THE CORPORATE VEIL

When Spence Thompson heads to Monroe, Ala., with his new law degree in hand, he expects to make piles of easy money at his uncle's firm. But his hopes for a cushy future are put on hold when he's appointed to defend a beautiful, mixed-race girl accused of murdering her abusive father and must struggle against a crooked sheriff, judge, district attorney and even a powerful paper mill pushing another, more lucrative (and illegal) product. Spence may be wet behind the ears, but he's intelligent and likable enough, and his wealthy lawyer uncle, Americus Kirkland, is anxious to display his generosity and savvy to his surrogate son. The portrait of a small Alabama corporation town is so vivid that one can almost taste the dust and the paper pulp, and Ricks offers a delightful and instructive aside on the local hobby of quail hunting. But does Spence have it in him to risk everything to defend his client, Angela Chauncey, even as other townsfolk start to turn up dead? Though the local crooks and the villainous Chicago CEO feel like cardboard cutouts, the concluding fireworks are satisfactorily explosive. The workmanlike prose supports a solid story as Spence grows up, and Angela, mistreated for most of her years, looks to face a happy life sentence with her counsel. (Oct.)