When a riot breaks out in the prison she is visiting, law professor Natalie Greco witnesses the death of a prison guard whose last words reveal a dangerous conspiracy, a situation in which Nat finds herself targeted by murderers, the police, and a seductive colleague. 350,000 first printing.
Daddy's Girl
By Lisa Scottoline
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Copyright © 2007
Lisa Scottoline
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780060833145
Chapter One
Nat Greco felt like an A cup in a double-D bra. She couldn't understand why her tiny class was held in such a huge lecture hall, unless it was a cruel joke of the registrar's. The sun burned through the windows like a failure spotlight, illuminating two hundred empty seats. This class filled only nine of them, and last week the flu and job interviews had left Nat with one very uncomfortable male student. The History of Justice wasn't only a bad course. It was a bad date.
"Justice and the law," she pressed on, "are themes that run through William Shakespeare's plays, because they were central to his life. When he was growing up, his father, John, held a number of legal positions, serving as a chamberlain, bailiff, and chief alderman."
As she spoke, the law students typed on their black laptops, but she suspected they were checking their email, instant-messaging their friends, or cruising the Internet. The classrooms at Penn Law were wireless, but not all technology was progress. Teachers didn't stand a chance against sex.com.
"When the playwright turned thirteen, his father fell on hard times. He sold his wife's property and began lending money. He was hauled into court twice for being usurious, or charging too much interest. Shakespeare poured his empathy for moneylenders into Shylock, in The Merchant of Venice. It's one of his most complex characters, and the play gives us a historical perspective on justice."
Nat stepped away from the lectern to draw the students' attention, but no luck. They were all in their third year, and 3Ls had one foot out the door. Still, as much as she loved teaching, she was beginning to think she wasn't very good at it. Could she really suck at her passion? Women's magazines never admitted this as a possibility.
"Let's turn to the scene in which Antonio asks Shylock to lend him money," she continued. "They agree that if Antonio can't pay it back, the penalty is a pound of his flesh. By the way, future lawyers, is that a valid contract under modern law?"
Only one student raised her hand, and, as usual, it was Melanie Anderson, whose suburban coif and high-waisted Mom jeans stood out in this clutch of scruffy twentysomethings. Anderson was a forty-year-old who had decided to become a lawyer after a career as a pediatric oncology nurse. She loved this class, but only because it was better than watching babies die.
"Yes, Ms. Anderson? Contract or no?" Nat smiled at her in gratitude. All teachers needed a pet, even lousy teachers. Especially lousy teachers.
"No, it's not a contract."
Good girl . . . er, woman. "Why not? There's offer and acceptance, and the money supports the bargain."
"The contract would be against public policy." Anderson spoke with quiet authority, and her French-manicured fingertips rested on an open copy of the play, its sentences striped like a highlighter rainbow. "Antonio essentially consents to being murdered, but murder is a crime. Contracts that are illegal are not enforceable."
Right. "Anybody agree or disagree with Ms. Anderson?"
Nobody stopped typing emoticons to answer, and Nat began second-guessing herself, wondering if the assignment had been too literary for these students. Their undergraduate majors were finance, accounting, and political science. Evidently, humans had lost interest in the humanities.
"Let's ask some different questions." She switched tacks. "Isn't the hate that drives Shylock the result of the discrimination he's suffered? Do you see the difference between law and justice in the play? Doesn't the law lead to injustice, first in permitting enforcement of the contract, then in bringing Shylock to his knees? Can there be true justice in a world without equality?" She paused for an answer that didn't come. "Okay, everyone, stop typing right now and look at me."
The students lifted their heads, their vision coming slowly into focus as their brains left cyberspace and reentered Earth's atmosphere. Their fingers remained poised over their keyboards like spiders about to pounce.
"Okay, I'll call on ¬people." Nat turned to Wendy Chu in the front row, who'd earned a Harvard degree with honors in Working Too Hard. Chu had a lovely face and glossy hair that covered her shoulders. "Ms. Chu, what do you think? Is Shylock a victim, a victimizer, or both?"
"I'm sorry, Professor Greco. I didn't read the play."
"You didn't?" Nat asked, stung. "But you always do the reading."
"I was working all night on law review." Chu swallowed visibly. "I had to cite-check an article by Professor Monterosso, and it went to press this morning."
Rats. "Well, you know the rules. If you don't do the reading, I have to take you down half a grade." Nat hated being a hardass, but she'd been too easy her first year of teaching, and it hadn't worked. She'd been too strict her second year, and that hadn't worked either. She couldn't get it just right. She was like Goldilocks and all the beds were futons.
"Sorry," Chu whispered. Nat skipped Melanie Anderson for the student sitting next to her, class hottie Josh Carling. Carling was a tall twenty-six-year-old out of UCLA, with unusual green eyes, a killer smile, and a brownish soul patch on his square chin. A Hollywood kid, he'd worked as an A.D. on the set of a TV sitcom and he always wore an Ashton Kutcher knit cap, though it never snowed indoors.
"Mr. Carling, did you do the reading?" Nat knew Josh's answer because he looked down sheepishly.
"I didn't have time. I had a massive finance exam to study for. Sorry, for reals."
Damn. "Then you're a half-grade down, too," she said, though her heart went out to him. Carling was in the joint-degree program, so he'd graduate with diplomas from the law school and the business school, which guaranteed him a lucrative job in entertainment law and a spastic colon.
Nat eyed the second row. "Mr. Bischoff? How about you?"
Continues...
Excerpted from Daddy's Girl
by Lisa Scottoline
Copyright © 2007 by Lisa Scottoline.
Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Everything is running smoothly for by-the-book law professor Natalie Greco until she catches the final words of a dyinginmate during a prison riot and finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy. With an 11-city tour. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Scottoline introduces readers to another strong heroine as likable as Mary DiNunzio, Bennie Rosato, and Cate Fante. Nat Greco is a mild-mannered law school professor who finds her world spinning out of control after she agrees to an impromptu guest lecture at a local jail with a colleague. Within minutes of arrival, a riot locks down the jail, Nat's life is threatened, and her coworker is injured. She flees the classroom and encounters a grisly crime scene. After dispatching someone to her associate, she attempts CPR on a dying prison guard, who gives her a message for his wife. Nat's attempts to deliver the message ensnare her in a web of corruption, danger, and intrigue that threaten her reputation and her life. Those who can tolerate a slow beginning won't be disappointed. Once the book picks up pace, it's a nonstop joy ride all the way to the finish. Recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/06.]—Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights
[Page 114]. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
The undistinguished academic career of Natalie "Nat" Greco, a mousy and nave law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, takes an unexpected turn at the start of this less than compelling legal thriller from bestseller Scottoline (Dirty Blonde ). When an attractive male colleague, Angus Holt, convinces Nat to accompany him on a teaching assignment at a nearby prison, a sudden riot puts them both in peril. Nat finds herself desperately attempting to save the life of a guard, apparently stabbed by an inmate during the fracas. The dying man asks her to pass on his last words to his wife, but possessing knowledge of this cryptic message proves dangerous. Nat finds herself accused of murder and must evade the law while also tracking down the bad guys. Her methods more often resemble that of Nancy Drew than an Ivy League professor, and the plot suffers by comparison with Peter Abrahams's gritty End of Story (2006), which makes better use of a similar theme. 11-city author tour. (Mar.)
[Page 38]. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
