This is the first of Mr. Coughlin's that I've read. He has constructed a fairly simple suspense/romance story of a beautiful but ice-cold D.A. who, through a set of reasonably believable circumstances, suddenly finds herself on the bench as well as in personal and professional crisis. His characters are fairly two-dimensional even though he has tried very hard to give them all some texture. Hard to explain. Coughlin's story line, though, moves right along and there is enough tension and interest for the reader to stay with the book in order to see how it all turns out. I learned a little law in the course of reading it, and observed the unseemly political side of judicial work as well. It's worth a shot.

I have read many William J. Coughlin novels. I have to agree with another reviewer that this is not a Coughlin book. Since his death, his older books are being rewritten and republished. Who ever is doing the rewrites is destroying Coughlin's good name.

This novel tells the story of a four major cases going to the Supreme Court. The Court is split 4 and 4 , with one judge the swing man. When this Judge has stroke and dies the hunt for a new judge is on. The President is looking for a judge that will vote for keeping the Electoral College in place. This the only way the President can win the next election. In total the other cases are overlooked.

This novel was trying to show the integrity of Washington D.C. It was suppose to show how one hand washes the other and so forth. This novel tried but gave up half way through, and I believe it was the half that was re-written. Also I found gross errors in Michigan geography, such as when flying from Washington D.C. to Detroit how do you fly over Ann Arbor? Coughlin would never make that error.

I found it difficult to stick with this book in the beginning. I actually had trouble staying awake but I was glad that I did stick with it. About midway through, it became more interesting and I enjoyed the ending. I am more of a Grisham or a Scottoline fan.

I have loved reading all William Coughlin books and was really only terribly disappointed with "The Heart of Justice" published posthumously. I felt he had not finished it prior to his death and it did not have the life and humor of his other works. I saw that The Court was a reprint of his earlier book and was happy to find it. I did enjoy it because I accepted that it might not show the skill displayed in his later novels. It was a simple book, really, but I found it a pleasure to read. I did find it a bit unusual that the President would place such faith in one man's opinion of his choice for the Supreme Court, but I enjoyed the ride. For those who are upset, I feel it is his widow, Ruth, who is probably publishing Bill's earlier works. Read her book "Grieving" and you will never doubt her love for him. I don't believe she would ever publish anything that would hurt him or diminish his reputation as a fine writer.

I must have missed something, considering the amount of praise heaped on the author on the dust jacket, I thought I was about to read War and Peace. There was nothing new here, and the story line moved around like a heart monitor display - no consistent track - grabs something here, something there. This really is a very disappointing book.

I just recently discovered Wm. Coughlin by reading "The Judgement". I loved it and started searching for others. I read Heart of Justice after reading 5 others and cannot believe this was written by the same aurhor as the others. It is far inferior and I'm sure not written by a man (not saying a man could do better) as the way characters are depicted implies to me a woman is writing the prose.

This book could not possibly have been written by William Coughlin!! The writing style is completely different...and greatly inferior to his. The plot is slow and ponderous, and the dialogue is dull and amateurish compared to his other books. It's a shame that his name has been attached to a book that is so poorly written.