Title: Death on the High Floor: A Legal Thriller
Author: Charles Rosenberg
Publisher: Sliding Hill Press
ISBN: 9780615470658
Pages: 453, Paperback, Kindle
Genre: Thriller
Reviewed by: Lisa Brown-Gilbert, Pacific Book Review
Book Review
Currently the market for the genre of legal thrillers is abundantly populated and while many legal thrillers do turn out to be pretty decent reads – there are some that really are of a better class. Death on a High Floor, written by lawyer-turned-author Charles Rosenberg, happens to fall into the better class of legal thrillers. Available in paperback or e-book edition, this book is a very well written legal thriller that captures the reader’s attention immediately with its tightly devised plot. The story continually moves at an exciting pace and the creative plot twists continue to keep the reader absorbed until the very last word.Death on a High Floor starts out like most legal thrillers; there is a murder of senior partner Simon Rafer and a central character that seems like the most likely suspect – sixty year old senior partner Robert Tarza. Robert Tarza is a seasoned partner in the Los Angeles based law firm of Marbury Marfan and a known collector of very rare coins. It is Robert Tarza’s dealings with his rare coin collecting that lends to evidence placing him as the main suspect in this murder mystery. The rare coin aspect of this story also leads into some very interesting plot twists. The central plot of the murder mystery is exactly where this book’s similarity to the others in the genre ends.
As the story develops, other characters are introduced that are seemingly just as viable as Robert Tarza as potential murder suspects; such as Jenna James the intelligent, ambitious and attentive young lawyer that eventually becomes a major player in Robert Tarza’s defense. The fun in reading this book is not only moving along with the story as the murder mystery is unraveled; the fun is in the well paced and realistically written court room scenes and pragmatic dialog between characters. This story does not lose a step; the enthralling pace throughout the story remains consistent. Also, this story works better than most because of the down-to-earth portrayal of the drama, the novel court room antics, and the original encounters with the press, photographers and bloggers. The author’s expertise as an attorney is well represented in the verbiage that is used both in the court room and among the attorneys within the story. Death on a High Floor is not over laden with confusing legal terminology and it is very easy to follow for readers that are unfamiliar with the legal world. Although the eventual conclusion of the story is predictable, it is the road to the end of the story that is not.
I enthusiastically recommend this story to all those readers that not only favor legal thrillers but also savor the elements of an intriguing mystery. On a scale of one to five stars, I would rate this book a full five stars.
