Legal Briefs: Short Stories by Today's Best Thriller Writers

Bernhardt's collection of short stories by the most popular writers of legal thrillers benefits from its translation into audio. The readers have been chosen carefully, and, for the most part, enrich the stories selected for the recorded edition. Philip Friedman's "Roads" is especially enhanced by Cotter Smith's reading and brings to life the desolation and desperation of driving along the isolated interstates wired on caffeine and too little food. George Grizzard similarly animates Phillip Margolin's "Jailhouse Lawyer" and matches the tones of both the chatty radio talk show host and the flashy defense attorney he convinces to tell the story of his best opponent.

One of the appealing characteristics of the audio edition is that the stories speak for themselves: their literary merits (or lack thereof) are unclouded by Bernhardt's introductions or the authors' explanations of inspiration. The primary disappointment is that there was not room on the tape for the entire collection. Lisa Scottoline's "Carrying Concealed" is wittier and less topical than Steve Martini's "Poetic Justice" and might have made the jump to tape more effectively. Still, Legal Briefs is an amusing enough collection and one that provides easy and useful introductions to the author/attorneys included. (Running time: 4.5 hours, four cassettes) --K.A. Crouch