Personal Injury Books

A very enjoyable read and inspirational. I went out purchased a sketch pad and started drawing after finishing the book!

This is a great book! I read it in an hour and a half. I enjoy knowing the process people take in order to deal with life's occasional hiccups that knock the world out from under you. It helps to know that you're not the only one sometimes. It's always a relief when the person works it out positively and thinks enough to want to share it with others. Thank you, Danny!

love it, love it, love it !!!!
a wonderful inspiring little book.
perfect smaller size (6"x8") to carry along with your sketchbook to keep you encouraged in your drawing.

I suppose I had some misperceptions of this book. I was assuming there would be more inspiration that would cajole me into journaling and artwork. I also thought is was he who was disabled - it was his wife. There was little mention of how his wife's diability figured into the whole pictue of his life. As a disabled person, I thought there would be some insight into overcoming disability to do what you want. I do however, love the way he draws and journals. In the end I saw this as a simple journal that anyone might have done. I still have his other book and I have higher hopes for that.

i loved it! i recived the book for valentines day and finished in a day...its very intresting to examine dannys drawing and learn about his life in nyc..

Have some kleenex handy. A very well written book. My husband loved it, too.

As an amputee for the past 4 years or so, I know a few things about the story told by this book. But I was unprepared to be as moved as I was. Michael not only tells the story of how, but he digs deeper into the demons that made him and Pete so much more real.

I don't have war experience, I just had a simple accident. The demons these men fight to get to a place where they can accept the things that happened make this a very powerful story. I highly recommend it to anyone. And I've recommended it to several close friends in hopes they might better understand what it's like to loose part of yourself.

Mr. Weisskopf writes a truely remarkable account of what it is like to go from the battle field through the medical, recovery process. As a surgical technician & Vietnam vet I found his story to be inspiring and very moving. The medical aspects were right on the money!!
Thank you, Mr. Weisskopf, for a wonderfully touching story. I hope you have been able to put to rest the "Why & What If" questions. As far as I'm concerned the motivation doesn't matter. You're a HERO!!!

Michael Weisskopf is a well known journalist for TIME magazine. During a trip to Iraq as an embedded journalist with an Army unit, the HMMWV he was riding in had a grenade thrown into it. Weisskopf apparently went to pick the grenade up before it detonated, but was too late, losing his right hand in the explosion.

Weisskopf uses this tragedy to document his and a several soldiers with amputations in their roads to recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Ward 57, the amputee ward. Weisskopf does a good job of capturing the many aspects of recovery that he and the soldiers go through.

This short book captures very well the processes of recovering from combat wounds, dealing with the traumas both to yourself and those around you, including fellow soldiers who did not survive their accidents.

I highly recommend this book.

What Michael Weisskopf has done with this story is truly amazing. It was a very emotional book for me, but it is a book that every American should read.I plan on passing this book around. It is a book that you cannot put down.You just want to cheer these guys on, cry with them, and you feel their frustrations. I would love to meet Michael and the men that he writes about to thank them personally for their sacrifices.
I am a Troop Greeter from Maine where most of the flights that are going over and comming home stop for re-fueling.We are soon to have welcomed 500,000 troops. I often wonder how many that I have met that will not be returning home or have been injured. I say a prayer for them after every flight and pray that they will be comming back through our halls.
I can't thank Michael Weisskopf enough for writing this book. It is truly an excellent book.
cakelady2@adelphia.net

Without a doubt, the very best guide to meeting the propoganda of the insurance industry with techniques that help the jury to focus on the case, rather than someone's irrelevant personal agenda. Required reading for all attorneys who represent injured people.

This book is amazing - doesn't matter if you are plaintiff or defense. Its an easy read, creative and entirely worth the money if you want to improve your trial techniques.

There is nothing more difficult for a plaintiff's attorney to do than to decide whether or not to ask the jury to return a specific dollar amount in damages or leave the decision up to the jury. The second most difficult question he/she has is determining how to motivate the jury to return as big a verdict as possible.

Ball does not disappoint in answering these questions. In short, he teaches plaintiff attorneys how to maximize the verdicts they get. For example, he devotes a whole chapter on describing jurors' motivations for giving and how you can get them to do so. Even if you are a defense attorney, this book is essential reading so that you can learn what jurors are interested in and what causes them to reach the decisions they do.

David Ball on Damages is the best book I have ever read on the subject. I have been practicing for 20 years. This book has changed the way I will approach personal injury trials in the future. Other lawyers in my area are just starting to use Mr. Ball's techniques with sucess.

