A Calamity of Souls
11 April 2024Synopsis
'A tour de force' – S.A. Cosby
'An instant classic' – Alex Michaelides
Set in the tumultuous year of 1968 in southern Virginia, a murder case sets a duo of Black and white lawyers against a deeply unfair system as they work to defend their wrongfully-accused Black defendants. A Calamity of Souls is the gripping historical courtroom drama from international no. 1 bestselling author David Baldacci.
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Jack Lee is a white lawyer from Freeman County, Virginia, who has never done anything to push back against racism, until he decides to represent Jerome Washington, a Black man charged with killing a wealthy, elderly white couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his legal skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are already stacked against both him and his client. And he quickly finds himself out of his depth when he realizes that what is at stake is far greater than the outcome of a murder trial.
Desiree DuBose is a Black lawyer from Chicago who has devoted her life to furthering the causes of justice and equality for everyone. She comes to Freeman County and enters a fractious and unwieldy partnership with Lee in a legal battle against the best prosecutor in town. Yet DuBose is also aware that powerful outside forces are at work to blunt the victories achieved by the Civil Rights movement.
Lee and DuBose could not be more dissimilar. On their own, neither one can stop the prosecution’s deliberate march towards a guilty verdict and the electric chair. But together, the pair fight for what once seemed impossible: a chance for a fair trial and true justice.
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KILLER TWISTS. HEROES TO BELIEVE IN. TRUST BALDACCI.
‘One of the world’s thriller masters’ - Daily Mail
‘Baldacci is still peerless’ - Sunday Times
'David Baldacci at his best' - Michael Connelly
‘One of the all-time best thriller authors’ - Lisa Gardner
'Baldacci on top form' - Peter James
*The 6.20 Man, the first instalment in Baldacci's Travis Devine series, was an instant New York Times bestseller w/c 31/07/2024
Details
11 April 2024
9781035035618Reviews
This is David Baldacci at his best. Using the law and the courtroom as the stage for a searing parable on race and the cost and courage to do the right thingMichael Connelly, author of the Ballard and Bosch series
A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci is the immovable object of history slamming into the irresistible force of truth. An examination of a fractured place and time where the mores of the past were confronted by the implacable ferocious tenacity of justice. A Tour de ForceS.A. Cosby, author of Razorblade Tears
From its disturbing opening onwards, I couldn’t stop turning the pages ... it works like a time-machine, effortlessly transporting you to a troubled time in U.S. history; with characters that linger in the mind long after you have finished the book. An instant classic, I will be recommending this to everyone I know. Not just a great American crime story; this is a great American novelAlex Michaelides, author of The Fury
Baldacci on top form - a tragic, gripping and intensely believable thrillerPeter James, author of the Roy Grace series
