Like the ripples from a heavy rock thrown into a pond, up and coming lawyer, Carolyn Page still feels their vibration in her thoughts for a long time as she makes her way up the career ladder at Edwards and Harrison, one of the oldest and largest law firms in Houston, Texas.
What had happened that night after the party at a senior partner’s beach house on Galveston Island? Why and how did Laura get to be so injured? Had she been raped? Why had she disappeared from the hospital?
While Carolyn is ambitious, she had been raised in a good way by her rancher father and felt torn between pushing for answers and making waves or potentially losing her job or any chance for advancement in her career. She had been fortunate in getting a helping hand in office politics from Cynthia Connor, her friend and mentor. Cynthia definitely would know how to help Carolyn with what to do, but she was away on an extended trip. If only she had someone she could trust to help her know what choices to make and what consequences they could have!
CRUDE AMBITION is an aptly titled and awesome account of the high risk, high stakes world of ambitious lawyers involved in the macho oil industry in Texas and none can tell it better than Texan Patricia Hunt Holmes, a former public finance attorney with over thirty years of experience in a large international law firm. Her characters are terrific and true to their outlooks, flaws and mannerisms.
Even if you haven’t been to Texas, it is very easy to visualize the broad sweep of the Texas landscape and the top-end and elite locations and restaurants mentioned as Holmes easily weaves her descriptions in as part of the storyline. Holmes also effectively and realistically captures the tensions in conversations and families about fracking, environmental impact, greedy lawyers, and conflicts between neighbouring ranchers getting rich quick and those missing out. Having lived in Calgary at the height of the oil boom, many of the same sentiments were expressed there as well.
The storyline in CRUDE AMBITION also highlights these tensions as they vary between the first-person perspective of a number of characters, while primarily focusing on Carolyn’s and Laura’s respective ethical ambivalence, ambition and determination to do what they need to do, all making for fascinating reading. I also suspect that Holmes drew upon one of her earlier publications, TIPS FOR MEN WHO STILL DON’T GET IT (Texas Lawyer 2016) for some of the male character traits in CRUDE AMBITION.
Bottom Line! CRUDE AMBITION is a terrific read that builds with suspense as you clue in early to what is happening, but no idea of how it would turn out! I found I just had to read on into the night to see how it ended. Will that happen to you? I recommend you find out! Enjoy!
In the early morning hours after a law firm recruiting party at a beachside house on Galveston Island, a female summer intern is found lying on the floor, bruised, bleeding, and unconscious. Something terrible has happened. She is taken to a hospital by the only other woman there, but the next day the intern is gone without a trace. Those involved decide to keep silent about the incident in order to further their own career ambitions, but the two women are haunted by what happened.
Time passes. Ten years later, crime and hubris bring the former intern back into the lives of those that hurt her. Only this time, she has the power, and the truth is finally brought to light.
From the power centers of Houston law and oil to the fracking fields of South Texas to the Jersey Shore and Washington D.C., this story chronicles the struggles of two ambitious young women in their quest for legal success and justice.
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