This is one of the finest books written on the subject of obtaining fair and complete damages at trial in an atmosphere of "tort reform"

This book is much more than informative, it brings to life the personal stories of each TBI victim it memorializes. Every individual account grips you and evokes a plethora of emotions. The author's scientifically enlightening and entertaining narratives leave you feeling a personal connection with the survivors. It is difficult to fathom the horrors some of these people have endured, but the author passionately and respectfully relays deeply personalized chronicles of their trials and tests, all while helping raise awareness of these types of catastrophic injuries. Injuries that could have easily happened to you or I or someone we love. Head Cases has given me a much better appreciation, and respect, for the fascinating machine inside my noggin. Though it has kind of made me want to go out and buy a helmet and a Volvo.

Definitely worth the read.

I confess...I skip the health section of Time Magazine and Newsweek. It's just not my thing. So when I started reading Mason's book on brain injuries, I didn't think I'd make it very far.

I was dead wrong.

This book wraps the reader in human drama while delving into the mysterious world of head trauma. It is fascinating because it is not just about science, but about people.

Head Cases is a great read -- not just for those into science and medicine, but for everyone.

I was cringing all the way through this book, horrified at the accidents and the run-around that the injured get in our pathetic excuse for a health care system. Mason doesn't go too much into neuroscientific details, but focuses instead on how the injury has affected the injured, their lives and livelihood, their friends and family, and how they have learned or failed to learn to live with their deficits. Each chapter is a biography. Some are hopeful, all are illuminating.
I hope this book helps to raise public awareness about what a desperate state we are in with regards to being able to provide cost-effective care and therapy for people with TBI. Hundreds of brain-injured soldiers are coming back from Iraq and will need help integrating back into society.
Brookhaven Hospital in Tulsa, where the author is based, offers care that is tailored to the needs of each individual. No two brain injuries are the same and no two roads to recovery take the same route. This type of treatment needs to be available at more facilities, and it needs to be available to everybody who needs it, not just the wealthy.
Read it, give it to a friend, wear a helmet.

Mason opens our eyes to the realities of modern medicine, we learn that fixing the outside is often the simpler part of the equation. His insight & the passion he puts into each story makes for a captivating read. I walked away from this book realizing that unless we want to resign ourself to cities filed with "the walking dead" we must change the way society approaches Brain injury, this book is a call to arms, that's why I recommend you pass it along to friends & family-- or better yet have them buy their own & pass it on.

This book was a very pleasant surprise and not at all what I had expected.

Thinking, even fearing, that this book might be an intense or even arduous exegesis of the neuroscience of brain injury, I found instead a series of captivating and absorbing dramas that opened for me a door into the not-often-seen difficult lives, debilitating circumstances, damaged brains, and inspirational hearts and souls of a number of victims of brain injury.

Mr. Mason, with the compassion and astute observation of a skilled case worker, relates story after story that are as captivating and inspiring as they are sobering and heartbreaking.

I felt like I met, came to know, even empathized with and admired, the involuntary stars of each tragedy. I was introduced to their loved ones, learned about their pasts and hometowns, was shown in dreadful detail their horrible accidents, and exposed to the myriad obstacles and difficulties to which these amazing people and their families are exposed each day.

I found myself cheering, with Mr. Mason, their victories, and joined him in a swelling admiration for their courage and spunk.

Along with these compelling stories is the fascinating and fantastic journey upon which Mr. Mason took me - a rollercoaster ride into the "the brain injury capital of the world" at a remarkable hospital thirty miles north of Baghdad on the grounds of Balad Air Base.

The picture Mr. Mason paints of the amazing skills of our military healthcare professionals in providing the best care in the world to brain injured military personnel, innocent civilians, or even enemy combatants, is as astonishing as it is wonderful.

In short, this fascinating and well-written book will open to many readers a world that they hopefully will never experience, illuminate paths that prayerfully they and their families will not have to walk, while inspiring us to appreciate and admire the courage and valor of the incredible people who make up each of the amazing "head cases."

Walt Larimore
Co-Author, His Brain, Her Brain

In the Epilogue, David Berg states that the next generation of trial lawyers must win back the public's respect. Given this belief, it is no surprise that this highly accomplished trial lawyer passionately shares with us the lessons he has learned over an astonishing career.

It is difficult for any trial book to cover everything, and Berg's book makes a wise decision to emphasize the need for preparation which has been neglected in the trial literature. For example, over a third of the book, 126 pages, addresses the importance of preparing your case through discovery, conducting mock trials, and spending a lot of thought and time on voir dire.

