"Dark Money is a delightful detective yarn but, more than that, it brings to light the terrible . . . corruption of American politics. Highly recommended." ~ Dain Dunstone.
"Insanity Plea ...intoxicating...and nail-biting..."
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Showing posts with label The Insanity Plea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Insanity Plea. Show all posts
Check Out These Larry D. Thompson Thrillers at Amazon!
White Witch: " Larry D. Thompson, Thriller Writer amply shows his skill as an excellent storyteller and his expertly voiced narration masterly evokes time and place. There is action aplenty in this yarn as he melds a powerful intricately plotted narrative imbuing it with voodooism, murder, corruption, and Jamaican history."
"Dark Money is a delightful detective yarn but, more than that, it brings to light the terrible . . . corruption of American politics. Highly recommended." ~ Dain Dunstone.
"Insanity Plea ...intoxicating...and nail-biting..."
"Dark Money is a delightful detective yarn but, more than that, it brings to light the terrible . . . corruption of American politics. Highly recommended." ~ Dain Dunstone.
"Insanity Plea ...intoxicating...and nail-biting..."
Miki's Hope Reviews Insanity Plea
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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. Rather, the term means a "splitting of mental functions", reflecting the presentation of the illness.
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.
Symptoms begin typically in young adulthood, and about 0.3–0.7% of people are affected during their lifetime. 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%).
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.
Reposted From Miki's Hope
Larry D. Thompson, Author of The Insanity Plea Interviews on Laurie's Thougts and Reviews
INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR LARRY D. THOMPSON
How did you start your writing career?
I started my writing career as a failure. I started my first novel about ten years ago, finishing it about two years later (still working my day job). Thinking I had written the great American novel, I sent it to agents and publishers and was rejected by all. So, my wife and I promoted it and I finally landed my agent who sold the paperback rights to Tor/Forge. That led to my next two being published by St. Martin’s Press and I was on my way. .
Tell us about a favorite character from a book.
Jackson Douglas Bryant is the protagonist from my last novel. He’s a poor boy who became rich as a plaintiff lawyer and returned to his hometown of Fort Worth and started doing pro bono legal work from his RV parked on North Main in a poor section of town. In Dead Peasants, he must figure out the connection between seemingly random murders throughout North Texas before his love interest is killed. Readers liked him so well that my next story will be about him.
Where do you dream of traveling to and why?
My wife and I want to rent an apartment on the Left Bank iin Paris for six months where I will write a novel. If it was good enough for Hemingway, it should work for me.
Tell us about your current release.
The Insanity Plea is the story of Wayne Little, a young Houston lawyer who must defend his older brother, a schizophrenic street person who is in the wrong place at the wrong time and is accused of a murder he didn’t do. The physical evidence is so overwhelming that the plea must be “Not Guilty by reason of insanity.” Wayne enlists the help of his friend, Duke Romack, former NBA star turned criminal lawyer. When Wayne and Duke review the evidence, they conclude that they either find the real killer or win the plea of insanity. 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. The story combines a legal thriller with tracking a serial killer and takes the reader on one helluva ride, right up to the last page and sentence. .
Tell us about your next release.
It’s in its embryonic stages, but I’m going back to Jack Bryant, the protagonist in Dead Peasants because my readers wanted to read more about him.
Has someone been instrumental in inspiring you as a writer?
Thomas Thompson was my brother who died way too young. But he was a best-selling true crime author in the eighties, best known for Blood and Money and Serpentine.
Who is your favorite author?
Other than my brother, it would be Ken Follett.
What was your first sale as an author?
So Help Me God
When in the day/night do you write? How long per day?
I’m a morning writer. I’m still a full time trial lawyer; so, I write a couple of hours in the morning if I’m not in trial and several hours on Saturdays and Sundays.
What is the hardest part of writing your books?
Re-writing and re-writing and re-writing until I am almost sick of my own creation.
Synopsis:
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 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.
Larry D. Thompson is a veteran trial lawyer and has drawn on decades of experience in the courtroom to produce riveting legal thrillers. After graduating from the University of Texas School of Law, Thompson founded the Houston trial firm where he still serves as managing partner. The proud father of three grown children, he lives and works in Texas but spends his summers in Colorado, where he crafts his novels and hikes the mountains surrounding Vail. His greatest inspiration came from Thomas Thompson, his brother, who wrote many best-selling true-crime books and novels.
