A Cure for Night.

Peacock, Justin (author).

Forced to resign from his prestigious Manhattan law firm for drug use, Joel Deveraux becomes a public defender in Brooklyn, handling nothing more than arraignments for minor crimes. But after this dreary apprenticeship, Joel is assigned to assist PD Myra Goldstein in defending a young black man charged with the shooting death of a white college student. In racially volatile Brooklyn, the case is very high profile—and far more meaningful than anything corporate law offered him. A Cure for Night is a truly compelling first novel. It successfully mixes several factors—including a gritty, realistic, and thoughtful look at the criminal justice system; the moral and ethical crevasses of criminal law; and good storytelling—into a taut delight. Joel, Myra, and a host of other characters are fully fleshed, a bit cynical but deeply human. Each character’s voice is his or her own, and the author has a fine ear for dialogue. Peacock even throws in a surprise ending that startles in two very different ways. By any measure, this one’s a winner.