Throughout the book, Berg shares memorable anectdotal stories from trials he has tried or famous lawyers he has known. The stories make for a very interesting read.

I am in my fifth year now, and I've still never had a jury trial, because of the explosion of alternative dispute resolution. Despite the diminishing frequency of the jury trial, this book is still an absolute must. To me, the following points the author makes are accurate--you must conduct litigation like you will go to trial, and, on occasion, you must actually go to trial. This book teaches you how to act like a real litigator. He emphasizes being a "bulldog about documents," and states the best depositions are the ones that draw blood. He also tells you how to pick a jury, how to open, how to conduct direct and cross, and how to close, among other things. In fairness, there really are just too many good parts to single anything out--the whole damn book is invaluable. Further, it is written with humor and with good stories. Highly recommended.

If you want to learn more about trying cases, get this book and splurge for the deluxe DVD edition. Failure to do so is, as Berg might put it, "false economy."

For example, the DVDs contain large parts Berg's closing in Wyatt v. Sakowitz, videotaped at the old Harris County courthouse. It is a rare glimpse of a masterful closing as it happened. You can hear the nervous tension in Berg's voice, but also the rhythm, emotion, and sincerity of his delivery. A transcript would get only about a tenth of what the tape captures. To use another Bergism, it will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Berg also provides one of the best guides to jury selection I have seen. He shares strategies that took him decades to develop in a way that even a novice can quickly adopt and use.

Berg once said that history forgets many of the great trial lawyers. Berg's book will preserve not only his achievements, but also those of many of his contemporaries in the various war stories he uses to illustrate his points.

In my 40 years of trial practice, few books are better organized, or present more useful insights in how to try cases. David Berg has been in the pits, has dozens of verdicts in all kinds of civil and criminal cases-everything from murder to patent infringement-and writes about them very well. Drawing on his experience, David explains the importance, goals, and methods of achieving those goals, for each step of representation, from the first meeting with the client, to the final words of closing argument. And while this isn't one of those "war story" book, he does use examples from his own cases and those of other trial lawyers to make his points. This book is a "must read," not just for aspiring trial lawyers, but for all who want to enhance their skills in the courtroom. It should be mandatory reading for law school advocacy classes.

Each arena has it's Michael Jordan. In the courtroom, it is David Berg. And Berg has taken this natural talent and time-honed skill to a new level as he unlocks certain secrets that have catapulted him to the top of his profession. What most have considered his "magic," he explains as common sense practice. This book should be a required text at every law school. Those in the legal profession should not just read this, they should study it. The difference it will make in case results more than pays for the book, over and over again.

I was smitten with the lovable anti-hero Nicky Rigopoulas from the onstart! With acerbit wit and oozing charm, Mr. Smoothie went head to head verbally with his fellow characters. His indefatigable smart retorts and sarcastic quips gave him sex appeal and power. But his genuine atonement balanced him out. The dark horse running candidate is wrongfully accused of murder and must contend with a darker opponent!

I stayed up all night to find out what happened in this very suspenseful mystery novel. The plot kept me intrigued all the way through until the surprise ending. I thought that the characters were interesting and well-developed; I actually cared about what happened to them. The best part for me was how the author managed to inject a great deal of humor into the plot. I found myself laughing at some of the prose, even as my heart raced in anticipation to see how the storyline would play out. Mike Langan certainly knows how to build suspense. I highly recommend it to all other readers. I absolutely LOVED this book!

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (11/07)

In his new book, "Dark Horse," Mike Langan takes the reader behind the scenes and drama of the courtroom to reveal the power, greed, selfishness, and political maneuvering that draw the reader into the intrigue which makes the genre of the legal and justice system so popular. Litigation and settlement are seen in a new light as Langan develops his characters in this fast-moving, legal mystery novel.

Nicky Rigopoulos, a personal injury lawyer, with a reputation of being slick as a result of his long history of TV advertising, is running for judge in Syracuse, N.Y. Within hours after the bludgeoning death of his campaign manager, Nicky finds himself being framed for her murder.

Nicky soon realized the only way to clear his name was to find the real killer himself. After a second murder, Nicky's wife, a zealous reporter blanketed the TV news with Nicky's picture, already recognized, by the public, from his ads and campaign activities. A witness that could vouch for Nicky's whereabouts at the time of the first murder was found shot to death. A reward is offered for information leading to Nicky's arrest. The frenzied manhunt became even more intense.