Reposted from Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews
The Insanity Plea by Larry D. Thompson (Author Guest Post / Book Review)
Author Guest Post
It’s a paradigm shift not unlike that we are seeing in the publishing industry. More and more authors are foregoing a partnership with the major publishers where the publishers do little more than copy editing and putting the books in Barnes & Noble for a few weeks. Certainly, they are spending little or nothing for promotion. Of course, most of the big names will still dance with the one that brung them (to quote Darrell Royal, the great Texas football coach). However, even some of them are going to Amazon direct. For example, Barry Eisler, the highly successful thriller writer of the John Rain series, has garnered $500,000 advances, but now has chosen to direct publish his future books. Other authors like David Morrell have gone to their out-of-print back list and are putting them on Amazon for $2.99 and $3.99. Times are changing.
As to me, I have been published by St. Martin’s Press but have found that I must spend my own money for publicity/promotion since they apparently have no money for such. In return, Dead Peasants in on Amazon Kindle for $11.04 (don’t ask me how they arrived at that price) and The Trial is available for $7.59. Under my contracts with St. Martin’s, I get twenty-five percent of the net, or about $1.50 for Dead Peasants and $1.25 for The Trial. So I made the decision that so many authors are facing these days.
I’m going to direct publish The Insanity Plea on May 13, 2014 for $5.95. I’ll still spend my own money to promote it, but my royalty will be seventy percent or about $4.00 per book. I’ll miss the look on the faces of people at cocktail parties when I tell them I’m published by St. Martin’s. Certainly, that is a boost to the ego. Let’s hope that more sales at $5.95 and more money in my pocket will offset the hit to my ego. Stay tuned.
About The Author
Larry D. Thompson is a veteran trial lawyer and has drawn on decades of experience in the courtroom to produce riveting legal thrillers. After graduating from the University of Texas School of Law, Thompson founded the Houston trial firm where he still serves as managing partner. The proud father of three grown children, he lives and works in Texas but spends his summers in Colorado, where he crafts his novels and hikes the mountains surrounding Vail. His greatest inspiration came from Thomas Thompson, his brother, who wrote many best-selling true-crime books and novels.
Jersey Girl Book Reviews
Every now and then a riveting legal thriller comes along that captivates my attention from beginning to end, The Insanity Plea by author Larry D. Thompson is that book. The author calls upon his extensive legal expertise to weave a thoroughly engrossing and bone chilling tale that takes the reader inside the cold and calculating mind of a serial killer, interweaving it within the world of the mentally ill.
Set in the Galveston / Houston area, a group of amateur sleuths led by Houston trial lawyer Wayne Little, doggedly tracks down a serial killer while trying to save Dan, his mentally ill paranoid schizophrenic brother from being framed with the murder of a young nurse who was brutally killed while jogging on Galveston's seawall. With an air tight prosecution case, can Wayne save his brother from prison, or will his best defense be an insanity pleas?
The author utilizes his legal experience to provide the reader with some serious courtroom drama that will keep the reader riveted, while also drawing them into the gripping search for the serial killer that will keep them sitting on the edge of their seats until the surprising conclusion. I could easily see The Insanity Plea being made into a television or big screen movie.
Author Larry D. Thompson is a fine legal thriller author who knows how to craft a well written and provocative story. His attention to detail easily draws the reader in and keeps them engaged and guessing what will happen next as the fast paced and heart pounding story unfolds with suspenseful twists and turns. I was intrigued by his in depth look into the issue of mental illness, it provides much food for thought on how the mentally ill are treated by the US legal system.
If you are looking for an exciting legal thriller that will easily transport you into the heart of this nail biting story, while keeping you turning the pages, then The Insanity Plea is the book for you. The author sure does know how to take his readers on one hell of a thrilling roller coaster ride!
RATING: 5 STARS
Reposted from Jersey Girl Reviews
Vic's Media Room Reviews Larry D. Thompson's The Insanity Plea
Larry D. Thompson in his new book, “insanity bookThe Insanity Plea” published by Story Merchant Books brings us into the life of Wayne Little.
From the back cover: 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.
A manhunt for a serial killer, a nail-biting thriller, a detective story and a courtroom battle these are the elements that Mr. Thompson has provided us in “The Insanity Plea”. All Wayne is trying to do is protect his brother. To really do so he is going to have to find the real killer and it is going to take the help of three friends to accomplish it. Add in the fact that that they are going to have to stay alive as the killer doesn’t want to be found. This is one exciting book. I do not recommend you drink coffee while reading this book as there is more than enough excitement to keep you going. Give yourself plenty of time to enjoy this book as you will want to finish it before going to bed. “The Insanity Plea” is an exciting adventure from start to finish.
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