Ben Matthews

In this debut legal thriller by Ben Matthews, he opens with a character I couldn’t help but fall in love with. Attorney Raymond Jackson is all too honest with himself, but not quite so honest with everyone else. In order to absolve himself of some ethics charges, he agrees to take on a case no one else wants. The client he is stuck with, Michael ‘Bo’ Heath, had managed to alienate his prior attorney because he thought she was inexperienced. Ray thinks to himself, “The poor idiot doesn’t know he’s made things worse. I’ve got less experience than she does.” And, by the way, Ray’s experience had been as a real estate attorney; this is his first murder case.

Bo has been charged with killing Tonya Smalls, his former girlfriend, who was a dancer at strip joints. He pleads his innocence to Ray so convincingly, Ray begins to believe him. But, Ray seems to be the only one.

The interaction and dialogue in the story are great. I especially like seeing Ray’s thoughts as opposed to what he actually says to others. There is quite a lot going on other than the murder case. The transition between scenes and paragraphs is not altogether smooth. It leaves the reader pondering how much time has elapsed. The trial proved to be a bit repetitive as the material had already been covered prior to that point. The ending surprised me with a delightful twist. Rating: 3.5 out of 5.… (mer)