\u201cMartin Clark is, hands down, our finest legal-thriller writer.\u201d \u2014 Entertainment Weekly<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Unforgettable characters, an insider\u2019s blueprint of the justice system, intricate plotting, and a provocative, no-holds-barred ending.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For seventeen years, small-town public defender Andy Hughes has been underpaid to look after the poor, the addicted, and the unfortunate souls who constantly cycle through the courts, charged with petty crimes. Then, in the summer of 2020, he\u2019s assigned to a grotesque murder case that brings national media focus to rural Patrick County, Virginia\u2014Alicia Benson, the wife of a wealthy businessman, is murdered in her home. The accused killer, Damian Bullins, is a cunning felon with a long history of violence, and he confesses to the police. He even admits his guilt to Andy. But a simple typographical error and a shocking discovery begin to complicate the state\u2019s case, making it possible Bullins might escape punishment. Duty-bound to give his client a thorough defense, Andy\u2014despite his misgivings\u2014agrees to fight for a not-guilty verdict, a decision that will ultimately force him to make profound, life-and-death choices, both inside and outside<\/em> the courtroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rare Bird Books \u2014 September 12, 2023 Martin Clark is often praised as our best legal-thriller writer (Entertainment Weekly<\/em>, The Washington Times, Winston-Salem Journal<\/em>).\u00a0 His sly, smart books, however, aren\u2019t just<\/em><\/strong> courtroom thrillers.\u00a0 Because of his distinctive, genre-bending style, he\u2019s also been compared to Walker Percy and T.R. Pearson (Oxford American<\/em>), Tom McGuane and Nick Hornby (New York Times Book Review<\/em>), Elmore Leonard (Los Angeles Times<\/em>), and even Hunter S. Thompson (The Denver Post<\/em>).\u00a0 His latest novel, THE PLINKO BOUNCE (September 12) once again showcases his unique talent, prompting Adriana Trigiani to note: \u201cMartin\u2019s canon\u2026 has a permanent place of honor in American Literature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Martin is a retired Virginia circuit court judge, who served twenty-seven years on the bench.\u00a0 His novels have appeared on numerous bestseller lists and have been chosen as a New York Times <\/em>Notable Book, a NewYorkTimes<\/em> Editors\u2019 Choice, a Washington Post Book World <\/em>Best Book of the Year, a Bookmarks <\/em>magazineBest Book of the Year, a Boston Globe <\/em>Best Book of the Year, a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, a finalist for the Stephen Crane First Fiction Award, and the winner of the Library of Virginia\u2019s People\u2019s Choice Award in 2009, 2016 and 2020.\u00a0 Martin received the Patrick County Outstanding Community Service Award in 2016 and the Virginia State Bar\u2019s Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award in 2018.\u00a0\u00a0 He and his wife, Deana, live on a farm with dogs, cats, chickens and three donkeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Official Website: MartinClark.com<\/a> \u201cThe Plinko Bounce <\/em>is jam-packed with crime, murder, old wounds, new thrills, disillusionment and the mayhem that ensues when dumb mistakes are made by well-meaning people. What a gift to readers on Judge Clark’s 23rd anniversary in literary show business! We remain agog at his skill, mastery, and moxie. Martin’s canon, which dredges the reader in heartbreak and roils us in hilarity, has a permanent place of honor in American Literature. Martin Clark is a master craftsman who exalts the genre of legal thriller to heavenly heights. Ain’t nobody following him that will ever do better. That right there would be impossible. Trust me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014Adriana Trigiani, author of Big Stone Gap<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMartin Clark injects life into a topsy-turvy murder case in rural Virginia as only he can in this propulsive tour de force, which had me riveted from beginning to end.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014Beth Macy, author of Dopesick<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat I love about the novels of Martin Clark is how smart they are \u2014 about the law, of course: The Plinko Bounce<\/em> is a legal thriller, after all. But he\u2019s just as smart about people, their attachments and losses, and what drives us to assume our roles in the murky moral mess that\u2019s life.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014Daniel Wallace, author of Big Fish <\/em>and This Isn\u2019t Going to End Well<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMartin Clark is back stronger than ever. With all the legal tomfoolery of Better Call Saul<\/em> and the dutiful heart of Longmire<\/em>, The Plinko Bounce <\/em>underscores why I\u2019ve been an ardent Clark fan since the beginning. The man can write, he\u2019s funny as hell, and his words stand tall with hard-won integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014Matthew Quick, New York Times <\/em>bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook<\/em> and We Are the Light <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCompletely original. \u00a0Martin Clark knows how to write and spin a great yarn.\u201d \u2014Nelson DeMille \u2014Greensboro News and Record<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA truly original writer.\u201d \u2014David Baldacci \u2014Winston-Salem Journal<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA bold new voice in thrillers.\u201d \u2014Los Angeles Times<\/em> \u2014Charlottesville Daily Progress<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAstonishing literary skill. \u00a0Clark [is] a master of dialogue and a brilliant scene painter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cClark\u2019s trademark is witty prose and mind-bending legal plotting.\u201d \u2014The Seattle Review of Books<\/em> “Often acclaimed as the country’s\u00a0best writer of legal thrillers.”\u00a0\u2014Washington Times<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Judge Clark will be featured on Thacker Mountain Radio on Thursday, October 19th at 6:00 pm. \u201cMartin Clark<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":132188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2239],"tags":[26624,14990,5,4,3335,846,5993],"class_list":["post-132185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-literary-events","tag-judge-martin-clark","tag-martin-clark","tag-mississippi","tag-oxford","tag-thacker-mountain","tag-thacker-mountain-radio","tag-thacker-mountain-radio-hour"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/plinko-fi-9-6.jpg?fit=500%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/ThePlinkoBounce.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTHE PLINKO BOUNCE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Hardcover: $28.00
ISBN: 978-1644283776<\/p>\n\n\n\nMEET THE AUTHOR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nCONNECT WITH MARTIN ONLINE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Facebook: \/MartinClarkAuthor<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nEARLY PRAISE FOR THE PLINKO BOUNCE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
PRAISE FOR MARTIN CLARK<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cClark has a diabolical imagination, which he employs brilliantly. \u00a0To his unconventional thrillers, he brings a keen understanding of high principles as well as the realistic nuts and bolts of the legal profession.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMartin Clark is the new standard against which other works of legal fiction should be judged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This is writing at its best\u2014for this genre or any other\u2014and one is almost tempted to urge the author to discard his black robe as a real-life circuit court judge and devote himself full-time to writing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaster of colorful legal thrillers.\u201d \u2014BOOK CITY Roanoke<\/em>
\u201cIf you order a \u2018Martin Clark\u2019 at your local library or bookstore, be prepared: It packs a wallop. It\u2019s so intoxicating that it doesn\u2019t just dazzle Clark\u2019s reviewers, it inspires them.\u201d \u2014Raleigh News and Observer<\/em>
\u201cPart John Grisham, part Hunter S. Thompson and part sheer grit\u2026\u201d \u2014Denver Post\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"