Nicky, his defense attorney Diz, a few loyal friends, and family members become amateur sleuths in the complex undercover operation that follows. Nicky shaved his head and his beard to pass himself off as a Hell's angel, a farmer, and a psychotic football fan.

Mike incorporates relevant comments on national news, current events, references songs and music and compares his characters and situations to well-known classic movies and personalities from the entertainment industry. He builds in some insights from psychology. The character flaws are obvious in the dysfunctional personalities of his characters. Langan uses parody as his characters overreact or show no reaction to situations where trauma might be a normal response.

Langan uses a character-driven plot with extensive dialog to develop both his characters and the plot. Although his characters are exaggerated composites, I felt a genuine empathy with some and disrespect for others. Langan brilliantly created feelings of emotion, attitude, anger, frustration, insecurity, loyalty, and integrity. His dialog provides insight and information regarding the legal process within the justice system. Just when you think a rambling conversation is on the edge of becoming tedious, Langan drops another unexpected critical bombshell, building even more momentum into the frame-up against his protagonist, Nicky Rigopoulos.

In Syracuse, New York personal injury lawyer Nicky Rigopoulos wants no problem cases interfering with his efforts to become a judge; thus he settles for less than his clients deserve when even his partner Lottie Magnarella argues with him that he behaves unethically. Although married to the trophy wife that a hot shot attorney wannabe judge needs, Nicky is a first class womanizer to include at one time Lottie. His spouse knows what he is and does not mind as long as he keeps her in a luxurious lifestyle as she is a man-eater.

Nicky's chances of landing on the bench sink totally when Lottie is found dead; he is the prime suspect as just a few hours earlier they had a public brouhaha over his settling a case for her. Not trusting cops or lawyers as he knows both groups too well, Nicky investigates only to have the police believe he also killed his spouse and one of his lovers.

Once you get past the amateur sleuth paradox compounded in this case by the protagonist having strong connections and money, DARK LADY is a terrific whodunit. The story line is fast-paced as Nicky struggles to stay one step ahead of the police while feeling one step behind the culprit. Adding to the fun is that the lead character is the epitome of sleazy lawyer so that readers have mixed feelings as he deserves the worse though he is innocent.

Harriet Klausner

I'm going to buy this book for friends and family for Christmas. I couldn't put it down, and stayed up way too late on work nights because of it. I don't have words to explain how this book affected me.

It is simply impossible to not reevaluate the way you look at the world after walking with Ahror through his journey of survival and thrival. Ahror Rahmedov's true story will inspire you to make the most of your life.

Imagine yourself young and bright, socializing with friends, eyeing your future soul mate, and dreaming of an exciting medical career and the good life ahead of you. Then BAM! You wake up in pain and darkness, wondering what happened. Slowly reality sets in. And you discover that your body, your life, and your dreams have been shattered.

In his book, Ahror Rahmedov exposes his thoughts, feelings, and his soul in this thoughtfully-written and exciting true-life drama of the tragedy that struck his life. It is a roller-coaster ride up to a peak of excitement, down to the deepest despair, and then back up and beyond.

We are fortunate that Ahror has written the book in his own words. After reading, you will deeply understand who he is, and where he is coming from. You will know him better than we know most of our best friends.

And once you know him, you will understand the depth of his character - a shining light of strength and love who provides encouragement to each person he meets.

Read this book. Meet this great man through his words. He will lift your spirit, and through his own inspiring example, you may learn a better way to live your own life.

The author provided a wonderful, heart-moving journey for the reader. His ability to provide a clear and emotional dictation provides an easy to follow story for any reader. His culture and personality shine through in his words. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and understanding this young man's trials. He is a light in a world sometimes filled with darkness.

I frequently referred to this book in our company library. Now that I'm retired I bought my own copy. I looked at several books on the topic and found nothing and good at explaining how our bodies work. I've saved myself a lot of medical fees over the years.

I have had this book for over 20 years. It is a great reference covering just about every part of the body. Any muscle or joint aches and pains, this book tells you what causes it and how to fix it.

Great analysis of cause and practical approach to cure. Especially good with joint issues. Thanks Dr. Garrick, your efforts have limited my pain and time in recovery! You should be everyone's first responder to sports injury...another edition??

