Joseph Antonelli has never lost a case he should have won and has won nearly every case he should have lost-and yet he is about to see his client, Justin Friedrich, convicted for a crime he did not commit. His wife was found shot to death in the bedroom of their yacht in the San Francisco marina, and Friedrich does not stand a chance. But then the real killer approaches Antonelli...Famous and enigmatic, James Michael Redfield, the head of a high-tech company that leads the world in the development of artificial intelligence, gives Antonelli evidence that proves Friedrich is innocent. But why did Redfield wait until the last minute to give Antonelli this proof?Before Antonelli can even begin to solve that riddle, there is another murder, and he finds himself an unwilling participant in a conspiracy he does not understand. He has never known anyone like James Michael Redfield. For Redfield, it isn't about murder at all; it's all about the trial-because only a trial can show the world what Redfield believes it needs to know, no matter how many people need to die to make it happen.
When Judge Calvin Jeffries becomes the first sitting judge to be murdered while serving in office, charismatic criminal defense attorney Joseph Antonelli finds himself smack in the middle of a riveting case. As he works through the intricacies of a homicide audacious enough to strike at the heart of justice, the ensuing investigation and trial reveal a deadly trail of evil, shattered lives, and revenge. While challenging traditional notions of crime and punishment, the novel also calls into question the very principles of our judicial system and marks the breakthrough of a master storyteller. D.W. Buffas The Defense (Henry Holt, 1997) received great praise and grossed more than 40,000 hardcover copies. The Prosecution (Henry Holt, 1999) was also lauded by critics and garnered equally impressive sales.
Star Witness is about a man on trial for murder - a man recognized as one of the film industry's most successful writers/directors, a man of almost mythic drive and talent, and someone who looks more guilty with every passing witness. Attorney Joseph Antonelli - suave, philosophical, fearless, and cagey - takes up the director's defense for the murder of his wife, the actress every woman wants to be and every man wants to possess. Despite Antonelli's flawless examination of the prosecution's witnesses, the jury finds fewer and fewer reasons to doubt. Then the director shows Antonelli the script he considers his masterpiece - a re-imagining of Orson Welles's Citizen Kane - with a visionary film director as its hero. In this story-within-a-story, the accused reveals his version of the tragedy - the secrets of his marriage, and the ominous events that led to his wife's death. In it we see the way art can imitate life - and unmask a killer even the court can't find. Star Witness is a breath-taking novel about the nature of fame and the ever-confusing intersection of truth and fantasy, dream and desire.
