In 2002, Walls of Silence was published. Its author, Philip Jolowicz was hailed as a new Grisham, another king of the legal thriller. Jolowicz had worked as a lawyer in the City, before becoming a corporate financier and investment banker, so he knew his stuff.
I remember Walls of Silence as a crackingly paced read, worthy of the description "thriller". Starting out with a New York setting, the novel later moved to India and each setting felt real and affectionately recorded. But what has come since?
Sadly, Amazon lists a novel "False Positive" as a hardback in 2004 and 2005, with a paperback in 2005 also. All listings are noted as "currently unavailable" and there are no online reviews or "used and new copies" on offer in Amazon's marketplace. Neither does AddALL identify any copies in the used market.
By the time of publication of "False Positive" was there too much of the finance side of life thrown in with the legal, just as the UK was tiring of the financial based novel? It appears that only Michael Ridpath has survived that sub-genre crunch in the UK. But he is no longer on my "must read the next" list. Was that because I left the City in 1999, finally disenchanted by that pattern of working life and possibly because I did not seek to read it in fiction too? Or was it because I'd discovered other UK writers to capture my imagination in other sub-genres?
The financial thrillers written by Linda Davies (a site splendidly maintained by her brother Roy) have now given way to a children's fantasy novel entitled "Sea Djinn". Davies had been an investment banker and she literally breezed onto the scene with her novel Nest of Vipers in 1994, after she decided to turn to writing fiction.
Ex-City trader Harry Bingham started out with financial thrillers, but he since moved on.
I'm not sure what has happened to Philip Jolowicz in the noughties, but I remember reading Walls of Silence and enjoying it, though it was not perfection. There's a "customer review" on Amazon which I recognise as my words. I was annoyed by some repitition and lack of explanatory detail, but I gave it 4 stars out of 5.
What a shame that this author appears to have dropped off the radar. If you know otherwise, then please let me know.
I gather not, Eleane. I believe he returned to the legal profession and is now in the middle east.
Posted by: crimeficreader | 29 April 2011 at 14:23
I am just reading Walls of Silence and wanted to know if he had written any more, if not why not.
Posted by: Eleane Rhodes | 29 April 2011 at 14:15