cover image Under Oath

Under Oath

Shelby Yastrow. Diamond Books (NY), $5.5 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-7865-0005-5

Although not ``explosive'' as the book's jacket promises, Yastrow's ( Undue Influence ) latest novel has much to offer the patient reader. Here he delicately unravels the threads of a medical malpractice suit brought by an anguished young mother, Tracey Walton, her powerful father and reluctant ex-husband against her obstetrician, Steven Sinclair. Through snappy dialogue and colorful descriptions, Yastrow creates such believable, in some cases memorable, characters as plaintiff's attorney Charlie Mayfield, `` . . . with eyes that other trial lawyers would have killed for . . . . Honest eyes. `Trust me,' those eyes said.'' The ominous role of Dr. Sinclair's insurance company and its sleazy agent, Duane DeLuca, adds a particularly unseemly element to traditional courtroom decorum, muddling the sense of justice with a rank display of greed. Yastrow spares no details and requires the reader to stick with him through a lesson in genetics and, later, Midwestern geography as surprising evidence begins to surface. Things in the courtroom are not what they seem. Lies, intrigue and political favors all come together at the end to create a most satisfactory, and unexpected, conclusion. (May)