Semiautomatic [Paperback]

Rob Reuland's first novel, Hollowpoint, was described by the Guardian as 'a blackly comic tale of a lawyer on a redemptive mission in the bleak Brooklyn projects. Reuland guides us through the cynical courtrooms and mean streets with assurance, cruel wit and pathos.'

Semiautomatic features the same lawyer, Andrew Giobberti. Having resolved an explosive case in a controversial manner, Giobberti was exiled from the high-powered DA's Homicide Bureau to the dusty decay of the Appeals Bureau. But now the powers that be want this brilliant, difficult prosecutor back in the courtroom. They're counting on Giobberti's courtroom brilliance to ensure a guilty verdict for murder suspect Haskin Pool. It seems a straightforward enough case - a bodega robbery gone bad, leaving a well-loved grocer in a pool of his own blood. The press has poured a lot of ink on the story, pressuring local pols to get a killer behind bars.

What people want and what they get may be two different things - for Giobberti has a habit of uncovering nothing but the whole truth. It doesn't take long for him to realize this case stinks. There's a conspiracy to convict that reaches well up the political hierarchy and it's fully expected that Giobberti will play a key role in this seamy drama.