Product Description

Christopher Paget is a trial lawyer with a famous past: as a young investigator in Washington he unearthed a scandal that brought ruin to the President - and an abrupt end to his affair with journalist Mary Carelli. Now, fifteen years later, Carelli is a famous TV journalist in New York and Paget is leading a relatively tranquil life raising their son in San Francisco. Until a charge of murder changes everything. The victim - a world famous (and infamous) novelist. The accused - Mary Carelli. When Paget agrees to defend her, largely for the sake of their son, her claims of attempted rape and self-defence seem water-tight. But gradually secrets from her past come to light and Paget is suddenly facing an explosive mix of public trial and personal conflict leaving his own and his son's fates vulnerable and exposed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #145077 in Books
• Published on: 1994-01-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 608 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The core of Richard North Patterson's legal thrillers is characterization, and Degree of Guilt, the novel that relaunched his career in 1993, features two captivating individuals: Christopher Paget and Mary Carelli. Paget, the upstart hero of Patterson's 1979 Edgar-winning The Lasko Tangent, is now a sophisticated trial lawyer doing his best to raise a teenage son in San Francisco. He's a man to be admired: famous for bringing down the president in a financial scandal, he has settled into the comfortable life of a successful attorney. His life is transformed, however, when his former lover (and mother of his son), Mary Carelli, pays a visit.

The novel begins in a San Francisco hotel room as Mary, now an NBC journalist, surveys the torn landscape of author Mark Ransom's apartment. Ransom is, or was, America's most eminent writer. As she tells the police, Ransom had uncovered new recorded evidence of an affair between a long-dead starlet and a now-sainted senator (shades of Marilyn Monroe and JFK). While Ransom and Mary were listening to the tapes, she claims, he tried to rape her and she killed him in self-defence. Mary turns to Paget to defend her in what becomes a complex case of missing and conflicting evidence. Old emotions are stirred between the two just as Paget begins to doubt Mary's innocence.

The suspense of Degree of Guilt is grounded in the twists and turns of the trial at the novel's centre, but just as compelling is the emerging history of Mary and Paget, and Paget's struggles to keep his son out of the media frenzy surrounding his mother's case. Patterson also addresses the deeper ethical questions that face many lawyers as they decide which cases to take and which evidence to use. Capturing archetypal characters and situations, Degree of Guilt becomes a parable of American law. --Patrick O'Kelley

About the Author
Richard North Patterson has written a number of novels including the international bestsellers, Degree of Guilt, Eyes of a Child, The Final Judgement, Silent Witness, No Safe Place, Dark Lady and Protect and Defend. His novels have won the Edgar Allan Poe Award and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière. He and his wife, Laurie, live with their family in San Francisco and on Martha's Vineyard.

Customer Reviews

Absolutely gripping!!!
This was my first Patterson and I read it on holiday and literally couldn't put it down. The action grips you from page one and won't let go until you know how it ends. Patterson has the gift of a natural story-teller to really make you connect with his characters in a way few current writers can. Beware though, once you enter his world you'll never want to leave.

Excellent legal/emotional rollercoaster
I have just finished reading this book over several weeks in 25 minute installments on the train to/from work and feel like I have lived with the characters and agonised over their situations. It has a similar flavour to a Grisham but I found it much more involving with very plausible characterisation in particular - these people seem real! Gradually the truth unravels throughout the book. Highly recommended - I'm off to start the sequel! I also recommend 'The Lasko Tangent' which precedes this book but not quite as much as 'Degree of Guilt'.

Fantastic legal drama
This was my first Patterson, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Having read a lot of John Grisham, this made a refreshing change. At least it wasn't set in the deep South! Although off to a bit of a slow start, the plot gathers momentum, ultimately leaking more and more details of what has been going on. The book relies heavily on the past of two of the main characters, a past written about in Patterson's first novel, The Lasko Tangent. I hadn't read this, but he outlines this background story so well in Degree of Guilt that it doesn't matter. Good writing, excellent plot, great read.