The Professor
by Robert Bailey
(Exhibit A Books, Osprey Group 2014)
The Professor is a gripping legal thriller that grabs hold of you in the first few pages and doesn’t let go until the end. The reader is drawn into a realm of intrigue in many emotionally draining directions. The pacing and story is as gripping as the Ken Follett masterpiece Eye of the Needle.
Robert Bailey, a trial lawyer in Alabama, makes a stunning debut as a fiction writer.
The story is set in the backyard of legendary football coach Bear Bryant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. A former player for the Bear is a senior professor at the local law school. A new dean wants new blood. False accusations, including romance with a student, are fabricated, and the professor is dismissed.
At the same time, a horrendous accident at a highway intersection takes the life of a young couple and their infant daughter when their car is rammed by a speeding gasoline carrier. The deceased are members of the professor’s one-time paramour’s family. He recommends a young lawyer in the same county. The bad guys commence killing or bribing anyone who could testify adversely.
The young trial lawyer is overwhelmed in a sea of conflict in every direction. At the last moment, the professor is summoned. Will he help? If so, will they be successful?
The Professor is a phenomenal read. I literally stayed up late into the night to finish, unwilling to close the book until I knew how the trial would turn out. Even then, I was curious about what happened to the people brave enough to confront evil.
Robert Bailey has a robust career in front of him. I look forward to his future work.
Onward!
—CYM