Overview

Think a super-sized, red-haired My Cousin Vinny meets The Bonfire of the Vanities in Houston, where you can’t always tell who the best people are.”

In a stunning debut novel, Marc Grossberg portrays post-millennium Houston as it is, a glitzy place full of larger-than-life characters where anyone can make it. It is the landscape where the country-club and café-society sets clash amidst clever legal maneuvering, big law firm politics, a Ponzi scheme and judicial corruption. Only someone with the experience of being a lifelong Houstonian and a veteran of fifty years of practicing law could have pulled it off.

THE BEST PEOPLE: A Tale of Trials and Errors is a legal drama and social satire set in Houston which offers a glimpse into a world in which you can’t always tell who the best people are.

Patrick “Paddy” Moran, age 36, fresh from being sworn into the Texas bar, begins a wild and rocky journey fueled by his fierce desire for recognition and respect. In a county where some 40,000 civil cases are filed every year, Paddy is sure he’ll get his share of the good ones, sooner or later. After sputtering through mindless uncontested cop divorces and a spate of questionable cases of cops getting rear-ended by luxury cars—and surviving one near career wreck—his luck changes. Paddy Moran’s first victory—a $500,000 settlement from a hospital—comes with a sweet bonus: the genuine friendship of his well-connected, classy dame client. Dressed for success and driving a Mercedes, Paddy finally begins to stand out for more than his imposing physical size, red hair, and New York moxie. He’s become one of Houston’s celebrated Best People. After a second big win—against one of Houston’s biggest law firms—Paddy gets another valuable asset: a young law partner, Will Marshall, a life-long Houstonian with social cred who’s just as hungry to succeed as Paddy. Dubbed the “M&M boys” by Texas Monthly, Moran and Marshall keep attracting media attention and rich clients in juicy divorce cases.

And Paddy’s still a good guy, but visions of winning a high-profile trial with a huge fee lure him into making a very bad judgment call. Then, one dirty deed leads to another…

The Best People is also the story of Pilar Galt, a sensuous, intelligent single mother from the Houston barrios, for whom a temp assignment evolves into a relationship with the richest man in town. Her path intersects with Paddy’s and eventually converges during a pivotal time in her life when she must overcome self-destructive tendencies to survive.

What follows is a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks power, money, and a winning outcome justifies unethical means.

Review

Paddy is just starting out as a lawyer in Houston. He is struggling to make ends meet. Then he lucks up on his first case, which just so happens, leads to his second case. And so on and so forth. As things start to change for the better so does Paddy’s attitude. He tends to get more greedy and more competitive. 

Paddy is such a great character. He is hardworking and has a strong ambition. He starts out as the underdog. As a reader, you want him to succeed and keep it that way. But when things start going great for Paddy, he changes. His greed gets out of hand. He makes terrible and tragic decisions.

It has been a while since I have read a legal thriller. So, this book hit the spot. I enjoyed the way the author tied all the different legal problems into one common denominator…Paddy. Paddy is an enjoyable character all the way through, even when his decision making skills fall apart! 

Need a quick, good thriller. This is it! 

I received this novel from https://www.facebook.com/suzyapprovedbooktours/ for a honest review.

About The Author

Grossberg’s writing, referred to by some as the new unofficial voice of Houston, acts as an outlet for us, his readers, who are both curious and outraged by the mores, privileges and escapades of the jet-setting elite and those who aspire to join its ranks.

MARC GROSSBERG has practiced law in his native Houston for more than 50 years. A product of Houston public schools, the University of Houston, and the University of Texas School of Law, he has a passion for books that entertain and provoke him. https://marcgrossberg.com/bio/

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