Literary Nonfiction (Criminal Law, Race Relations, U.S. Political History). Contemporary Fiction. A unique blending of nonfiction (the defense lawyer"s perspective) and fiction (the writer"s view) on a topic of devastating concern to victims, the accused and, surprisingly, all the rest of us. Alex Landon (the lawyer) and Elaine Halleck (the novelist) explore a difficult topic -- the effect of laws enacted in the aftermath of brutal and sensationalized crimes, usually murders of white children -- on those accused of lesser sex crimes and on society as a whole. The two authors" accounts "parallel" one another, describing accused people exiled into "a parallel universe" where principles enshrined in the American dream are ignored.