CBA Record September-October 2024

Leo Balanoff, an attorney who has been diagnosed as a pathological liar. Balanoff is also a lawyer who works tirelessly and aggressively to seek justice. Suspected of murdering a drug dealer, Balanoff must decide if he will go undercover for the FBI to help take down the criminal group. The FBI does not like the need to use the liar but concludes it has no choice. In going undercover, Balanoff embarks on a collision course with his ex, “the one who got away”: Andi Piotrowski, a former police officer. She is now work ing as a security executive for a company that figures prominently in the story. Everyone has secrets and a need to “win,” while Balanoff and others have much to lose. No further plot revelations will be shared to avoid spoiling the gift of sur prise and allow readers to have their own fun peeling back the story. With his talent, Ellis takes us on a path filled with twists and turns. In a recent Chicago Daily Law Bulletin interview, Ellis referred to his last two novels as the “restart” of his solo writ ing career. We hope it is not close to the end and that he continues to tell “the best lies.” Ellis is a master storyteller and one of the CBA’s very own.

SUMMARY JUDGMENTS

REVIEWS, REVIEWS, REVIEWS!

H orror and fiction king Stephen King has said about the novel, “Fiction is a lie. And GOOD fiction is the truth.” Writing good fic tion that allows the reader to escape while tethering the story to what is at least plau sible, if not realistic, is difficult for even the most gifted writers. Fortunately, in Chicago, we have someone who tells some of the best lies when he writes novels: Illinois Appellate Court Justice David Ellis. And indeed, the latest addition to his library of great fiction is titled The Best Lies . Ellis began his fiction-writing jour ney when his first novel, Line of Vision , By David Ellis Penguin Random House (2024) Reviewed by Daniel A. Cotter THE BEST LIES

was published in 2008 after having been rejected by almost 75 agents. Readers of the CBA Record might recall that we reviewed that novel and have reviewed each of Ellis’s subsequent solo books (he writes with James Patterson as well). In interviews with Ellis, we have learned how he hones his craft and arranges his workday. He wakes daily around 3 a.m. He does not tell people what he is writ ing. Pre-Covid, Ellis had stopped writing. One silver lining of the pandemic for him was that he came back to writing fiction. This is his second novel since the pan demic began. In The Best Lies , Ellis tells the story of

Daniel A. Cotter is a member of Dickinson Wright, the 2024-25 President of the National Counsel of Bar Presidents, and a CBA Record Editorial Board member.

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42 September/October 2024