriter for President Clinton, he managed to wrangle credit out of Columbia Law School for writing his first novel, a peppy, amusing, and suspenseful little thriller primed for major commercial success with film and foreign rights in the bag and a spot in the Literary Guild lineup. The story begins on Ben Addison's first day at work as a clerk for the Supreme Court. So crucial is the contribution of the clerks to the Court that they are referred to as the "tenth justice," and Ben, precocious and ambitious, is terrifically excited until he's taken down a notch by his brusque co-clerk, Lisa Schulman, a no-nonsense gal who quickly gets involved up to her skeptical eyebrows in Ben's troubles. Too eager to succeed, Ben foolishly breaks the Court's rule of confidentiality and soon finds himself under the thumb of a blackmailing mastermind. Ben enlists the help of his three roommates--a senator's aide, a reporter, and a State Department employee--and inadvertently stirs up a hornet's nest of distrust, fear, and anger. As Ben, his nearly alienated buddies, and intrepid Lisa try to establish the identity of their adversary and his inside source, Meltzer scrolls out dialogue worthy of a high-quality prime-time sitcom. This could be an action version of Friends or Spin City; in fact, picture Michael J. Fox as Ben, and you've got the flavor of this witty, almost violence-free, fresh, and satisfying page-turner. ((Reviewed February 1, 1997)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews

This debut novel, a legal thriller, is also the first in a trendy new imprint. Copyright 1998 Library Journal Reviews

Hotshot young lawyer Ben Addison is on top of the world. Just out of Yale Law School, he's already landed the highly desirable top job of clerk to a Supreme Court justice, experiences instant chemistry with his new co-clerk Lisa, and shares an apartment with three lifelong friends. Then a misplaced trust leads Ben to reveal a confidential court decision, and his world begins to crash. With Ben's career in jeopardy and a blackmailer on his trail, his friends use their job connections at the State Department, a Washington newspaper, and a senator's office to aid Ben and Lisa in a plot to apprehend Ben's blackmailer. But when their own careers are threatened, allegiance fades and distrust sets in, turning Ben and his former allies against one another as events escalate and they find themselves struggling not to save their careers but their lives. The story flows smoothly in this engrossing legal thriller by lawyer Meltzer and the plot is perfect for a blockbuster movie. A good purchase. Lori Dunn, Montgomery Cty. P.L., Troy, N.C. Copyright 1998 Library Journal Reviews

The high price of ambition is explored in Meltzer's debut novel, a crafty legal thriller set in Washington, D.C. Ben Addison, a Yale Law School grad, is working as a clerk for a highly respected Supreme Court justice and being aggressively courted by a prestigious law firm. But this golden boy is brought down to earth when a wily con artist dupes him into revealing the confidential outcome of an upcoming Court decision involving millions of dollars. Terrified of ruining his career, Addison refuses to go to the authorities and admit his mistake. Instead, he enlists the aid of his co-clerk, Lisa, and of his conveniently well-placed D.C. housemates Nathan, who works for the State Department; Eric, a reporter for the Washington Herald; and Ober, who clings to a menial job in a senator's office. Addison's friends also circumvent the law to help him, putting themselves at risk as lies, suspicions, accusations and betrayals threaten to tear the group apart. Addison is a difficult character to root for, not only because he is so willing to risk his friends' careers and lives to save his own, but because he seems too immature, petulant and self-absorbed. But Meltzer moves the story along at a crisp pace, spicing the action and legalese with lively banter and intriguing D.C. arcana. Meltzer's shadow-filled world will entertain most readers but it will rivet few; as Lisa says of some early threatening events: "This isn't The Firm." Major ad/promo; Literary Guild "Super Release"; author tour; audio rights to HarperAudio; foreign rights sold in the U.K., Germany, Japan, Israel and Finland; film rights to Fox 2000. (May) FYI: Meltzer, 26, wrote this novel while attending of Columbia Law School. Copyright 1998 Publishers Weekly Reviews

YA This story of friendship and betrayal is set in Washington, DC, where four young men who have grown up together become housemates, each with his first big job opportunity. One of them, Ben Addison, is a brand-new clerk for a Supreme Court justice. Ben and his co-clerk Lisa are two of the best and the brightest of the legal community, their intelligence only barely exceeding their egos. But early in the Court session, he is tricked into revealing the confidential outcome of an upcoming decision to a man posing as a former clerk, and one of the parties in the case uses the information to make millions. Ben is in danger of losing his job, his reputation, and any chance for a place on the ladder to legal fame and success. Desperate to find the man who tricked him, he enlists the help of Lisa and his housemates. When the elusive villain tries to blackmail Ben into revealing further Court decisions, the search becomes even more intense, and Ben realizes that one of his friends is leaking the group's plans to the blackmailer. The story builds to an action-packed and satisfying conclusion, but lives are shattered in the process and the fabric of friendship is torn apart. YAs will be confronted by issues of loyalty, integrity, and trust, and at the same time will learn much about the decision-making process of the Supreme Court. Molly Connally, Kings Park Library, Fairfax County, VA Copyright 1998 School Library Journal Reviews