For John Phillip Solomon, the case is his last shot at redemption. And it's the longest shot of his life. An LAPD vice cop is dead, gunned down outside a strip joint. Juan Thomas, a black gang leader, is the accused, and Solomon is Thomas's court-appointed attorney.As Solomon reviews the case file, he fights the urge to seek refuge in the solace of self-recrimination. If only he hadn't blown his career, a star position as chief trial deputy in the Los Angeles D.A.'s office. If only his life hadn't taken a nosedive, pulling an unraveling marriage with it. If only his opponent weren't his longtime nemesis, Howard Ainsworth, the man who replaced Solomon as chief deputy, and the ultraconservative, hyper-ambitious front-runner in the county's D.A. race.Though Solomon finds it hard to conclude that a county paycheck is worth the humiliation, he stubbornly - perhaps not altogether wisely - believes he can battle his way through kickbacks and back stabbings, legal loopholes and political land mines, cutthroat advocacy and emotional vertigo, and, maybe, still pull off some of his old courtroom magic. Read Less