We’ll stand back from the politics and let the Above the Law reviewer dissuade you from buying this “libertarian” law professor’s pulp novel
Apparently, that time away from Twitter has helped Professor Henderson write a murder mystery coming out in October called Mental State. Let’s walk through the publicity blurb:
When conservative law professor Alex Johnson is found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at his house in Chicago, everyone thinks it is suicide. Everyone except his brother, Royce, an FBI agent.
The victim isn’t usually the Mary Sue, so this book is already turning the tables on us!
Without jurisdiction or leads, Agent Johnson leaves his cases and family to find out who killed his brother.
Um, what happened to FEDERALISM!?!?! Don’t tread on me, Henderson!
There are many suspects: the ex-wife, an ambitious doctor with expensive tastes and reasons to hate her ex;
Several years ago, Professor Henderson argued that he was basically poor since he and his wife only made $250,000/year. The median household income in Chicago is around $66K, by the way. So given that the author doesn’t think $250K doesn’t lend itself to extravagant living, this doctor must have really wild tastes. Like fois gras force-fed whale meat or something.
academic rivals on a faculty divided along political lines;
Apparently, the contemptuous trend of conservative professors to hijack the language of discrimination to vent about needing “viewpoint diversity” isn’t just about their hurt feelings — they really think they’re about to get offed by their equal protection loving colleagues.
an African-American student who failed the professor’s course.
Oh I’m sure this plotline won’t be cringeworthy.
Charitably, this suspect may be heroically spared by the FBI agent after racist local cops finger the kid based on lazy investigating and racism, but even in that case we’re going to have a healthy dose of old-fashioned Mismatch psuedo-science about black students not being smart enough to pass law school. We’ve already had our fill of that from Penn Law’s Amy Wax resurfacing to spout off about the conspiracy keeping her from finding the first shred of evidence to back her bias.
As Agent Johnson peels back layers of mystery in his rogue investigation, the brother he never really knew emerges. Clues lead from the ivy-covered elite university and the halls of power in Washington to the gritty streets of Chicago and Lahore, Pakistan. Ultimately, Agent Johnson must face the question of how far he is willing to go to catch his brother’s killer.
Spoiler: the character who is exactly like Professor Henderson was the most important person in global politics when he wasn’t failing black students.
Mental State is about two brothers learning about each other in death….
No. No, it isn’t. It’s about one brother learning about the other in death. The dead brother isn’t learning anything. Unless it’s all been a setup and the genius, unfairly maligned, globally influential law professor faked his death, of course. But the marketing blurb wouldn’t give away the plot, would it?
We all hope the tales of Royce Johnson catch the literary world by fire. After all, Professor Henderson is barely keeping the lights on with his meager $250K over there.
