John Kroger: Convictions

A 500-page read is daunting.  This book read much faster than I anticipated. 
This was our April Book Club selection, and the woman who chose it DIDN'T MAKE IT to book club.  And only 3 of the 5 of us who showed up read it!!  Needless to say, there wasn't a large amount of talking about the book.  And I even had questions I wanted to discuss!!! :)

I wasn't ever interested in the law, and then I got put on a Grand Jury at the end of February, and I got to see the legal system in action for five weeks.  I became enthralled with the way our justice system functions, and then I started to read Kroger's book, and there is a little piece of me that wishes I would have gone into the law.  I think the research would be fascinating, but I am pretty sure they don't just have jobs for researching--and if they do, I am sure it isn't a good-paying job (or stable).  So, I will just have to live with my brief dabble in the land of legal matters, and be glad I do not have any criminal association with the legal system (I am knocking on wood!).

I liked this book.  I didn't like the Enron chapter, but the other chapters make up for the last portion of the book that is dedicated to white-collar criminals (who were not interesting at all--more infuriating than anything).. 
One of my friends in Book Club really hated this book at the beginning, but then Kroger's style grew on her.  For me, it was the opposite.  I enjoyed it right away.  Kroger's voice is not too pretentious (and that's saying something for a lawyer!), and I didn't get the sense that I was being talked down to.

A great deal of power lies in the hands of District Attorneys, more than I would have ever thought.  And for people who are ignorant, there is a good chance that the wrong kind of person could hold office. 

Kroger grapples with his conscious more than I was anticipating (realizing a lawyer has a conscious is a new perspective for me), and the reader experiences the moral struggles and frustrations that Kroger describes. 

I have more research to do about Kroger and the questions I wrote down for Book Club, but another friend has my copy with all my notes/questions, so I will have to wait. 

Overall, the sections of the book about the Mafia are amazing, and the read is worth the brief glimpse into a life of an Assistant United States District Attorney.

I am hoping that Kroger someday writes a book about his cross-country bicycle trip.  The BRIEF mention of some of the individuals he encountered was enthralling.