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The Altar Boys: A Novel

John M. Poswall
Jullunder Press (2008)
ISBN 9780972999250
Reviewed by Narayan Radhakrishnan for Rebeccas Reads (3/08)

I am from India, and am a legal thriller fanatic to the core. In this world of fictional lawyers like Perry Mason (Erle Stanley Gardner) in books and Ally McBeal on television, I was desperately in search of a lawyer, a fictional lawyer hailing from India.  And yippee, John Poswall’s “The Altar Boys” is the perfect answer to my desperate search. Call my investigation jingoistic or me a patrio-chauvinist, but there is something special in reading about an Indian lawyer in an American courtroom. And, Poswall has done something in legal thriller writing with the creation of lawyer JJ Singh Rai, equivalent to what HRF Keating did to police procedurals with the creation of Inspector Ghote. As the author puts it when times required “Rai could use his best Punjabi accent and mimic the Peter Sellers character (the hapless Indian extra actor in Hollywood) of “The Party.”

“The Altar Boys” is Poswall’s second work; the first was another law story, “Lawyers: The Class of ’69.” I had read the same--but it was not a thriller per se--and it was one more for evoking nostalgia, “remembrances of things past,” etc. The said novel, I believe, catered more to the taste of readers having a background in law. Among the four or five main protagonists of “The Class of ’69,” was JJ Singh Rai.  But in this new work, Singh Rai is the unquestioned hero. He is now one of the best lawyers of America and has taken on some big shots in his career. But the passion for more has fueled Rai’s ambition, and this time round, Rai bites something more than which he can chew.  The defendant in this case is Mr. Almighty, God Almighty.

Law and religion is a deadly combination. And for those who have seen Spencer Tracy and Frederick March battle it out as Clarence Darrow and William Brady respectively in Jerome Lawrence’s “Inherit the Wind,” you would know what I mean. When the parents of two altar boys seek Rai’s help about an alleged molestation by the church priest, Rai sees this as the ultimate challenge. Why not make God himself the de facto defendant, while the priest would be the de jure defendant. And more than proving himself worthy of another challenge, Rai also wants to prove his mettle before his daughter, a law student.

What follows is superb action, courtroom action at its scintillating best. The author is right at home adding more and more spice to the drama. As the blurb rightly puts it--“The Altar Boys” is the book that sets the new standard for courtroom drama. Absolutely enjoyed the book--reverently enjoyed it.

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