A battered infant whose injuries reveal unspeakable evil, a military attorney willing to sacrifice his career to fight for truth and justice while enduring his own nightmare of injustice, and a game of professional blackmail...based on true events with writing inspired by the Naval Officer who welcomed the fight. A book you will read in one day because you can't put it down. In the end, you will be as proud of our 'JAGs' as I am.

--Don Guter, RADM, JAGC, USN (Ret.) Former Judge Advocate General of the Navy

   The book reads like a fast-paced movie screenplay. Much of that is due to Ludmer's unique writing style. The rest is the combination of an intensely gripping story and remarkably vivid descriptions of places and events that make you swear you were there watching everything unfold. The fact that the story is based on a true murder case explains the incredible degree of realism.
When you read Trail of the Giant (and finding the reason for that title near the end of the book made me stop in my tracks, moth agape in a moment of stunned reflection), you quickly find you cannot be a disinterested reader. The characters, particularly Ryan, are so compelling, the emotions they deal with so real and raw, and the struggles so heroic, any reader will be swept up in the torrent of this psychological thriller and demand a certain result.
The unexpected twists Ludmer throws our way as the story pulls us along coil around a sub-plot that becomes just as important as the trial itself, and may even determine its outcome. It is there that the ocean of emotion Ludmer forces us to navigate is particularly deep.
If I go on any longer I run the risk of revealing too much, which would be a crime. Let me just wrap up by saying that this is a FANTASTIC story that you won't be able to put down, that deals with the darkest and most heroic sides of our nature, and sends a message that today desperately needs to be sent. If you read one book this season, Trail of the Giant must be it!
---Marc Nash (Washington DC)

Beginning The Trail of the Giant began quite daunting, not knowing much about the American Navy and US Law I felt I would become completely lost within the first few chapters, however with Ludmer's unique style of writing I was pleasantly surprised. A heart-racing thriller, this story has so many twists -- all satisfying, most unexpected -- that it would be a sin to reveal too much of the plot in advance.
It is that rare book that manages to both entertain and educate simultaneously. The novel is a multi-layered, highly sophisticated courtroom case, maddening, scary, complicated and almost impossible to put down once you're hooked. Thriller writing doesn't get any better than this, a considerable achievement for a first time author.
--Damien Walsh, Dublin-Ireland

     Lieutenant Ryan Slayne is the rising star of the Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corps. His courtroom brilliance, family connections, and recruiting-poster looks have him destined to become the Navy's top lawyer. A passionate crusader for abused children, Ryan is called on to prosecute the court-martial of Petty Officer Kevan Johnson, suspected of hideously torturing his own infant daughter. Ryan's opponent is George Dudzik, a high-priced civilian defense lawyer with political ambition and utter disdain for anyone in uniform. He knows he must win at all costs, for reasons far beyond his own personal agenda. But as the case evolves from abuse to murder, Ryan discovers he is fighting the most formidable adversary imaginable--himself--and faces a choice that will destroy either him or his career. Based on a real Navy court-martial, and peopled with unforgettable characters, Trail of the Giant takes us deep into the military justice system, to a cold, forgotten grave, and into the hidden recesses of the human heart. A poignant and timely indictment of military policy, it reveals the struggle between the facade we present to the world and who we really are, and forces us to ask why we make it so hard to love.