It is a testament to author Roger Lawrence’s storytelling acumen that the conclusion of his harrowing experiences with the judicial system is clearly stated in the title of the biography, JUSTICE DENIED: A Personal Requiem, as well as in its introduction. Yet knowing how the tale ends at the time of the book’s writing takes nothing away from its ability to provide page-turning suspense. One might also think it could be hard to relate to a story that follows–in great detail–the trials and tribulations of a fresh-faced lawyer who initially aims to join the ranks of the ‘power elite,’ make loads of money and acquire fancy houses and cars, considering the kind of reputation the elites have, in terms of the effect of abuses of power upon civilization as a whole. Yet JUSTICE DENIED does manage to become instantly relatable and dumbfounding because it offers a front row view of what’s going on behind the curtain as ill-conceived financial products, laws, and personal fixations spin out of control, causing various power players to devour their own.
Somewhat reminiscent of the spell-bindingly true accounts in Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice by Sidney Powell, Lawrence’s story takes on injustice as produced by the *IRS (while stating that all references to organizations such as the IRS and FBI are fictional as the real life events transpired in Canada). The contention? That Lawrence and others have committed fraud involving hundreds of millions of dollars, even though evidence of these millions–at least in Lawrence’s possession–are nowhere to be found. Alternating between the trial and the events that lead up to it ameliorates potential confusion to a degree as the trickiest part of this biography involves providing readers with a clear understanding of the underlying plot, which revolves around an obscure and ill-advised tax credit program related to research and development endeavors. This program has allowed certain people and companies, for a short time, to take advantage of loopholes that produce hundreds of millions of dollars of lost tax revenue. But the abuses should land at the feet of the individual who has been clandestinely harvesting vast rewards while leaving certain unsuspecting lawyers making the deals that then reap the full force of IRS* wrath.
JUSTICE DENIED: A Personal Requiem by Roger Lawrence is both riveting and disturbing and relays the true-to-life tale about how the judicial system can steal people’s livelihoods and lives, working them over for reasons that have little, if anything, to do with serving actual justice.
~C.S. Holmes for IndieReader