{Behind the Book} Suzy's Case by Andy Siegel

When a guy's been litigating complicated jury trials in New York City for two decades and is about to publish his first novel, you don't look at him and think, "Hey, at Great Neck North High School, they kept that lawyer in remedial reading through eleventh grade." But it's true.

But all things turn out to be connected - even if you don't always understand right away why or how. From that classroom, where I sat with other kids whose problems were bigger than mine, came my earliest identification with the underdog. With classmates out in the hallway peering in and laughing, I knew what it felt like to be on the wrong side of the door.

After I graduated from law school and began practicing, I quickly realized it was the less advantaged people of the city, the ordinary Joes, unable to stand up for themselves, that most needed my legal expertise and fighting spirit. Justice is something you shouldn't have to compete for, but it is.

So how did Tug Wyler come into being? He was undoubtedly hanging around, shadowing my daily life for a long time; I just didn't know it. But here's the short version: the idea of him just appeared in my head. I don't know from where. But there he was.

Unable to shake the spell he cast, I began to write, each day when I got onto Metro North what's now become Suzy's Case. But I was doing it only to amuse myself. I didn't read courtroom mysteries or legal thrillers; as far as I was concerned, I was living them.

It's common to diss personal injury lawyers. Ambulance chasers, they call us. Me, I see it differently. As far as I'm concerned, we're the Robin Hoods of the profession, righting wrongs with every bit the same commitment he had putting those culpable - most often the rich and powerful - in their place.

Just remember: anyone, in an instant, can become a victim. Even you.

The rush to cover up genuine wrongs of the sort that lie at the heart of Suzy's Case - and the other Tug Wyler adventures I intend to write - happens continually out there in the real world. Believe me, fiction doesn't know the half of it. What keeps me going into my office without fail each morning is my compulsion to make the system work for the injured victim when the big insurance companies vigorously resist such an outcome. It isn't easy, but it's what I do, and I love it.

I should add that it's no secret I enjoy joking around and have an offbeat sense of humor. But though my methods may appear like smart-aleck comedy to my adversary or to the fellow in the robe with the gavel, my frequently unconventional approach is critical to helping me stay sane, dealing as I do on a daily basis with one set of catastrophic circumstances after another. One thing is certain: no one opposing me is ever able to anticipate all the angles I might spring on them in the course of a legal brawl.

For Tug Wyler readers, I promise the same mix: a rule-bending, high-tension conflict during the course of which you'll laugh in spite of yourself ... while never knowing what's going to happen next. Like me, Tug's the kind of street-smart, push-it-to-the-limit lawyer you'd want on your side when the worst has happened.

Mandy's Comments:

I intend on reviewing this novel for two main reasons:

1. I want to know if Suzy gets justice - She's a brain-damaged little girl in a suit against a hospital
2. I want to see if the author lives up to his self-promotion - I really hope he does because this sounds like an excellent novel!

Keep an eye out for my review. You know I'm going to be honest about what I think! :-)