Hobby Stash » Legal Thriller

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

Linda — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:25:06 +0000

Mickey Haller is a lawyer who helps clients with mortgage foreclosure lawsuits. He is contacted by former client Lisa Trammel, who has been charged with murder and takes on her case. The case evolves while he is defending her at trial. The Fifth Witness does go into detail about preparing for the trial and debating strategies for defense, which some may find boring. I found it quite interesting. However, Lisa Trammel is so thoroughly unlikeable, I got to the point I became ambivalent about whether or not Haller would succeed in her defense.

I was very surprised by the low ratings given on Amazon.com. Unfortunately, many of the one-star reviews are readers complaining about the kindle price of the book. I very much agree with their complaints. Charging the same or more for an e-Book as opposed to a hard-cover book is absolutely ridiculous price gouging. SHAME on the publishers. That aside…I listened to the Audible version of this novel narrated by Peter Giles. Interestingly, The Fifth Witness received much better ratings on Audible than Amazon…perhaps it’s better to listen to rather than read this one. The Fifth Witness is not one of Connelly’s best, but an enjoyable summer listen/read nevertheless. I, for one, will always prefer his Harry Bosch series.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

First Degree by David Rosenfelt

Linda — Sun, 17 May 2009 10:55:12 +0000

Who dun-nit with a comedic twist…and second in Rosenfelt’s Andy Carpenter series. Carpenter, an irreverent wise cracking lawyer, whose dry wit makes me chuckle out loud, is tasked with saving his girl friend, Laurie, who is being framed for murder.

Rating: ★★★★½

Eclipse by Richard North Patterson

Linda — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:44:21 +0000

Wow. This is one of those novels that really grabbed me. It is not your typical legal thriller. Patterson interweaves African atrocities into the novel via his fictionalized country of Luandia, which he patterned after Nigeria. It was also enlightening in its coverage of America’s greed for world oil and the consequences on third world nations that provide the oil. The graphic violence in the novel unfortunately reflects real world atrocities. The only down side to Eclipse was Patterson’s attempt to educate me came across as preachy…but then again, he did educate me.

Rating: ★★★★☆

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

Linda — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:00:43 +0000

Harry Bosch takes on a supporting role in this novel as Michael Holler, an L.A. attorney, serves as the main character. Connelly intertwines the two characters beautifully and this novel is his usual “can’t put it down” read. It delves into the fallacies of our legal system while incorporating the usual who dunnit plot. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to seeing more of the two characters together in future novels.

Rating: ★★★★½

Cold Case by Kate Wilhelm

Linda — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:36:05 +0000

I picked this novel up based on its description during an Audible sale. I suspected it was part of a series as I listened, but did not verify that fact until after I had finished the novel.

Although I enjoyed the novel, the characters were not fleshed out enough (which sometimes occurs when the author assumes the reader is already familiar with the character backgrounds). Because of that I suspect the novel was not as enjoyable as it might have been had I known a little bit more about the various regulars.

But having said that, I enjoyed it. Barbara Holloway is a defense attorney who is hired to defend a man charged with two murders, one that occurred current day and one that occurred decades ago. Are the two murders related? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt

Linda — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:52:03 +0000

I promised myself I would go back and read some earlier novels from this series after reading Dead Center. I wasn’t disappointed. This is the first in the Andy Carpenter series and provides the background I was missing in Dead Center. I enjoyed the laugh-out-loud humor (a rarity in novels) and will continue this series as I find the time.

Rating: ★★★★★

Dead Center by David Rosenfelt

Linda — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:48:33 +0000

I love the irreverent wit of Andy Carpenter, a lawyer and the main character of this novel! And the fact that he’s devoted to his golden retriever doesn’t hurt either. The plot centers around a small town in Wisconsin with a closed society whose citizens all belong to the same religion. When two teenage girls from the town are murdered, Carpenter is called in to defend a teenage boy from outside the town charged with the crime.

This is definitely not high brow fiction but I so enjoyed the witty writing and the likable characters, I’m definitely planning to read some of the earlier novels in this series.

Rating: ★★★★½

Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult

Linda — Sat, 24 May 2008 09:28:00 +0000

Wow. This novel delves into several different topics for thought…rape, small town dynamics, wicca and witchcraft, drugs, and incest. I don’t know how much more Picoult could have crammed into this novel!

Disturbing as some of it was, yet again I couldn’t find myself putting it down. A very good read!

Rating: ★★★★☆

The Appeal by John Grisham

Linda — Sat, 03 May 2008 10:12:17 +0000

This year’s presidential campaign has seen ridiculous amounts of money raised for each candidate as the candidates fight to win their party’s nomination. I personally find it disheartening that it takes so much money (a waste in my opinion) to run for office. This novel’s subject matter, rigging an election, is both timely and compelling.

But I honestly can’t say it is one of John Grisham’s better works. His earlier novels were full of plots and twists with full character development. The Appeal fell way short and the ending was lazy. It left me feeling like Grisham had generated the appropriate number of pages so he signed off and said good bye.

However, the subject matter was great and had a lot of potential. Our judicial system is becoming quite political and this novel really brings that trend to the forefront. I wish Grisham had worked a little harder at this one…it had so much potential.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

for story line and character development

Rating: ★★★★★

for subject matter (judicial system elections/punitive damage awards)

Rating: ★★★☆☆

overall…ho hum