This is the best book on athletic injuries I've used. It's old, but the sound advice hasn't been improved upon. I had a chronic hamstring injury when I got the book (back in '86) and for the first time in years I was able to rehab it completely and compete pain free. I've since referred to it for advice on knees and shoulders. Most recently I had an early stress fracture only a few weeks before an important competition. Following Garrick's guidlines, I was able to recover completely before the event. Garrick understands an athlete's need to stay active and take positive action to recover from an injury and tells you exactly how to do this. He also realizes that an injury that is "cured" by rest and cessation of the activity most often returns when the activity is resumed unless active rehab has been performed.
Highly recommended. The only reason I gave it four stars rather than five is it's brevity. I wish he would write a much longer and more detailed reference.

This book has so much vitually important information for the employee going through a worker's comp situation. It covers all from the begining to the end. THIS BOOK WILL GIVE YOU THE KNOWLEDGE NEEDED TO FIGHT FOR YOUR LAWFUL RIGHTS -- DO NOT GIVE IN OR GIVE UP -- WITH THIS BOOK YOU WILL UNDERSTAND AND REALIZE THAT THE FIGHTERS ARE THE ONES THAT RECEIVE WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY/LAWFULLY INTITLED TO THEN.

KEEP FIGHTING AND BELIEVING THAT 'JUSTIFICATION FOR EMPLOYEER'S WRONG DOING CAN BE ACHIEVED.

READ THIS BOOK AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND!!!

As a Workers' Compensation practitioner, this is the book that I recommend to all the aquaintances that ask for free advice. I also tend to recommend it to large companies that operate in CA and other states, because it gives the law and requirements in terms that a high school graduate can understand.

There is more emphasis in this book on answers and "by the number" processes than legal precedent or analysis, which I find easier to follow for the lay person. Chris Ball also has a number of forms included with simple completion directions.

If someone is looking for an overview with more legal justification or reference to statutes, the California Workers' Compensation Handbook is an excellent choice. This book by Stanford Herlick is updated every year, and has shorter sections with less hand-holding.

I think that the Herlick paperback is the reference source of choice for the attorney or paralegal to carry in the car or briefcase for quick review of issues and solutions.

I bought this book when I was first injured after getting so frustrated at not being able to get answers to my questions anywhere else. I searched the internet, talked to people, but I just kept going in circles. Then I discovered this book. It saved me. I have since hired a lawyer, however, you will feel more empowered and in control if you understand the process and the terminology. Plus, insurance companies try to "get away" with some things, assuming the average person won't know their workers comp rights. This book has saved me several times in that instance. (For example, they made doctor's appointments for me, sent me the info on their legal letterhead saying I was required to go to that particular doctor. Since I knew my rights from reading the book, I challenged them and didn't have to go to their doctor. Basically, I think they try these tactics just because most people aren't informed, and will just do what they say) It's so important to understand what is happening with your case, and what your rights are. I've been injured for four years, and find I research something in this book at least once a week. If you have a workers comp injury, you shouldn't be without this book! (Also, Nolo puts out a great book on filing for social security disability too) Best of luck to you!

The average consumer has no idea of the laws and the rights he has when faced with an on the job injury.

This book is easy to read and understand. I am a nurse case manager for workers comp injuries and found this book extremely helpful. I encourage all my clients to obtain this book even if they have a lawyer. It gives them a solid knowledge base when the docs, attorneys and insurance people are throwing terms around.

It is well organized and follows a normal sequence of events. It was written by an attorney who handles workers comp cases.

I highly recommend this book.

Who knows what queasiness lurks in the hearts of tort lawyers? Kevin Mednick knows, and he tells all in this fast-paced, funny, knowing book about what lawyers do and how they do it. (Warning: As they say about politics and making sausage, some of it ain't pretty!) Mike Samuels may not want to be a lawyer, but by the end of "An Almost Life" most readers will want his phone number in case they slip and fall.

This is a laugh-out-loud and ultimately redemptive first novel about a self-deprecating personal injury lawyer from upstate New York. Who would have thought? A self-deprecating lawyer? But the novel has shades of Woody Allen, James Taylor, and Saul Bellow that make it all work.

Mike Samuels is just another middle-aged, middle class, divorced guy who feels he is slowly disappearing from life itself when he takes the case of Evelyn Walker. The former small town beauty has been scalped by a glue machine and by everything else in her life. When Mike realizes only he can right the terrible injustice to her, the burden of responsibility makes him want to fade away completely, but his sense of duty keeps him in the game for one last inning.

