As reported here in the figurative pages of Above the Law, in early 2014 Mayer Brown infamously filed a lawsuit that attempted to remove a memorial honoring “comfort women” of various countries who were compelled into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II. Mayer’s involvement prompted numerous opinions about the ethics of filing such a controversial lawsuit. Mayer’s lawsuit is fictionalized in the new novel Dead Soon Enough by attorney turned novelist Steph Cha, which, instead of World War II “comfort women,” explores the controversy over the Armenian genocide.
Dead Soon Enough depicts Juniper Song, a young Korean-American private detective living and working in in Los Angeles. Song is hired by Rubina Gasparian, a successful Armenian-American doctor, to spy on Rubina’s cousin Lusig, who is pregnant as Rubina’s surrogate. Rubina is worried that Lusig is behaving recklessly because she is stressed about the disappearance of her best friend Nora, a prominent and controversial blogger whose specialty is the Armenian genocide. Song’s assignment soon transforms into a search for Nora, who had received death threats, was being stalked, and was at odds with a shady group protesting the building of a public memorial honoring the victims of the Armenian genocide. As Song digs deeper into Nora’s disappearance, she learns more about the different groups involved in the genocide memorial fight, including fictional law firm Thayer White, the stand-in for Mayer Brown.
Unquestionably the strongest aspect of the novel is Cha’s depiction of how the effects of the Armenian genocide are still being felt today. At first, as Song educates herself about the Armenian genocide, certain passages in the book seemed more like a Wikipedia article than a novel. However, once Song obtains a basic understanding of the genocide, the information flows more naturally. Cha explores the politics underscoring the Armenian genocide debate, such as the reason why United States political officials will not use the word “genocide” or the change in President Obama’s rhetoric about the genocide from his time as a senator to his tenure as president. More interestingly, through Rubina, her husband Van, and Lusig, Cha is able to flesh out the modern implications of the genocide, such as the pressure within the Armenian community to marry and procreate with another Armenian, because the genocide decimated the Armenian population. I consider myself a well-informed individual (I even deigned to watch part of the Republican debate last week!), but the Armenian genocide is an area of history that I know very little about. And as opposed to other historical tragedies, it has not really been explored in the arts.
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Song is a very well-rounded protagonist, as the book explores her own experiences of being a Korean-American (Cha herself is Korean-American). In one particularly memorable scene, Song explains the rankings of racial or ethnic groups that she is allowed to date. Song’s other defining feature the fact that she is a millennial private detective. I mostly hate the word “millennial,” as it typically is an excuse for older people to lump together people as old as me and as young as 15-year-olds who have never played Oregon Trail, never used AOL, and do not proudly own a well-worn copy of Tubthumper. But for better or for worse, “millennial” is probably the best description of Song. Song conducts much of her private investigation research on Google, and she emails and texts potential suspects. Cha has a good ear for dialogue, and accordingly Song speaks like a millennial. I don’t think Jake Gittes would ever begin a sentence with “so,” let alone do so repeatedly, but it fits Song and makes the novel more unique.
My biggest complaint with the novel is that – as your dutiful legal arts critic who is looking to critique depictions of the law – Cha does not adequately explore Thayer White’s involvement in the lawsuit. To be fair, Song does romance Rob Park, a Korean-American former Thayer associate who quit the firm because of the morality of the lawsuit. As a litigation associate, I appreciated Rob’s explanation of how unhappy lawyers can be. However, I wish that Cha had delved more into the ethics of a law firm representing such an unjust cause, especially given the real world “ripped from the headlines” nature of Thayer’s representation. (USA’s hit summer show Mr. Robot did a fantastic job exploring a similar topic. In the show, E Corp is initially portrayed as the most morally reprehensible company imaginable. However, through the characters of Terry Colby (Bruce Altman, giving a performance on par with his performance in Rookie of the Year) and Philip Price (Michael Cristofer, who is perhaps the best monologuist currently working on television), Mr. Robot examines whether or not E Corp is truly evil or just a byproduct of capitalism.).
Ultimately, even though fans of legal thrillers might be disappointed about the small role that the fictional law firm Thayer White plays in the story, Dead Soon Enough is an enjoyable read for fans of mystery, neo-noir, or even millennials. When you read the novel, though, in order to differentiate you from those 15-year-olds who are ignorant of 1990s music, make sure to drink a whiskey drink, a vodka drink, a lager drink, and a cider drink.
(Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book.)
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Dead Soon Enough [Amazon (affiliate link)]
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Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at [email protected]. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.