Kennedy for the Defense

Book excerpt: A masterwork of crime and black comedy, George V. Higgins is in his element as he spell-bindingly recounts lawyer Jerry Kennedy’s more fragrant cases. Keen to take some time off, Jerry Kennedy plans a short holiday en famille at Green Harbor, his eclectic clients don’t get the memo however. His drive-by clientele, the car thieves, pimps, drug dealers and boatyard mechanics are diverse in all respects but one, persistence. Matters come to a head when a midnight intruder breaks into Kennedy’s home, knife drawn and determination blaring in his eyes. In deciphering the imposter’s intentions, Jerry’s qualities of honesty, responsibility and downright hard work are seriously put to the test. Brimming with a bevy of bimbos, bent cops and bad actors, Kennedy for the Defense shows us the Boston crooks-and-cops world through an attorney’s eyes.