Police crime drama: Trial and Terror by @Penenberg #thriller #bookreview
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Trial and Terror
Written by Adam L. Penenberg
Genre: Crime Thriller
The good news is that public defender Summer Neuwirth just won her first case, which involved a brutal rape and kidnapping.
As Summer pursues her next case, this time to keep an innocent woman off death row, elements of that past--a mysterious case of childhood amnesia, her police officer father's involvement with a serial killer, a terrifying attack she survived just months earlier--entwine with her present legal work, her missing mother, and her rocky relationship with a private investigator, all of which culminate in a thrilling trial... and terror.
What's more, he knows all about Summer's past.
The bad news?
Her client was guilty.
As Summer pursues her next case, this time to keep an innocent woman off death row, elements of that past--a mysterious case of childhood amnesia, her police officer father's involvement with a serial killer, a terrifying attack she survived just months earlier--entwine with her present legal work, her missing mother, and her rocky relationship with a private investigator, all of which culminate in a thrilling trial... and terror.
What's more, he knows all about Summer's past.
Roy M.'s Review
Fans of police crime drama will snuggle up with this entertaining yet undemanding story. The opening scenes are immediately recognisable. A rundown defending lawyers’ office staffed by those happy to earn bottom dollar or those unable to progress their careers beyond that lowly place. Our protagonist Summer Neuwirth for now occupies one of the cramped desks there. Haze County is a law-abiding jurisdiction that only makes a public defender’s life harder.
But Summer has just walked a nailed-on rapist, Marsalis, for her first win. The price she pays is to be stalked throughout by her creepy, techno-expert client who knows too much about her. Consequently she is handed the job of defending the woman accused of murdering her professional adversary, prosecutor Harold Gundy. She is assigned an ex-cop to do the investigation on the case which leads to the little love interest in the story.
Summer is young, naïve and makes mistakes. Yes she is determined and gutsy. It transpires that she herself is a rape victim. Yet strangely I didn’t warm to the character – I’m not sure that we are even afforded a physical description though we know that she is attractive. All readers need to picture the characters they are reading about.
The lines of investigation are clever. More possible suspects emerge as Summer and her assistant try all avenues to stall the prosecution case. Marsalis inevitably appears for a final confrontation. As for the denouement I didn’t see it coming – very good.
A well-trodden path but the author puts some good spin on it. Perhaps a bit more actual sex and violence rather than hints would have spiced the story up a bit. With a happily error-free (as far as I could tell) Kindle edition I push this out of the average to a 4/5.
Review Disclaimer: Book provided in exchange for an honest review.
