Judgment Calls
A Samantha Kincaid Mystery
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4.0 • 134 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
After three years on the job in Portland's Drug and Vice Division, Deputy DA Samantha Kincaid gets what she wants: her first case with the Major Crimes Team. Kendra Martin, a 13-year-old runaway, has been found drugged, viciously assaulted, and left for dead in the Columbia River Gorge. Despite pressures to kick the case to assault, Samantha goes for attempted murder. Unfortunately the girl's story isn't gelling. Then again, neither is the alibi of the suspect she ID'd, a low-life who insists he's innocent. One thing is certain. Kendra knows the streets better than Vice-and Samantha's following her down every last one of them to crack the case.
But the road to the truth is more dangerous than Samantha dreamed, leading to an earlier death-penalty conviction, a teenage prostitution ring, and threats to Samantha's own life. When the possibility of a serial killer enters the fray, it sends Samantha's trial into a tailspin, and tests her judgment-in both her professional and personal life-to the very death.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Burke's earnest, fast-paced debut introduces a sharp new crime series revolving around Deputy DA Samantha "Sam" Kincaid, a hip, 30ish lawyer working in Portland's Drug and Vice Division. As a former DA herself, and now a teacher of criminal law, Burke brings a hyper-reality TV quality to the text, as well as a sometimes overzealous attention to technical minutiae. Kendra Martin, 13, has been prostituting herself to support a heroin addiction begun after her mom's boyfriend insisted that "popping wasn't really like shooting up." When Kendra is found left for dead, Kincaid is determined to bring to justice the violent sex offenders who brutally raped and beat her. Narrated in a crisp first person and injected with good-natured humor ("It's a fundamental truth that the number and density of cuss words increases exponentially as the number of cops and DAs in a room goes up"), the book is tightly plotted and detail laden. The secondary characters are less vivid than the assertive, likable Kincaid, but they serve their purpose. Kincaid's ex-boyfriend, Det. Chuck Forbes, is involved in the investigation of Kendra's case and another possibly related crime; Tim O'Donnell, a crude senior DDA on Portland's Major Crimes Team, is suspiciously eager to have Kendra's case tried under his jurisdiction. Cracking the case not only drags up an earlier death-penalty conviction but uncovers the roots of a prostitution ring that shakes up the entire Major Crimes Team and tests Kincaid's faith in her own judgment. This is a solid first effort from Burke, daughter of another "crime fighter writer," James Lee Burke.
Customer Reviews
Read like a LSAT review class
It being a few decades since my criminal/constitutional law classes, Burke read like a refresher review class, maybe a hair too technical for some. Seemed as though the story got a little lost in the legal details, the interpretation of which didn't read at all like the mindset of prosecutors I'd encountered. Regardless, with the exception of Burke's need to pepper her protagonist's comments with what is obviously Burke's personal political position (i.e. anti-bush, anti-Fox commentary that felt forced, but hey, it's her book and her chance to vent) I enjoyed the story overall. I'll continue to read her books, but wish she'd leave the unnecessary and unbecoming personal political jabs aside.
Riveting!
Excellent book! It kept me on the edge of my seat. I didn’t want to put it down. Characters were well developed, the story line was believable. The reader was kept in suspense until the very end. Can’t wait for the next book!
Not for everyone
This subject matter was too graphic detailing violent sexual crimes against a young girl. Reading the first couple of chapters was all I could stand.