We’ve bracketed these two legal thrillers together – they have the same main character, and "Show of Evil" could be seen as a sequel. "Primal Fear" begins with a murder – particularly grisly, with a victim far from the usual fare of literary casualties. This time it's an Archbishop, murdered apparently without reason, and given the way it happens, apparently the product of a deranged mind. If the murder is gruesome, the main suspect is quite the opposite – an innocent young man who manages to get the never-beaten Martin Vail to represent him. Vail is the lawyer you’d like to be – he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks of him, he can’t be intimidated by other lawyers or judges, and he earns a fair income on the way. "Show of Evil" also begins with a terrible crime, and the same hero as "Primal Fear", the vastly interesting Martin Vail. Here at Law in the Lounge we were prepared to learn a lot more about Vail – in fact, we would have liked to have known more about him the first time around, so maybe this initial lack of character development has accommodated a sequel. Unfortunately, Mr Diehl spends too much time going over old ground, wholly unnecessary for those of us who have read the first instalment (this is the curse of the sequel, and it’s a no-win situation for a writer who wants people to be able to read a sequel without reference to the original). There are other parallels between these two novels – for instance, again there is a murder in an unlikely place, within a religious environment. And in "Show of Evil" the author develops clever ties to yet more murders. Where are the connections between these murders, and the crime that became notorious in the first instalment ten years earlier? The charismatic Vail leads us to these and other inquiries. It’s a hard slog because the author skilfully pulls rabbits out of hats, and takes us to a place where things are not what they seem to be. We need Vail to solve these dilemmas for us, which makes us his willing accomplices. The suspense is maintained throughout these books, and that is Mr. Diehl’s strength – he knows a lot about getting the reader to turn the page, and he knows how to keep us guessing. This is sometimes a fault of writers of legal thrillers, especially the ones that are real life lawyers, who sometimes appear more intent on educating the reader on the law than getting our attention by way of a well developed plot. "Primal Fear" accomplishes a difficult manoeuvre very well – it quickly makes us wonder about the pedigree of a victim who should be beyond reproach, and provokes readers to constantly reassess their pet theories of the crime. The best thing about "Primal Fear" is the ending – we loved it. The best thing about "Show of Evil" is the copycat murders – who’s doing them, and why? And the ending of "Show of Evil" is no slouch either – Diehl certainly has a talent with the suspenseful resolution. The character development is not as accomplished as a novel like Scott Turow’s "Presumed Innocent". On the other hand, you may be more interested in an accelerated plot that will keep you guessing – here at Law in the Lounge we would probably have liked to have better understood what motivates Vail, and why he is the way he is. The biggest problem with "Show of Evil" is that far too much time is spent rehashing the past for those who did not read "Primal Fear". And a warning – if you don’t like graphic descriptions of a crime or the crime scene, these are not the books for you! We don’t want to give away the plot, but what does the prosecution have to prove to show that a defendant deliberately committed a crime? And, on the other hand, how can the defendant be shown to have suffered some sort of mental incapacity that meant they didn’t know what they were doing? And how can you tell if they're faking it? Sometimes it's fairly clear that a defendant is mentally incapable of dealing with a court case – this is what lawyers call "fitness to plead". This means the defendant should not face the judgement of the court, because they don’t understand the judicial process and it would be unfair to make them face a trial. This usually results in the defendant being placed in a mental institution at the "Governor’s Pleasure" – that is, they can’t get out until the Governor says so! Insanity is not an easy "out" of a criminal charge. For one thing, you might never be released from "Governor’s Pleasure". Also, there is a standard of mental impairment that a jury has to be convinced of. You have to show that the defendant did not know they were committing a murder – or that they did not understand it was wrong. Aaron, the defendant in "Primal Fear", spends endless hours with a psychiatrist who delves into his state of mind. So faking it is not going to be straightforward. To be relieved of the responsibility for a crime, you have to show a real disturbance of normal mental functioning, although it doesn’t matter what the cause is (so it can be a temporary form of insanity brought on by a trauma – it’s what you experienced at the time the crime took place that’s important). What if the defendant is very confused, or not sure what happened or why they committed the crime? In that case it might be argued that they had a "diminished responsibility" – that means that the defendant’s responsibility for the crime is substantially impaired. In some places this is a partial defence to murder. William Diehl’s story should give heart to all budding thriller writers. He was fifty years old and already a successful photographer and journalist when he decided he had not heeded his life calling – the day after his 50th birthday he began his first novel, "Sharky’s Machine". That was the last time he laid hands on a camera. Since that first effort he has published "Thai Horse", "27", "Hooligans" and "Chameleon". It was then that he happened upon his most successful genre, the legal thriller, and his best character, lawyer Martin Vail. Martin is the hero of his latest two novels, "Primal Fear" and "Show of Evil", the former also a successful movie with Richard Gere as Vail. So what do you do if you’ve written a best-seller – write a sequel, of course! Diehl is currently at work on a third Martin Vail story. Diehl’s previous career was as a crime writer for the newspaper, The Atlanta Constitution. This has clearly given him the inside track on many aspects of the unlawful activities he describes in impressive detail. "Primal Fear" is a good effort – well plotted, keep-you-guessing stuff that will not easily yield to your armchair analysis. Martin Vail presents as an arrogant attorney with more going for him than Perry Mason (he’s a lot better looking and media friendly) – and yet, through some adept plot development, he soon finds himself out of his depth and standing on quicksand. This may be tried and true, but remember, there is very little new under the sun of the legal thriller. "Show of Evil" suffers in comparison, but it is mostly a pleasing effort if you like "Primal Fear". Where it falls down, and this may not be that important for an essentially leisurely read, is that it covers too much familiar territory and hands us contrived events that depend on the stupidity of otherwise clever characters. But memorable characters do not grow on trees, and Martin Vail probably deserved an encore.
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