“Lawyer-author Jack Batten immediately captures the reader’s attention in identifying the demons facing Ross Mackay, a superb and committed counsel dedicated to justice but plagued. Batten leaves no stone unturned in his research and his highly readable account of Mackay’s struggle and its outcome.” — Hon. John C. Major QC CC, Retired Justice of The Supreme Court of Canada

“A compelling and insightful chronicle of a brilliant, eclectic and charismatic maverick. With his impeccable eye for detail, Jack Batten has also captured the temper of the times—when the collegiality of the ‘bar’ referred to a place not a profession and when the road to respectability for most criminal lawyers remained challenging. Despite the roller coaster of his life described with candor and compassion, it is Ross Mackay’s unfailing dedication and steadfast commitment both to his clients and to justice for all which will remain his lasting legacy.” —Brian Greenspan, Criminal Lawyer, Greenspan Humphrey Weinstein, Toronto, Ontario

“When tragedy hits the gifted, the loss is hard to explain. But Jack Batten succeeds. He marries journalism and law, meticulous fact-driven research, to give us this riveting book on the talented Ross Mackay, who flew too close to the sun.” —Hon. Nancy Morrison, Former Judge of The Supreme Court of British Columbia

“An excellent and easy read for anyone interested in Canadian legal history. Ross Mackay was an exceptional criminal lawyer, who has the dubious distinction of representing the last two persons to be executed in Canada for murder. As the book correctly shows, his personal demons, which the pressures of those two cases exacerbated, never impaired his interest in the human condition, his empathy for his clients nor his unflagging desire for justice.” — John Rosen, Rosen & Company, Barristers, Toronto, Ontario.