The Publisher Says: Hollywood’s latest blockbuster is all set to premiere—until a faded superstar claims the script was stolen from her. To defend the studio, in steps the Harold Firm, one of Los Angeles’s top entertainment litigation firms and as much a part of the glamorous scene as the studios themselves. As a newly minted partner, it’s Rory Calburton’s case, and his career, to win or lose.

But the seemingly tame civil trial turns lethal when Rory stumbles upon the strangled body of his client’s general counsel. And the ties that bind in Hollywood constrict even tighter when the founder of the Harold Firm is implicated in the murder. Rory is certain the plagiarism and murder cases are somehow connected, and with the help of new associate Sarah Gold—who’s just finished clerking for the chief justice—he’s determined to get answers. Will finding out who really wrote the script lead them to the mastermind of the real-life murder?

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Sarah and Rory, a pair of overprivileged and overeducated entertainment lawyers, deny their hawt, sweet luuuv until they can't anymore. And then they solve a crime committed against people I could not work up enough spit to lob into their faces, still less piss on if they were on fire.

It makes it really hard to review a book when that's one's response.

The prose is prosaic, the story's not relatable because one doesn't relate to such dislikable souls. And there I was, flipping the Kindlepages...I needed to know why, not who, in this story. It was a satisfying why, so I felt my time was well-enough spent that I'm not after getting up a pitchfork parade to get Author Rosenberg. I was a lot less forgiving about The Trial and Execution of the Traitor George Washington, as you'll recall; but that was mostly pique at raised expectations being dashed. The fact is that Author Rosenberg's prose doesn't scintillate but it also doesn't obfuscate.

Easily the most effective use of his prose was the ruminations that Rory entertains as he's going through his legal maneuverings in the various trials he's involved in. Time in Rory's head is among my best memories of the read because he really thinks there in front of us. I am not a lawyer and am fascinated by the way that legal argument affects one's thought processes. It's a shoo-in, therefore, that the story will succeed for me on that level.

Sarah's "Impulse-control disorder" is where the wheels really come off for me. This person has a disorder that, in someone who was a Supreme Court Justice's clerk, would be *disastrous* and a disqualification from ever being considered for such a position. And how many Supreme Court Justices would hire such a person knowingly, as we're told Sarah was? Also, a private-investigator's license might also be unobtainable in California due to this diagnosis. If it isn't, I'm very worried.

So the read's not a hit, not a whiff, just a pleasant-enough way to spend a few wastable hours. ( )

I thought this was going to be a comedic look at screenwriting in Hollywood, but pleasantly surprised that it is a well-crafted suspenseful legal thriller. Rory Calburton is an entertainment attorney working on a copyright infringement case when he is giving a new assistant, an associate named Sarah Gold who is more of a problem to him then his case. When his boss is indicted for murder, Sarah is convinced that both cases are related and off she goes. Clever dialogue, interesting plot and exciting characters make this a must read. Hopefully, Rory and Sarah show up in future stories. ( )

I am not a fan of courtroom dramas but if they all were as good as this one I might change my mind. Charles Rosenberg, an attorney himself, has delivered a believable tale about Rory Calberton and his newly-hired associate Sarah Gold, a terrifyingly attractive woman with an unexplained 2 year gap in her CV. Together (or sort of together because Sarah keeps rushing off on her own) they solve the mystery and save the day.

This is the first in a proposed series that I expect will provide a lot of good reading in the coming years.

When they get stuck for new ideas, Rory drags Sarah off to Magic Mountain because riding the X2 helps him think. I once made an important life decision while riding a roller coaster so I get this.

I received a review copy of "Write to Die" by Charles Rosenberg (Thomas & Mercer) through NetGalley.com. ( )

Rory Calburton is an entertainment lawyer in a successful L.A. firm. Called to a meeting with Joe Stanton, the in-house counsel at their biggest client studio, he finds him dead. He is a good lawyer, so does everything right, not going in the room, not touching a thing, and calling the cops immediately. In a standard mystery, he would be the prime suspect, but this is not standard and he is never considered a suspect at all.

Which is a good thing, Rory has his hands full with a copyright case that is falling apart (in no small part thanks to Stanton’s death) and with his new associate Sarah Gold whose Impulse Control Disorder is plucking his last nerve. To add to his difficulties, his boss Hal, the founding partner of his law firm, is arrested for the murder.

And so we have by-the-book Rory and impulsive Sarah working the copyright case which Sarah keeps trying to link to the murder because she would much rather investigate the exciting case. The key elements of the mystery are in place and it’s just up to our heroes to save the day and their boss.

I have said before that the advice to “write what you know” is taken too literally. It is beyond apparent that Charles Rosenberg is a punctilious lawyer with deep and abiding understanding of the law and legal ethics. If he knew it less well, he would write a better mystery. He is fascinated by the process and writes about it with too much detail. He is fascinated by the ethics and ends up making Rory sound like a bit of a legalistic prig. Rory is constantly on Sarah’s case for her impulsive actions, but in many cases he is just wrong. She didn’t break the law, she just took initiative without his permission and thought of things he didn’t.

When people advise others to write what they know, they mean write about the emotions they know. If they know love or hatred, they can write about it, if they know fear, they can write about it. No one has met an alien, yet there are many great books about it. We don’t have to know the facts. We have to know the feelings.

I think we are supposed to get the idea that there is some mutual attraction between Rory and Sarah, but if there is, I can’t see why. In fact, if his hostility is based on his physical attraction, then it’s as unethical as if he were harassing her. Something he never considers despite his constant objurgations on ethics.

As far as the mystery. Well, what can I say? There’s a dearth of suspects and our principals do not interview them as suspects except at the end. Rory is actively not trying to solve the mystery, because that’s not his job, in his opinion. Even when he is tasked to represent Hal, he does not see it as his job to figure out who did it. He’s a bit single-minded, to the point that he seems unrealistic. Sarah on the other hand is too beautiful, too smart, too skilled, too perfect to be real. This is a big failing.

The plot is interesting enough to keep my attention and reel me in to the conclusion, but there were moments when I considered the opportunity cost of finishing the book – the time I could spend reading something more complex and interesting. I think the author was so absorbed in getting the law right, in showing it the proper respect, that he forgot to respect his characters. I also think that if the characters get their act together and Rory gets the stick out of his butt, there could be very enjoyable sequels.

Write to Die will be published on July 26th. I was given an advance e-galley to review by the publisher through NetGalley.

Author Web Site: http://www.charlesrosenbergauthor.com

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