European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 12, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Verdict s in on Mega Buek writer lawyer . D Alessio in Scott f. Turow s fiction prosecutors arc violated. And when the defense rests it May be in the bed of the client s  Turow s real life judges have been jailed and yesterday s prosecutor Al target May be today s client. At age 41, Turow a former prosecutor who is now a partner in a major Chicago Law firm is two for two on the fiction Best seller lists reap ing National publicity and fat paychecks. In 1986, Turow stepped Down after eight years As an assistant . Attorney in Chicago. He got a record $200,000 Advance for his first published novel presumed innocent and watched it climb to the top of the Best seller lists. That was followed by 4.3 million paper Back sales and a $ i million movie rights Deal. The publicity surrounding presumed inno cent made much of the fact that a High profile prosecutor had written a thriller about a prosecutor being tried for murder. It was not noted widely that Turow s Only Job had been with the . Attorney s office which docs not handle murder cases. But the prosecutor As defendant theme had appeared in one of Turow s own real life cases that of then Illinois attorney Gen. William j. Scott. Turow was one of the  attorneys who obtained a tax fraud conviction against him in 1980. Defense attorney Phillip Kurland argued in his unsuccessful Appeal of Scott s conviction that Turow and his Federal colleagues had turned the trial into a roman  the phrase found a possibly subconscious Echo in presumed innocent when hero Rusty Sabich likens his murder trial to christians and Lions Back in  before leaving his Federal Post for defense work Turow saw Legal ambiguities through his involvement in operation Gre lord the Federal probe that sent Many Cook county circuit court judges to prison. And he ended up with a chiding from the 11th . Circuit court of appeals in Atlanta. In 1987, a Miami cocaine trafficking defendant named Ronald Ofshe wanted his indictment dismissed on the grounds that Turow had allowed Ofshe s own attorney to inform against him. Ofshe s attorney was a defendant in opera Tion arc lord and was negotiating with Turow for leniency. With Turow s permission the Law yer secretly tape recorded at least one of his conversations with Ofshe. Although the appellate court refused to Dis miss Ofshe s indictment it appended a foot note calling Turow s agreement with Ofshe s lawyer reprehensible and recommending that Turow be investigated. Turow s former superiors in the . Justice department later exonerated him. Turow was asked if the incident May have been reflected in Burden of proof in which the lawyer hero burglaries his client s House and also has a romantic scene in a hot tub with his prosecutor Al adversary. There s no doubt that that contributed to my analysis of the attorney client relationship Turow said. Everything after All becomes fodder for the fictional Mill. In retrospect i m just glad i could find something useful in some thing that a painful and i still feel very  some critics have objected to the frequent sex scenes in Burden of proof As unconvincing but the author says that Only the ultimately platonic hot tub tryst caused him problems. I ally had to work up Rhy nerve to write it and Scott Turow signs a Book for a customer in a Chicago Bookstore. Submit it he said. Reviews of Burden of proof although less enthusiastic than those for presumed inno cent tended to be favourable. Of course the bad ones Hurt Turow said of the reviews. But they be been running about 8 or 9-to-l favourably. I sometimes wonder if some of the negative reviewers Aren t out to get me but there s always that old lawyers adage reasonable minds can differ " . D Alossio is with Tho associated press Burden of proof is available at stars and stripes bookstores. Book prices Cross the $20 Barrier do you mind paying $22.95 for Scott Turow s new novel How about $21.95 for Clive Cussler Sor Danielle steel s latest and come october will you be willing to Shell out $24.95 Irjean m. Auel s new blockbuster like it or not the Price of fiction is going up. The cadence has been in mores this Spring and More proof that higher hard cover prices Are Here to stay was to be found As publishers began unveiling their fall books. A or lie past few ears $ 1 9.95 has been considered the psychological Price Barrier for fiction the Industry Wisdom being that no hods would pay More than $20 for a hard cover Noel. Hut non fiction prices have already Sta fld to creep Over $20. And now $24.95 is not an uncommon Price for a hefty non fiction title. Publishers arc aggressively increasing prices As a sales manager for one publishing company described it because of economic pressures such As rising paper costs and be cause it allows them to devote More dollars to marketing and promotion. Granted the majority of hard cover fiction is still listed at $ 19.95 or even $ 18.95, and the major Book chains supermarkets and Many Independent booksellers give discounts of 1 5 percent to 35 percent for Best Sellers. But if list prices Start edging toward $25, Consumers will pay closer to $20, rather than the $ 16 or $ 1 7 to which they have grown accustomed. The $20 Barrier still persists but we arc testing the Waters with Brand name Best sell ing authors says Jack Mckeown publisher of Simon & schuster s Trade hardcover Divi Sion. Jerry Wigen merchandise manager for the stars and stripes says the bookstores consider $20 near the top limit for hard cover books. He says pricing is critical for the stars and stripes bookstores because the income of Many customers is locked in and customers have other things they want to spend their discretionary income on. He says once a Book s Price tops $20, its sales fall substantially so the stores offer a wide Range of discounts to keep prices Down. He added that publishers dealing with the bookstores Are aware of income restrictions and arc willing to help out with extra Dis counts. Still he expects the stores will have to raise prices eventually As publishers prices in crease Mckeown said the company had reservations at first about pricing Cussler s drag on at $21.95, but the Book is on the Best seller list and has already been Back to pres twice. Other publishers have had similarly Good sales with books that broke the $20. Mckeown said that economic pressures such As an increase in paper costs have been Felt for several years but publishers have held Back on Price increases. "1990 has been the breakthrough year he said. What will the new top limit be publish ers a $24.95, but Many wonder How Long it will take until that too Falls. Page8 sunday August 12. 1990