3 out of 5 stars ***
I listen to something different for a change, The Shotgun Lawyer, by Victor Methos. Ten chapters in, a street savvy lawyer who is attractive enough to manipulate girlfriends of boyfriends on trial maintains an image of control but his actual life is miserable. He calls off a wedding to the woman he actually loves and is father to a son that makes him feel guilty for not being present enough in his life. He drives around in an unflattering used car. His past mistakes humble him but he does not want that known because he views it as a weakness in his lawyer life.
By chapter 27, the protagonist's self image wavers when he shows compassion for a grieving mother whose child is victim to a senseless mass shooting by a disturbed individual. He champions the mother's cause of suing the gun manufacturers. This exposes the lawyer's Liberal beliefs, and possibly the author's, as the motive for writing this narrative. It leans toward righting a perceived wrong concerning the second amendment. That view differs from mine but that does not mean I am angry or judgmental of his cause. Tolerance must apply on such heated arguments. The protagonist is passionately frustrated as he encounters a wall of law that protects owners, retailers, and manufacturers of guns.
As this lawyer takes the case he is accompanied by the lady he left at the alter because she is attracted to the cause. His pursuit of all angles in the case brings him to a discovery that I can agree. The way any gun gets into the hands of felons who then commit horrendous acts of murder is a major component of the problem. It is through the greed of those who buy guns on sale and sell them to felons for a profit who are just as responsible for the murders, not the guns, themselves. However, the mother gets her chance in court to tell the defendants what pain she lives with everyday because of the easy access to such guns. This sends a ripple in educating society to the danger of easy access to guns and the willingness of those who sell as many guns to anyone for profit. The novel ends this way but not before the protagonist makes amends with the love of his life, patches up matters with his son, and goes into practice with she who he once jilted.
