Half-Moon and Empty Stars by Gerry Spence

Paperback:  Half-Moon and Empty Stars (2001) is a legal thriller, a family drama, a love story, and a visionary work of fiction that examines our dearest values of life and death.

Vincent Bugliosi described the book as "a compelling family drama centred around the death penalty."

When a local land developer is found murdered outside his home in Twin Buttes, Wyoming, Native American activist Charlie Redtail is immediately charged with the crime.

Everyone knew that Charlie fiercely opposed the victim's plans to build on sacred ground, and the local District Attorney is demanding the death penalty - not for justice, but with her own agenda in mind.

The trial will draw Charlie's friends and family together despite the shared pains of their past and their own conflicting desires, and send idealistic small-town lawyer Abner Hill on a quest for the truth - for his client and himself.

"Justice is always better than truth," Henry Old Deer said.  He threw a crumb from his Snickers bar to the dog, who grabbed it in midair.  "I have thrown this dog the crumb.  The truth is the dog likes Snickers too.  But truth does not feed a dog.  Justice is when the dog is fed.  Do you understand?"

It will open old, unhealed wounds in the town of Twin Buttes, uncover a bitter legacy of prejudice against Native Americans that span lifetimes, and keep readers on the edge of their seats until the final gavel falls.

Basically, this is the story of twin brothers - half Arapaho, half white - set in a small Wyoming town.

One goes the way of the Native American (Charlie Redtail), the other the way of the well-heeled investment banker (Billy Redtail).

About the author:  Gerry Spence is a trial lawyer in the United States.  In 2008, he announced he would retire, at age 79, at the end of the Geoffrey Fieger trial in Detroit, MI.  Spence did not lose a criminal case in the over 50 years he practiced law.  He started his career as a prosecutor and later became a successful defense attorney for the insurance industry.  Years later, Spence said he "saw the light" and became committed to representing people, instead of corporations, insurance companies, banks, or "big business."  Half-Moon and Empty Stars is his first and widely acclaimed novel.

Rating:  6/5