With all the riveting suspense of Reasonable Doubt and Presumed Innocent, State v. Justice spins a spellbinding tale of two opposing, hardened lawyers who use a controversial murder trial to exact revenge on each other. The victim is a Russian diplomat's six-year-old son. The accused killer, T. J. Justice, is a psychopathic drifter with a history of child molestation. The father of a young boy himself, prosecutor Gardner Lawson's initial reaction is a strong emotional. commitment to the case. But when the FBI suddenly turns the investigation back to the local police, Gardner senses danger. And no threat is greater than Kent King, the vicious, manipulative defense attorney who is also Gardner's sworn enemy. As King mounts his cynical defensive onslaught, Gardner vows victory - in spite of a twisted trail of dubious clues and confusing evidence. For Gardner's assistant Jennifer Munday, watching her boss and King battle above and beyond. the law, this case confirms the tumors that their feud is fueled by a dark personal secret. But this is Jennifer's first shot at a major prosecution, and she's got to keep on target...despite her growing affection for Gardner. For State Department official Robert Hamilton, the mystery has international implications. Even as Russia's hard line softens, his superiors order him to keep an eye on some strange behavior in the Russian diplomatic community following the murder. It is a vigil that will lead him to uncover devastating truths about the nature of the case. For T. J. Justice, it is a matter, quite simply, of life and death. And for Gardner Lawson, the compulsion to keep pushing, despite his own misgivings plunges him into a baffling case he cannot seem to win, against an unscrupulous adversary who wants victory inside the courtroom and out.