Helpful Score: 1
I am an avid reader, so am not easily impressed. This book is one of the best I have read in a long time. Ellis juggles three different story lines and keeps you engrossed with every one. Two of them have twists at the end that I never saw coming. I recommend this book with the greatest confidence that you will like it.
Helpful Score: 1
I was lucky enough to win this book, and so I would like to share my thoughts.
One of the reasons I was interested in this book was that it was said to be the type of story that John Grisham might write. I admire Grisham, but was getting tired of his formulated stories and wordiness. This book had none of that. Ellis' characters were real, with just enough background to build personalty, and to help the reader understand character motive.
The story moved quickly without seeming to bog down anywhere. It is easily a one sitting read.
However, when I finished I had a lot of questions about the logic of the story. Hopefully, this review will not have too many spoilers, but it's the story of an attorney who is hired by a mysterious stranger to defend the attorney's childhood friend from a murder charge. The man killed was the alleged killer of the childhood friend's baby sister 30/40 years before. Simple yes? It is what motivates this very powerful and rich stranger that is the mystery.
Again, spoilers,but with all the problems the "stranger" had controlling the attorney, why didn't he simply frame the judge or DA to get the guy off? Why use someone with an obvious criminal background to be the eyewitness when the "stranger" could have bought a third party innocent as the eyewitness. There are other logic problems that would make Perry Mason shake his head in confusion.
But, the story on a whole was well written, the characters human enough to empathize with, and (if you read through the illogic) is a very good read.
One of the reasons I was interested in this book was that it was said to be the type of story that John Grisham might write. I admire Grisham, but was getting tired of his formulated stories and wordiness. This book had none of that. Ellis' characters were real, with just enough background to build personalty, and to help the reader understand character motive.
The story moved quickly without seeming to bog down anywhere. It is easily a one sitting read.
However, when I finished I had a lot of questions about the logic of the story. Hopefully, this review will not have too many spoilers, but it's the story of an attorney who is hired by a mysterious stranger to defend the attorney's childhood friend from a murder charge. The man killed was the alleged killer of the childhood friend's baby sister 30/40 years before. Simple yes? It is what motivates this very powerful and rich stranger that is the mystery.
Again, spoilers,but with all the problems the "stranger" had controlling the attorney, why didn't he simply frame the judge or DA to get the guy off? Why use someone with an obvious criminal background to be the eyewitness when the "stranger" could have bought a third party innocent as the eyewitness. There are other logic problems that would make Perry Mason shake his head in confusion.
But, the story on a whole was well written, the characters human enough to empathize with, and (if you read through the illogic) is a very good read.
I put just an 'ok' on this--too many slow places and easy to lose interest unless you just plod along with each page until it picks up again. Too many repetitive pages, over all fairly good legal story but kind of slow.
