Good Counsel

A lawyer's ambition costs him his marriage and his career in Junkin's evocative second novel, which opens with protagonist Jack Stanton on the run from the law. Stanton's crime is left undisclosed in the early going, as Junkin flashes back to the lawyer's glory days building a name for himself defending the rights of the downtrodden in Washington, D.C. Stanton's ability to hide is quickly compromised, though, when the woman who sells bait at the general store in the Chesapeake Bay fishing town he flees to reports him to the police for not having a fishing license. In despair, Stanton attempts suicide, but his fortunes seem to turn when he is rescued by Susannah Blair, nicknamed Muddy, who works at the general store. After she takes him in, Stanton slowly tells the story of his deception in the case that got him in legal trouble, and Muddy soon reciprocates by disclosing her plan to kill the Nicaraguan terrorist who assassinated her father while she was growing up in Washington. Junkin walks a fine line between genres in this blend of legal thriller and morality play, but what makes it work is the portrait of Jack Stanton, a passionate, well-drawn character whose compassion emerges full-blown after the law catches up with him and Muddy acts out her plan for revenge. The novel is not without flaws; the odd ending leaves Stanton and Blair's affair unresolved, and the women are decidedly less credibly sketched than Stanton, with Stanton's wife appearing as a mere shadow figure while Muddy often seems to be a romantic prop for the protagonist. Generally, though, storytelling and characterization quality allow Junkin to pull off his intriguing conceit. (Mar. 30) Forecast: Another legal thriller; and how this one, though better than average, will register on readers' radar is a mystery.