Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780380728800
ISBN number: 038072880X
Label: Harper
Manufacturer: Harper
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 400
Printing Date: March 01, 1999
Publishing house: Harper
Release Date: February 09, 1999
Sale Popularity Level: 287649
Studio: Harper
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Product Description:
Star attorney Claire Heller Chapman has known only love and respect from her successful husband. But now police are saying Tom Chapman is not who he says he is. Thirteen years ago, they claim, he had a different face and a different name -- and was responsible for a crime so heinous that only a maniac could have committed it. Now Claire must put her reputation, her family, and her life on the line to defend this man she never knew -- in a case where all the evidence is classified, all the rules are being changed around her...and the stakes are higher and deadlier than she or anyone else could have ever imagined.
Amazon.com Review:
When (not if---the deal has already been signed) this terrific thriller gets made into a movie, you might see Morgan Freeman as a crusty lawyer who specializes in taking on the military establishment tell the actress playing ace Boston barrister and Harvard Law professor Claire Heller Chapman, 'Every civilian who's ever gone into a military general court-martial and tried to attack the foundations of the military has lost his case. No exceptions. The military is a tight, closed fraternity. They take it real serious. Military justice is a deadly serious business.' Claire has to realize this as she prepares to defend her husband--the man she knows as Tom Chapman, but who the Army says is Ron Kubik-- on charges that he took part in a massacre of 87 civilians in San Salvador 13 years before. Full of doubts about Tom's innocence and her own ability to prove it in an unfamiliar arena, Claire is brought to exciting, moving life by the extravagantly gifted Joseph Finder, whose previous thrillers (Extraordinary Powers, The Zero Hour) are available in paperback.
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Rated by buyers 
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Leftist antigovernment guerrillas killed four U.S. Marines in San Salvador. So Regan gives the order for "Total closure" meaning kill everyone remotely involved. They had intelligence of a leftist organization called FMLN based in a tiny village. They killed 87 people. The intel was wrong. No FMLN. Ron Kubik (aka Tom Chapman) was there. OK fine
What turned me off and caused me to return the book unfinished was
1. Chapter one. I just couldn't imagine the FBI staging an arrest of a highly skilled Special Forces guy wanted for war crimes in the middle of a crowded mall with his wife and 6y/o stepdaughter in tow when they could of just picked him up at home or at work. That was stupid beyond belief.
2. The 6y/o daughter was obnoxious. And Clair didn't even try to teach her better.
3. Chapter 17. When Claire Chapman, high power lawyer and wife to above war criminal, goes to the house of Charles Grimes a former Army JAG lawyer, whom she's never met before, to hire him Grimes uses foul language and talks to her as tho he's talking to some old drinking buddy. The odds of that are slim to nil. First_he's a man talking to an unknown women for the very very first time. Second_ he's a former officer in the military where PROTOCOL and etiquette is drummed in. Third he's a lawyer, so he's not some ignorant bum. Forth_ he's gone thru a divorce and his wife took him for everything he had so he needs the money.
I didn't want to go any further.
I've read two other J. Finder books. Here's how I have them on my HAVE READ list
Finder, Joseph - Paranoia BAD. Company Man BAD
I'll be adding High Crimes BAD today
Rated by buyers 
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This is the third novel I have read by Joseph Finder. Like the other two, I was not disappointed.
High Crimes begins very innocently. Claire, a Harvard Law School professor and successful defense attorney, her husband Tom, an investment banker, and their daughter Annie, have dinner at a mall restaurant. Leaving the establishment, federal marshals appear to arrest her husband. Tom, showing much more athleticism and cunning than he appears to have, escapes.
From there, the story takes off in a couple of directions, but the suspense doesn't stop. Tom is eventually caught and the story continues in a military court, as Tom is being held for crimes committed while he was in the service (this comes as news to Claire, as Tom never told her he was in the military). Tom, or as the Army knows him, Ron Kubik, is wanted for the killing of 87 civilians in San Salvador 13 years earlier. Claire defends Tom/Ron, wondering who this person is that she married. There are a lot of people with a vested interest in the outcome of this case, and not all of them want to see Tom/Ron proclaimed innocent and set free.
Early on, I thought that this was a story of Claire just wanting to see her husband released from the brig. But then Finder adds some troubling undercurrents, bringing the rats out into the light. He does not disappoint. Like his other works that I have read, he adds some nice, plausible twists to the story, all the way up the to end (an excellent ending, I might add).
Another highly recommended novel from Joseph Finder.
BTW - I have not seen the movie based on this book.
Rated by buyers 
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Lured by many acclaim notes in the front and back covers, yet I could not find that spark that gets me trapped to this plot because in this story I have experienced Finder's trademark again, he uses to write serious drama in his books with the depth and times you will find in an afternoon soap opera. The story unfolds like a tale published in the pages of a glossy magazine. The final product is a light fast read suitable for a cross country flight if you don't like the plane magazines
Rated by buyers 
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I read a lot of thrillers, and I think Joseph Finder is one of the best writers in the genre. He very first came to fame in 2004, when he wrote an excellent novel called PARANOIA. But before he wrote that novel, he wrote a number of other books that were not as successful. HIGH CRIMES is one of them, and it's actually a pretty terrific effort.
HIGH CRIMES is a legal thriller involving a civilian attorney who must defend her husband in military court. I won't say much more about the plot, because the storyline has a ton of twists and turns, and it's fun to experience them yourself.
The legal plotline of HIGH CRIMES isn't particularly realistic, but Finder has done enough research into military courtroom procedure to make it seem believable. The story moves forward at warp speed, and it's pretty much a blast to read. The ending is controversial, but Finder deserves credit for avoiding a predictable finish.
HIGH CRIMES doesn't have a tremendous amount of depth, but it's fun and exciting and I don't think you'll be disappointed with it. If you like this novel, try Finder's PARANOIA and COMPANY MAN, which are also both terrific books.
Rated by buyers -
The writing is truly wonderful, and the construction of the plot nothing short of pure genius. It's the only way it could have worked, and worked so well. After reading Grisham, I used to believe that only lawyers usually write good legal thrillers, but Finder proved me wrong here.
High Crimes, is a story about a Harvard Faculty who finds herself in a tight situation where her husband is accused of killing eighty-seven innocent people. Her personal and professional life starts falling from every direction, until she finds herself with unique ability to face the military court system, and people who runs it.
No doubt, Finder is a rising star in the literary world, and I look forward to great things from him. This one is highly recommended.
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