His efficient, long-suffering secretary Alice keeps his practice afloat, even when, in the middle of a major trial, he forbids her to take messages, any messages, from anybody. His girlfriend Anne-Marie is supportive, calm, sexy, and witty. Mike dotes on his two teenagers, Adam and Esperanza, and it's requited. His best friend Dan, brilliant but blustery, gives him endless pep talks on women, life, and other stuff he may really know nothing about. And while it's apparent Mike has nothing to be ashamed of except his own lackluster connection to life itself, he spends his days idly longing for the nobility of "Casablanca," plagued by hypochondria and self-doubt, reliant on Xanax to get him through the 3 a.m. willies, bullied by the viciousness of opposing lawyers, almost hopeless in courtrooms filled by deficient judges, small-minded jurors, lying witnesses, and clients who get their idea of the law from tv.

Mednick gives us a great primer on the actual practice of personal injury law. In his hands it turns out to be, and I hate to admit this, intriguing. He has a wonderful sense of place, the deteriorating landscape of the rustbelt, the fade-to-grey North country, and yet he still finds promise in small town America. He loves his characters, not just the heroic judges and doctors and the hot stripper with a complaint about her breast implants ("Can I show you the scars?") but also his triumphant ex-wife, barbaric opposing attorneys, and venal clients.

The author makes some great wisecracking detours into hypochondria, the differences between how men and women prepare for a date, lawyer's tv ads ("Mad Dog Duggan"), anti-depressants ("How could one drug cause drowsiness and insomnia?") teenagers ("Kids are forgiving creatures. You don't even have to be good. You just have to try.") America ("Rural people identify with their bosses...If Karl Marx lived in upstate New York, the world would be a different place.") and country clubs (where folks join to "disapprove of all the things they can't disapprove of elsewhere.")

I found myself wishing for a real Hollywood ending, where the bad guys get beat up in a rousing courtroom trial and the hero rides off with the stunning stripper whose scars have healed, but it's a tribute to the book's honesty that it shows us how to weather the storms of life without a swelling sound-track or explosions in Act 3.

Mike Samuels is in his forties and unhappily divorced from Andrea, his wife of sixteen years. She has since remarried; her new husband, Tom, is ambitious and prosperous, everything that Mike is not. Mike's self-esteem has hit rock bottom. "An Almost Life," by Kevin Mednick, refers to the protagonist's lack of engagement with the world; he feels like a walking shadow, a person without substance: "I'd been fading away for quite a while by then, disappearing to an unknown locale." He has a decent enough practice as a personal injury lawyer and a pretty, bright, and witty girlfriend, Ann-Marie, who, Mike insists is "not crazy about me," and "I'm not sure I like her either." In addition, he has two great kids, fifteen year old Adam and thirteen-year-old Esperanza, whom he adores and who love him as well. With all he has going for him, Mike still claims that he is merely going through the motions.

How to get Mike out of his funk? An unusual new case, brought to him by a woman in her mid-forties from upstate New York, captures his attention. Evelyn Walker suffered severe injuries when her hair was caught in a spinning roller at the paper goods plant where she worked. The roller ripped away four inches of scalp. She is suing the owners of Borum Industries, whom she claims allowed their employees to use equipment they knew to be unsafe. Evelyn tells Mike, "I want a tough lawyer from out of town." He replies, "Will you settle for one out of two?"

Mike initially has doubts about the viability of Evelyn's case. As the trial approaches, his qualms increase, since there are still some serious issues that have yet to be resolved. Is the weakness and pain in Evelyn's right arm a direct result of the accident? If so, who is responsible--the owner, for not making sure that effective safety procedures were in place, or Evelyn, for behaving carelessly? The outcome of this dispute is far from certain and Mike cannot handle much doubt in his fragile state. When his opponents resort to dirty tricks, Mike finds his inner pit bull and decides to fight back with a vengeance.

"An Almost Life" is a humorous and breezy story about a man who is a much better lawyer than he gives himself credit for, as well as an extremely loving and devoted father. Even his ex-wife doesn't hate him. Still he cannot relax and go with the flow. Fortunately, as Mike gets more deeply invested in the Walker case, he snaps out of his torpor long enough to learn about the virtues of patience, courage, and faith from his determined client.

This is a feel-good story about a nice, average guy who is having a rough time accepting the fact that his wife dumped him and that he will never be a superstar in his profession. Mednick's prose style is effortless and understated and his wry humor is delightfully engaging. The author makes personal injury law fascinating (no mean feat) and although the ending is a bit too pat and sentimental, "An Almost Life" is a diverting debut novel.