(5) = Best; (4) = Better; (3) = Good; (2) = Fair; (1) = OK
These abstracts serve as reminders to myself; they serve to "jog" my memory on what a book was all about. That's all. This is not a literary critique, not a social commentary, and certainly nothing profound to warrant further discussion.
(5) = means that I really enjoyed this book; (1) = means I finished reading it but wonder if my time could have been better spent elsewhere.
I got Lee Child to autograph this book at the Mystery Book Store in Seattle!
Once again Jack Reacher is turned loose to solve a mystery in the kidnapping of Edward Lane’s wife and daughteer. Edward Lane surrounds himself with ex-military men: all former rangers, green berets, Navy Seals, Delta Force - men who did as Lane commands. Lane hires Reacher for his skills as an ex-military police Investigator. The ransom calls for half a million which Lane puts up with ease. Reacher discovers that Lane is not a nice guy but decides to help him anyway. The story is well told, plot complicated as ever, it twists and turns and finally takes Reacher to England where the kidnappers had disappeared with the mother and child. By the time Reacher finds the mother and child he discovers the real reason for the kidnapping and finds himself confronted by Lane’s men whose fighting skills puts him to the test. Does he still have it against these ex-military killers? (5).
David Nash is an outstanding criminal lawyer who believes everyone is entitled to a defense. He really gets screwed this time not only by a casual sexual encounter with a woman (Jennifer)who turns out to be the spouse of Larry Stafford who was arrested for murdering a police decoy. David falls in love with Jennifer and discovers that she and Larry had been lying to him. David is distraught and does a poor job of defending Larry when a surprise witness appears and decribes Larry’s penchant for beating up prostitutes. Of course, we learn later this witness was lying…but Larry loses credibility with the Jury and is imprisoned for life. Story doesn’t end here. Jennifer divorces Larry. In the meanwhile the real killer who is a sociopath decides to tease David, hires him as his lawyer and tells him he killed that police decoy. David is bound by the rules of confidence, so what does he do? He is depressed over his poor performance in defending Larry, he is upset that Jennifer had lied to him and he is frustrated by the rules of confidence that lawyers must adhere to. You’d have to read the rest of the book to find out what happens. (4)
Surprise! I found this book in the seat pocket on an Alaskan Airlines flight home. Til then never heard of Phillip Margolin. The story opens with a mystery man who instinctly strikes at an abusive father in a Little League game in Oregon and almost kills him. He is charged for this attack. Ami Vergano is chosen to be his defense attorney; she has never had experience in dealing with criminal cases. In the meanwhile we learn that the Presidential candidate’s daughter, Vanessa Kohler, is witness to the killer in a murder of a congressman and she was immediately confined to a psychiatric ward by her father. We learn that this killer is the same mystery man in Oregon. The killer is caught but no one believes his fantastic tale and claim of innocence. We are caught in a desperate race by Vanessa to protect and save our mystery man for reasons the reader will have to find out. The situation appears hopeless and no one believes her story until an FBI friend decides to investigate the case in greater detail. 5.0
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