In author James Barretto’s debut legal thriller Mystic Wind set in the 1980s, readers are introduced to attorney Jack Marino. The Boston lawyer is married to an heiress and at the top of his legal game as the lead prosecutor in the D.A. office’s gang unit. He’s long left his hardscrabble roots in the past, but a brutal attack after winning a big case changes things for the worse.
By the time 1982 rolls around, he’s been fired from his job, his marriage is on the rocks, and he can barely walk into a courtroom, never mind function in one. But when Jack is manipulated into defending a man facing the death penalty in a politiczed case meant to show how tough the D.A. is on crime, Jack starts to come back to life.
The D.A. and the prosecuting attorney want nothing more than a quick verdict to fuel their political ambitions. There is also a biased judge seemingly out to hamstring Jack’s case, and the cops are convinced they’ve got their man. But as he digs into the evidence, a different picture begins to emerge. Believing his client to be a patsy and with a life on the line, Jack becomes determined to win the case. But with the real bad guys onto his game, he’ll have to figure out how to survive long enough to reveal the truth and bring them to justice.
Author Barretto is a sitting judge on the Massachusetts District Court, so the various legal components of Mystic Wind feel authentic, but what really made this book is it’s assured writing. With the story focused on preparing and then trying the case, readers see each progressive step in Jack’s professional and personal redemption arcs. And yet, it all moves so smoothly there’s no getting bogged down with minutia that would pull you out of the story.
Of course, a series is built on the strengths of its lead character, and with Jack Marino, readers have a legal eagle that they can actually root for. He needs to prove himself over and over again, but he never loses focus on the main goal of proving his client innocent. I will say that Jack’s coterie of adversaries could’ve used a bit more development, as they come off a little bit too much like mustache-twirling versions of Snidely Whiplash, but it’s a flaw that doesn’t ruin the overall experience of the book.
Mystic Wind, the first in a new series, gives legal thriller fans a new hero with a story so good and nuanced that I wished I could read it for the first time all over again.
