Burnout — Larry A. Winters

Jessie Black is a rising star at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. But all of her abilities will be put to the test when Frank Ramsey, a brutal serial murderer and rapist she successfully prosecuted over a year ago, petitions the court for a new trial. Public defender Jack Ackerman represented Ramsey at his first trial. Beating him had not been easy. That was before his spectacular public breakdown, which saw him singing and dancing in open court and resulted in his commitment to a mental institution mere weeks after Ramsey's guilty verdict. Now, Ramsey may have a chance at a new trial based on an ineffective assistance of counsel claim. To stop Ramsey, Jessie will need to defend a defense attorney she never liked, and prove that he's not crazy--a fact she's far from sure of. A new trial would devastate Kristen Dillard, the teenage girl whose life Ramsey shattered and the only witness to his horrific crimes. And to make matters worse, powerful forces are hellbent on putting Ramsey back on the street for their own mysterious purposes, and won't let anyone--including a prosecutor--stand in their way. Will one lawyer's nervous breakdown set a killer free? For Jessie, this fight will be the toughest of her career, and one she's not willing to lose.