Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Improbable and cliched action sequences mar bestseller Dugoni's fifth thriller featuring legendary Seattle attorney David Sloane, "the lawyer who does not lose" (after 2011's Murder One). Sloane's 16-year-old adopted son, Jake, has been on a downward spiral since witnessing his mother's murder. When Jake is arrested a second time for public intoxication, Sloane manages to persuade the court not to incarcerate him, but the reprieve is brief. On a family trip to Truluck, Calif., Jake and a friend, T.J. Molia, are busted for breaking into a store. When an unethical judge forces Jake and T.J. to plead guilty before Sloane can intervene, they wind up, in peril of their lives, at a sadistic boot camp. While justice from the system is not an option, some readers may wonder why the well-connected Sloane makes no effort to contact elected officials either in Washington State or in California for help as he and T.J.'s father race the clock to save the boys. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
How could the trend toward privatization in the financially troubled state of California affect due process? This is the question Dugoni brings to light in his fifth legal thriller (after The Jury Master) chronicling the exploits of Seattle-based attorney David Sloane. While on a camping trip in the Sierras, Sloane's teenaged stepson, Jake, and a companion are arrested and sent to the Fresh Start Youth Training Facility without benefit of legal counsel or parental presence. What follows is a fast-paced account of both Jake's harrowing experiences at the militaristic detention center and David's ferocious use of the legal system to extricate Jake from the control of a sinister judge and the powerful cadre of law enforcement officials and private citizens who have brought Fresh Start to their county. Verdict Though explanations of Sloane's legal maneuvers and strategies tend to slow the pace on occasion, Dugoni is at his best in the action scenes, which are the foundation of his narrative. Fans of John Grisham and Scott Turow will be pleased with this offering.-Nancy McNicol, Hamden P.L., CT (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A legal thriller with more twists and turns than the lower intestine and as much coincidence and serendipity as a vintage episode of Law Order. Dugoni continues his David Sloane series with this novel. Sloane is the attorney who can't lose: He wins in prime time, for the big money; he wins for small potatoes. The book opens in the courtroom, when Sloane secures the conditional release of his troubled adolescent son Jake. Sloane takes Jake away from L.A., the scene of his latest drunk and disorderly; grieving for his murdered mother, Jake needs help. Sloane accepts an offer from his old friend Tom Molia, veteran detective from West Virginia. Jake and David fly back to California to join Tom and his son T.J. for a camping excursion in fictitious Winchester County. Truluck, the imagined landmark town in the Gold Rush country of the Sierra foothills, is the setting for their disaster. Jake is sullen, suffers humiliation, and ropes the younger and overeager T.J. into his revenge fantasy. The boys get caught, and Judge Earl Boykin, local tyrant of historic proportions, sentences them to Fresh Start, a juvenile offender boot camp. The villains in charge of the camp favor reflective sunglasses and have an appetite for destruction. Peopled with the usual contingent of sadists and victims, the plot's fuse starts burning. Lawyer Sloane, Detective Molia and a posse of trusty associates skilled in the latest morally dubious investigative methods uncover a startling conspiracy. Unlike revenge, justice seems to be a dish best served warm, and pursuit is hot. The villains have rationalizations; their opponents have psyches and motives. A book that meets, sometimes exceeds, the expectations of the legal thriller. ]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
