|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
The mystery world has its own example of the nature vs. nurture controversy: Alafair Burke. Is she a good writer because it is in the genes she inherited from her famous writer father James Lee Burke, or did he provide an environment that nurtured her own talent? Whichever, it worked. JUDGEMENT CALLS is an excellent book. Samantha Kincaid is deputy district attorney in Portland, Oregon. She must prepare a case against the alleged perpetrator of rape and brutal assault on 13-year-old Kendra Martin. The case is made difficult because the girl is a prostitute and a heroin user. Things get worse when the case begins to fall apart and the defendant's attorney tries to tie the crime to a famous murder that occurred a few years before. In that case, a young woman named Jamie Zimmerman was killed. Two people are in jail for her murder, one on death row, but some are saying that the two convicted are innocent. In fact it is said that Samantha's boyfriend, Charles Forbes, set up the two. In the end, Samantha comes too close to the truth and her own life is in danger. I don't usually like courtroom dramas (and this book spends a lot of time in court), but this one is exceptionally good. The character of the narrator, Samantha, is strong, funny, and endearing. It is a first person narrative and none of the other characters are as well-drawn as Samantha, yet they are believable, especially her policeman boyfriend Charles. The story is well-done, taut and tense, and draws on Burke's experience as a deputy district attorney in Portland. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Mary A. Axford, February 2004
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
