Book Review: The Legacy

The Legacy

by James Gilbert

Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Legal

ISBN: 9781956823219

Print Length: 150 pages

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Reviewed by J.S. Gornael

A quick, accessible read with memorable characters who use their grit and cunning to ensure that a dead man’s final wishes are respected

Junior associate Adam Chauncey was randomly asked by one of the senior partners of his law firm to be a co-executor to someone’s will. Whose?—not important. And of course, when a senior partner asks you to do something, you do it. 

Fast forward a year and Adam has suddenly been tasked as the primary executor of this will, despite his lack of experience; the mysterious client has passed away, and the first executor is no longer eligible. There’s a lot of money at stake here, so he asks his paralegal friend Sally for help. 

We learn this is Percy Landsman’s will, and it contains some ambiguity: there is mention of Mr. Landsman’s “original birth family,” but he didn’t know them or where they are. Still, he wants them compensated. As Adam and Sally track down these obscure relatives, more oddities about Mr. Landsman’s wishes stack up—and it becomes clear that certain people don’t want these two youngsters looking too far into the matter. 

In The Legacy, Adam and Sally grow closer together as they discover that their level of dedication may ironically cost them their careers at a prestigious Chicago law firm. Meanwhile, Adam struggles to gather up the confidence to ask his partner out. The best bits of the novel witness the predictable but nonetheless charming path their relationship takes. Adam and Sally’s banter is affable and keeps the novel’s pace going: at one point Adam says “This is really curious” as he examines some notes without explaining further—and Sally answers, “What’s curious is the way you begin a sentence and stop halfway through.”

Most of this novel is written from Adam’s perspective, but some unique sections refreshingly shift to Sally’s point of view and provide the full picture. The Legacy ticks off other genre-conventions with ease at a concise 148 pages, but I did long for some more closure about the villains. 

In the end, it’s more about the characters’ inner struggles anyway, a novel about the revelation of what kind of person you want to be. It’s an accessible, relaxing afternoon read about socio-economic class and the importance of self-worth. It’s about what Adam and Sally learn about themselves through the difficult choices they make in pursuit of the rightful heirs to this complicated, wealthy man’s will. Adam’s character arc is a satisfying one, making this more a novel of the heart than of the gavel. And, in that sense, the verdict the reader comes away with is that this heroic pair grows stronger as they come face-to-face with adversity—as well as with love.

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