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9 Scorpions
 
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9 Scorpions (Hardcover)

by Paul Levine (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Pocket Books (Sep 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0671019392
  • ISBN-13: 978-0671019396
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Author

Seduction and Corruption at the Supreme Court
What really goes on behind the velvet drapes and marble pillars of the U.S. Supreme Court? Can the one institution that seems immune to scandal be corrupted? Those are the questions that led to "9 Scorpions," a tale of betrayal and redemption at the nation's highest Court.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes called his contentious brethren "nine scorpions in a bottle," but I discovered that the real stingers belong to the law clerks. These bright young lawyers advise the Justices which cases to hear, then write the first drafts of their opinions. What if an outsider "owned" a law clerk? Could a brilliant and seductive female clerk steal a Justice's vote along with his heart? Could a case be fixed? And what should the Court do when adherence to the law will result in injustice?

To answer those questions, I spent months researching the Court, interviewing former clerks, watching oral arguments, even shooting buckets on the basketball court! one floor above the courtroom, truly the "highest court" in the land. I immersed myself in the history of the marble palace, a building that seems more like a holy cathedral than a courthouse. The result in "9 Scorpions." It is a tale of love and loss, passion and villainy, sin and forgiveness. The story exposes the conflicts between a law clerk's tainted past and her new ideals, between a judge's notions of rigid law and a more compassionate justice. I hope the book is as enjoyable to read as it was to write.


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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (5)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
1.0 out of 5 stars Totally unrealistic and very disappointing., 27 Jul 1999
By A Customer
One of the reasons I love mysteries is their ability to show aspects of life and society while telling a good story. I bought this book because I thought a mystery set in the Supreme Court would be very interesting. The bits and pieces about the court are there, but the writing is so contrived, and the main characters so unbelievable, that I couldn't bring myself to finish it. Supposedly the writer was writing from a woman's point of view, but this is a woman as only a man could imagine her, with little depth and everything caught up in sexuality. He repeatedly describes her physical appearance, what she's wearing, and how she's thinking about sex with the various men she's involved with. Her central conflict, whether to honor the law or her prior commitments, is phoney, and in any case is drowned out by the constant attention to when she's going to sleep with whom and why. The idea that she would scheme to get a clerkship just to affect the decision on one case coming before the court is beyond unbelievable. The plot itself is one note, with almost no changes in direction, only new episodes of (supposedly) scary violence to move it along.
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2.0 out of 5 stars This is a soap opera, somewhat unrealistic failure., 7 Jun 1999
By A Customer
We found the book to be formula in nature, can you imagine a supreme court judge, already guilty of sexual harassment hiring another bimbo! Evil bad guys, but just not believable. Read Martini instead.
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1.0 out of 5 stars Oh, Please!, 25 Jan 1999
By A Customer
I found 9 Scorpions too contrived. I read in an interview that Paul Levine wanted to write for a woman from a woman's point of view. Of course that woman is model-beautiful, a former stripper and a brilliant lawyer-to-be, living in a luxury apartment with a closet-full of expensive clothes, all paid for by a sugar daddy. And of course the man she's working for/falling in love with is charming, handsome and powerful (and in a bad marriage, natch). Yeah, real life going on here. It was ludicrous and stupid. Paul, stick to Jake.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Above average, below the Lassiter series
Found initial 2/3 a bit slow and at times a little tedious. When the setting shifted to Florida the action picked up and pages started turning. Read more
Published on 9 Jan 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Erotic, Intelligent, Thrilling
I first read Paul Levine's "Flesh & Bones," which was a murder mystery set in the modeling world. Read more
Published on 3 Jan 1999

1.0 out of 5 stars Hoke, with comic book characters.
The stripper and the Judge! Come on this was like a bit from SNL. I am certain Mr. Levine can do better, but it will probably be a movie with Alec Baldwin & Julia Roberts... Read more
Published on 20 Dec 1998

3.0 out of 5 stars 9 Scorpions requires a suspension of belief
Not even in Bill Clinton's Washington does this story line make sense, and more's the pity as I am a big Paul Levine fan. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars Waiting for the sequel
Sex inside the Supreme Court, who'd have thought it? Justice Sam Truitt sure doesn't look like William Rehnquist, and his law clerk, Lisa Fremont, is as beautiful as she is... Read more
Published on 30 Oct 1998

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst book I've read this year
I can not believe the good reviews for this book. I don't have particuarly strict standards, but I thought this one was a real stinker, a pot boiler of the worst kind. Read more
Published on 24 Oct 1998

1.0 out of 5 stars Bring back Jake, please!!!
Disorganized story development, DISLIKABLE characters, and basically a who cares??? plot. Definitely not what I have come to expect from this author.
Published on 22 Oct 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! Had me reading until 2 in the morning!
An excellent book. The characters are well developed and the action is non-stop. Reads just like any of Paul Levine's other books, which are worth picking up after you've read... Read more
Published on 30 Sep 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding! One of this year's best novels.
A Paul Levine novel without Jake Lassiter? With seven novels on bookstore shelves featuring the linebacker-turned-lawyer, author Paul Levine shows readers his exceptional skills... Read more
Published on 25 Sep 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars A Supreme (Court) Thriller
9 Scorpions is a different Paul Levine novel. There's no sign of Jake Lassiter, but no shortage of unique characters. The dialogue is especially clever. Read more
Published on 12 Sep 1998

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