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Title: Judgment Calls: A Mystery by Alafair Burke ISBN: 0-8050-7386-8 Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc. Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.64 (14 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Recommended with mild reservations
Comment: Deputy DA Samantha Kincaid of Portland Oregon is faced with a particularly disturbing case. A thirteen year old girl is found raped, sodomized and left for dead in the woods outside of town. The girl, Kendra Martin, identifies her attacker as Frank Derringer. With that evidence the case is brought to trial. However, with flimsy evidence, Samantha sees pitfalls ahead as she goes against an idealistic and aggressive public defender. As the complexity of the case reveals itself, Samantha actually finds herself in imminent danger.
Alafair Burke, daughter of MWA Grand master James Lee Burke, has written a very different book than the lyrically beautiful writing of her father. I don't mean this in a negative sense. Alafair Burke is a law professor and, like Samantha, a former DA in Portland. The book is character driven. With much influence from Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, Nevada Barr and Laura Lippmann to name a few, the character of Samantha is the key to everything. We must, of course, know everything about her including her preferences in food and love. She must have the obligatory pet, live alone, have a lover etc. In spite of the fact that this book is not of my personal taste, there is much promising about this debut writer. She delves into the personality of Samantha Kincaid with vigor in first person narrative. The character is dead on. I wonder if it is the author herself we are getting to know. The conclusion is complex with the obligatory exposition scene of the villain holding the gun over the hero while divulging all. Yet, it is deftly handled. Overall, recommended with mild reservation.
Rating: 2
Summary: Beware the plot holes!
Comment: I picked this up because I have read all the works of her father - and of course "Alafair" is the name of his character's daughter too.
The book was just "OK" - I guess not bad for a first effort, but maybe her father should have helped her out a little more.
My pet peeve is plot holes - read "Angels and Demons" for a whopper of a hole. This book is not that bad, but there are several flaws in logic that just bug me.
A character has his car repainted and an all new interior put in the day after the rape/possible attempted murder. At the trial the defense produces a witness that states the arrangements were made for this BEFORE the incident - thus claiming the defendant was not covering up his party to the crime. And the DA just says nothing? Well gee - I am the bad guy and I know my car goes in the shop the next morning for a paint job (totally different color) and an all-new interior. Then I KNOW I can do whatever I want in the car since any evidence will be GONE the next morning.
Even worse, there is a 2nd unknown assailant - but the trial proceeds on the guy they arrested. Then when letters appear in the paper from someone claiming to be the REAL perp - with details known ONLY to someone who did it - they decide to let the guy go. Now wait a minute - they KNOW that there were TWO people that raped the girl, one they caught and one they can't ID. So MAYBE the guy writing the letters IS the 2nd guy, if so WHY would you let the other guy off? Nothing in the letters would exclude the guy on trial from still being the one.
It is also a stretch that the victim never runs into the 2nd guy, as it turns out.
I will probably pick up the 2nd book in this "series", but this is for sure in the "get it from the library" class of book - maybe a discounted paperback.
Rating: 4
Summary: Judgment Calls: A Mystery by Alafair Burke
Comment: I was impressed by Ms Burke's first mystery. The characters that will probably become regulars in her future mysteries all have a "real" feel to them from the beginning. Unlike most mystery writers of today's top seller lists,, Burke doesn't resort to escalating violence or grotesgue brutality.
Being the child of a man almost of current poet laureate status of popular mystery, Ms Burke holds her own with the quality of her work. Judgment Calls isn't deserving of some of the shallow criticism thrown at it. If you expect Grisham BUY Grisham. If you expect James Lee Burke BUY James Lee Burke.
If you're expecting a well written mystery with developed characterizations and plot READ Judgment Calls. If you want an entertaining read the Alafair Burke series looks to be off to a good start. I'm looking forward to future Samantha Kincaid adventures! I'm also looking forward to more Dave Robicheaux. They should both be easy to locate in the "B" section of the bookstore or library. I'm happy with this purchase.
John Row
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Title: Last Car to Elysian Fields: A Novel by James Lee Burke ISBN: 0743245423 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 30 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Stone Cold: A Jesse Stone Novel by Robert B. Parker ISBN: 0399150870 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Pub. Date: 29 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Kills by Linda Fairstein ISBN: 0743223551 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 13 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: First Degree by David Rosenfelt ISBN: 0892967544 Publisher: Mysterious Press Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Bare Bones : A Novel by Kathy Reichs ISBN: 0743233468 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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