Book Review-The Insanity Plea-Larry D. Thompson

This is definitely one of the best legal mystery THRILLERS which incorporates a medical condition I have read in a very long time. I could not put it down! This book was actually sent to me along with a book I had requested to review by the same author-Dead Peasants- which I will be reading and reviewing pretty soon.

Wikipedia defines Schizophrenia as:

Schizophrenia (/ˌskɪtsɵˈfrɛniə/ or /ˌskɪtsɵˈfriːniə/) is a mental disorder often characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to recognize what is real. Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, auditory hallucinations, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and inactivity. Diagnosis is based on observed behavior and the person's reported experiences.

Genetics and early environment, as well as psychological and social processes, appear to be important contributory factors. Some recreational and prescription drugs appear to cause or worsen symptoms. The many possible combinations of symptoms have triggered debate about whether the diagnosis represents a single disorder or a number of separate syndromes. Despite the origin of the term from the Greek roots skhizein ("to split") and phrēn ("mind"), schizophrenia does not imply a "split personality", or "multiple personality disorder"—a condition with which it is often confused in public perception.[1] Rather, the term means a "splitting of mental functions", reflecting the presentation of the illness.[2]

The mainstay of treatment is antipsychotic medication, which primarily suppresses dopamine receptor activity. Counseling, job training and social rehabilitation are also important in treatment. In more serious cases—where there is risk to self or others—involuntary hospitalization may be necessary, although hospital stays are now shorter and less frequent than they once were.[3]

Symptoms begin typically in young adulthood, and about 0.3–0.7% of people are affected during their lifetime.[4] The disorder is thought to mainly affect the ability to think, but it also usually contributes to chronic problems with behavior and emotion. People with schizophrenia are likely to have additional conditions, including major depression and anxiety disorders; the lifetime occurrence of substance use disorder is almost 50%.[5] Social problems, such as long-term unemployment, poverty, and homelessness are common. The average life expectancy of people with the disorder is 12 to 15 years less than those without. This is the result of increased physical health problems and a higher suicide rate (about 5%).[4][6]

Paranoid Schizophrenia is a medical condition which affects the brain. Psychiatrists to this day are still trying to find a way to at least relieve the symptoms which are horrendous. Many of the "street people" who you see walking around talking to themselves may be schizophrenic. and most are relatively harmless. There are those who are "told" by voices to do horrendous acts-I believe Ted Bundy was one such person.

Wayne Little is a lawyer. His older brother, Dan has been living on the streets for many years. Suddenly, Wayne gets a phone call-his brother is being charged with capital murder-and may face the death penalty. Dan is innocent but has been off his meds-----Ultimately Wayne and his friends decide to put in for the Insanity Plea. In Texas, where this story takes place that is not easy! Meanwhile-there is a killer out there and he is murdering people---Will the real murderer get caught. Can they prove, under Texas law that Dan was legally insane when he confessed to the murder? The ending will send chills down your spine!

About the book: (from Amazon)

"...fierce courtroom drama..."
"...intoxicating...and nail-biting..."
"...the courtroom scenes often soar..."
-Kirkus Reviews

A young nurse is savagely killed during a pre-dawn run on Galveston’s seawall. The murderer slices her running shorts from her body as his trophy and tosses the body over the wall to the rocks below. As dawn breaks, a bedraggled street person, wearing four layers of old, tattered clothes, emerges from the end of the jetty, waving his arms and talking to people only he hears. He trips over the body, checks for a pulse and, instead, finds a diamond bracelet which he puts in his pocket. He hurries across the street, heading for breakfast at the Salvation Army two blocks away, leaving his footprints in blood as he goes.

Wayne Little, former Galveston prosecutor and now Houston trial lawyer, learns that his older brother has been charged with capital murder for the killing. At first he refuses to be dragged back into his brother’s life. Once a brilliant lawyer, Dan’s paranoid schizophrenia had captured his mind, estranging everyone including Wayne. Finally giving in to pleas from his mother, Wayne enlists the help of his best friend, Duke Romack, former NBA star turned criminal lawyer. When Wayne and Duke review the evidence, they conclude that Dan’s chances are slim. They either find the killer or win a plea of insanity since the prosecution’s case is air tight. The former may be a mission impossible since the killer is the most brilliant, devious and cruel fictional murderer since Hannibal Lecter. The chances of winning an insanity plea are equally grim.

It will take the combined skills of the two lawyers along with those of Duke’s girlfriend, Claudia, a brilliant appellate lawyer, and Rita Contreras, Wayne’s next door neighbor and computer hacker extraordinaire, to attempt to unravel the mystery of the serial killer before the clock clicks down to a guilty verdict for Dan.
The Insanity Plea is a spell-binding tale of four amateur sleuths who must find, track and trap a serial killer as they prepare for and defend Wayne;s brother who is trapped in a mind like that of John Nash, Russell Crowe’s character in A Beautiful Mind.

Combining legal thriller with tracking a serial killer, Thompson once again takes the reader on a helluva ride, right up to the last page and sentence.

The Insanity Plea, a new legal thriller by Larry D. Thompson, Best Selling author of Dead Peasants, The Trial and So Help Me God.

Read a chapter or two here

Purchase the book here

About the Author: (from Goodreads)

(Picture from Facebook page)

Larry D. Thompson is a managing partner of the Houston trial firm he founded. He is the proud father of three grown children and admiring brother of the late author Tommy Thompson. He lives in Houston, Texas"

To read a more thorough biography click into the author's website !

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