Review by Booklist Review
USC freshman Alicia Hutchins has everything going for her: she's smart, beautiful, and the only child of prominent attorney Graham Hutchins. But when Alicia tries to cool things with controlling boyfriend Roan Sutton, she's revenge-porned: the nude selfies she sent only to Roan are posted on a porn site inviting visitors to fulfill their rape fantasies. Then Alicia is found with her throat cut in her bathtub, and, days later, Roan is discovered hung in his apartment in what could be either suicide or murder, with the prime suspect Graham Hutchins. Taking on his case, criminal defense lawyer Samantha Brinkman and her ace investigator, hacker Alex Medrano, find more questions than answers, with Sam distracted by the Mob boss who has a hold on her and calls in a favor with potentially deadly consequences. This third in the series featuring Brinkman, a canny pragmatist who fights to free her clients at all costs and applies her own sense of justice, is less suspenseful than its predecessors (Blood Defense and Moral Defense, both 2016). But a twisting plot informed by Clark's legal know-how will keep readers turning pages.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Samantha Brinkman, Clark's flawed but sympathetic L.A. defense attorney protagonist, must deal with more than one explosive case in her highly suspenseful third outing (after 2016's Moral Defense). When someone slashes the throat of USC freshman Alicia Hutchins, the natural suspect is Roan Sutton, Alicia's ex-boyfriend. Roan allegedly posted nude pictures of Alicia online, along with her address and an invitation for site visitors to help Alicia realize her rape fantasies. But before the evidence establishing whether Roan's guilty of either the revenge porn posting or the murder can be found, he turns up dead, an apparent suicide. Alicia's father, a prominent litigator, turns to his friend Sam for help, in anticipation of the LAPD considering him a person of interest in Roan's death. Meanwhile, gangster Javier Cabazon, who knows of Sam's role in arranging the death of a thug who killed a baby, insists that she lead him to a witness he wants dead. Clark keeps up the frenetic pace, but never allows the plot's tricky developments to overwhelm her characterizations. Agent: Dan Conaway, Writers House. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Fans of Clark's legal thriller series featuring defense attorney Samantha Brinkman will be pleased to learn that this third installment (after Moral Defense) continues to deliver fast-paced plotting and savvy style laced with a healthy dose of humor. This time out, Sam's client is fellow attorney Graham Hutchins. Hutchins's daughter, Alicia, was brutally murdered, then her ex-boyfriend Roan Sutton-a likely suspect in her death-was discovered dead as well. Is it suicide, or did Hutchins, in his grief, seek the ultimate revenge? Brinkman and her homespun team-paralegal/office assistant/best friend since childhood Michelle Fusco; Alex Medrano, a former client now investigator-in-the-making; and Sam's police detective father, who warily contributes information from time to time-immediately begin to search for other possible suspects. Meanwhile, Sam must cope with a bitter media crusade launched by Sutton's mother against her client and the vicious fallout from a previous case that threatens her, her family, and her associates. Verdict Clark, once again, nimbly handles the warp and weft of her interwoven characters and story lines, knitting them into a satisfying conclusion that will leave readers eagerly anticipating another Brinkman episode.-Nancy McNicol, Hamden P.L., CT © Copyright 2017. 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 third case that adds still more evidence for Los Angeles attorney Samantha Brinkman's default attitude toward her criminal-defense practice: "I pretty much assume all my clients are guilty."Pushed beyond endurance by her manically possessive boyfriend, Roan Sutton, USC freshman Alicia Hutchins voicemails him a Dear John message, but it's too late: soon after she realizes he's converted her nude selfies to revenge porn, she's found in her bathtub with her throat slashed. Would Brinkman Associates defend Sutton on a possible murder charge? "Not if we were starving and living in Tent City," Samantha tells Alex Medrano, her investigator. In fact, she's already lost her chance, for shortly after the LAPD identifies the spurned lover as a person of interest, he too is found dead, an apparent suicideunless it's murder, as his mother, Audrey Sutton, says early and often to any media flack who'll listen. Alicia's father, noted attorney Graham Hutchins, wants Samantha to defend him against possible homicide charges, but he'd be better off if she could just prevent him from responding to Audrey's charges in self-destructive ways that stoke the fires of public opinion. Nor is he Samantha's only problem client. Uber-ganglord Javier Cabazon, to whom she owes a serious favor (Moral Defense, 2016), politely demands that she locate Tracy Gopeck, the primary witness against Cabazon's nephew for killing a rival gangbanger, so that Cabazon's goons can liquidate her. It won't be easy to find someone who's been taken into protective custody, and even if it were, Samantha can't condone turning her over to Cabazon's tender mercies. But it's as hard to say no to the fearsome Cabazon as it is to stem the tide of public opinion. As usual, Clark plots as generously as her Scandinavian counterparts, though neither the stalwart regular cast nor the interchangeable suspects are interesting enough to keep up the tension for almost 500 pages. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
