Rivertown Heroes is a Watergate era tale told by Nathan Hirsch, a young, anxious, and self-critical DC lawyer burdened with guilt from his past. Fueled by a poisonous concoction of ambition and insecurity, Nathan attempts a scheme so disloyal to his law firm that he barely skirts disbarment and is forced to end his practice in the nation’s capital.
Nathan retreats to his hometown Bethell, Washington depending upon family and old ties to salvage his tainted career. His dream of escape fades into a dreary reality when Nathan takes a humble job as a public defender arranged by his “Uncle” Harry King, a lawyer, and Nathan’s childhood mentor.
But when Nathan represents an indigent defendant wrongly accused of murdering a Hirsch family friend, the case’s twists and turns point responsibility at Harry King and other Hirsch family intimates. As he pursues the truth, risking disbarment and damage to his extended family, Nathan finds solace and possibly romance with Katie, his dead brother’s former girlfriend.
Lawyer Mike Cohen makes his fictional debut in this intense coming of age tale of fidelity, community, and justice. Fans of Scott Turow and David Guterson’s complex legal novels will welcome this work to the genre.