Brain Storm by
Richard Dooling
pbk out September 99
(Vintage)
at £6.99
In the early years of the 21st century Joe Watson is a young lawyer working
for a big, posh firm in Missouri. He spends his days on-line, researching
cases for the partners and minutely studying computer games in search of
copyright violations. He's never had a real client, let alone appeared in
court.
However, as a law student Joe wrote a dissentient paper on the subject of
"penalty enhancement" in crimes of hatred, and is therefore picked by a
federal judge to defend a white supremacist accused of murdering a deaf, black
man. The prosecution alleges that the killing was motivated by the racist's
hatred of blacks and deaf people ... and not merely because he found the
deceased in bed with his wife. If it was the latter, the killer gets life. If
the former - death.
Joe's old longing for courtroom drama, long buried by a respectable marriage
and a generous salary, is reawakened. But soon he's losing his grip on his
marriage and his career, and trying to avoid committing adultery with a
gorgeous but frightening neuroscientist. His only ally is a beer-swilling,
joint-smoking, "punk defence lawyer," and his only income comes in packages of
untraceable cash - the source of which appears to be his client's crazy
militia pals.
The controversy over hate crimes is a topical one, and not only in the USA. In
many European countries, it is a criminal offence to deny the Holocaust.
There are plans in Britain to establish racially-motivated crimes as a
separate category of offence. Libertarians argue that such legislation
undermines free speech, and even free thought. Some jurists worry about the
practicalities of determining an accused's beliefs, rather than his actions.
Generally, though, members of the law enforcement industry are keen on the
hate crime concept because, as one of the characters in 'Brainstorm' explains:
"These guys know employment when they see it. The possibilities are endless.
Hate could mean more business for them than crack cocaine. After all, hate is
everywhere, and it's free!"
It's an interesting debate. As are "Does free will exist?", "Are humans more
than machines?", and "What is the nature of marital fidelity?" Unfortunately,
this book tries to take on all the above at once - while simultaneously
providing a wacky black comedy, an anti-utopian satire, a legal thriller and a
whodunit.
It's shamelessly overwritten. Not only is every piece of research the author's
ever done regurgitated verbatim, but the prose is so leisurely and discursive
that you could probably skip one page in three without losing track of the
plot. The courtroom element simply fizzles out, and the thriller story is lame
and tired.
I ended up irritated by the book and longing for it to end - to my regret,
because Dooling is often very funny indeed, and he is obviously a more than
capable writer, providing sharp insights into some important and fascinating
ideas. But for most of the book, the jokes and the ideas drown in waffle. This
novel should have been two novels. And even then it could have done with
losing 100 pages.
Brain Storm by
Richard Dooling