Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump pens legal thriller whose main character may seem familiar
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump’s new novel, a legal thriller called “Worse Than a Lie,” is about a lawyer very much like its author. (Photo from Penguin Random House)
Famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump has released his first novel, a legal thriller whose main character parallels his own as a relentless crusader for justice.
The novel, Worse Than a Lie, follows Beau Lee Cooper, a Black civil rights attorney.
“The story paints a vivid portrait of the legal and systemic challenges—and hard-won victories—that often define the Black experience in America,” according to a story in the Texas Metro News.
Crump is well known for having taken on some of the most high-profile and landmark cases tied to social and environmental justice for Black communities. He represented the families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as the residents of Flint, Michigan, affected by the city’s contaminated water crisis.
The Texas Metro News story notes that the novel is set on the historic night of former President Barack Obama’s presidential election in November 2008 and opens with a former Black police officer being shot by four white officers and is left clinging to life. Cooper is pulled into a complex legal and moral battle to uncover what really happened.
The book is the first in a series that Crump plans to write as part of a seven-figure deal with Bantam Books, acccording to the Hill. The series will follow Cooper, who will “tackle cases of corruption and injustice while celebrating Black love and resilience,” the Hill story said.
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