Played!

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Every law firm has its backroom bench of brilliant workaholic nerds ferocious in their commitment to the law and to their clients. Such a player is Milton Bernstein of Abbott & Windsor. He's highly valued by the partners for his skills, but untested in the courtroom. Milton's younger brother, Hal, is his polar opposite-strikingly handsome, a high-school baseball legend in St. Louis who was on his way to the major leagues until he destroyed his prospects in a motorcycle accident. Hal had been, and still is, the adored Bernstein brother-worshipped by his mother, his aunts, and the rest of his family, plus all the high school and college cheerleaders. Milton has learned to live with his lower star-power while Hal unabashedly admires Milton's career and happy marriage. Neither brilliant nor driven, Hal has to face up to earning a living. For now he's killing time as a lifeguard at an exclusive country club. His days at the pool are mostly filled with women, kids, and fantasies about the hot babe called Cherry. But the lives of both brothers are about to change. Cherry, the bombshell third wife of St. Louis' most shark-like litigator, Leonard Pitt, unexpectedly turns Hal's advances around. They become lovers. Coincidentally, Milton becomes the attack dog behind litigation to nail Pitt for running an insurance scam on his injured clients. Tangling with the Pitts is a game-changer for both brothers. Everyone is a tool of someone else. The players' roster widens to include a judge who's nursed a 30-year grudge against Pitt, the judge's astute clerk, and a crooked cop. Then Milton suddenly finds himself fielding Hal's arrest for kidnapping and murder. Played! is fast-moving, fun and, at its core, a story of brotherly love and loyalty. And baseball.

Reviews

...a clever engrossing legal thriller punctuated by sharp humor and many unexpected developments. * Scott Turow on Michael Kahn's The Flinch Factor *
... the spectacle of these ornaments of the Missouri bar attacking, undermining, and double-crossing each other provides brisk, sprightly entertainment, and the hapless defendant's baseball background comes into play just when it's most needed. * Kirkus Reviews *
Kahn is the author of the popular Rachel Gold series, and this stand-alone (for now) has the same sharp dialogue, wit, and clever plotting her fans have come to expect. -- Wes Lukowsky * Booklist *
The outcome is never in much doubt in this pleasant tale built on the love between two brothers. * Publishers Weekly *
Fans of quick reads like James Patterson's popular "BookShots" series will be well served by this thriller's fast pace. * Library Journal *
In "Played," the author again demonstrates his skills at turning out engrossing page-turners that keep the reader guessing until the end....With "Played," Kahn again demonstrates his chops as a first-rate mystery writer. The novel is thought provoking, informative and entertaining. -- Robert A. Cohn * St. Louis Jewish Light *
Played! has a light and bouncy air, perfect for poolside reading. Local readers will enjoys the dollops of local color, from lunch at O'Connell's to a climax that takes place in the River des Peres tunnel complex on Macklind Avenue. * St. Louis Post Dispatch *

Author Bio

Michael A. Kahn is the award-winning author of several novels, praised by Publishers Weekly for their "intelligent, breezy dialogue and clever plotting." A graduate of Amherst College and Harvard Law School, Mr. Kahn began his literary career writing freelance feature articles for Chicago Magazine while teaching fifth grade in the Chicago public schools. The St. Louis attorney wrote his first novel on a dare from his wife, who got sick of hearing him announce, each time he finished a paperback thriller, "I could write a better book than this." "Then write one," she finally said, "or please shut up."