Legal Eagles: Attorneys Writing Fiction (2)

Posted on by - Book review, Legal Eagles, Legal fiction, Mystery fiction, Reviewers on Forsaken Oath, Women in fiction

Re-blogging here an entry from the Kirkus blog by editor Myra Forsberg, entitled “Legal Eagles”!

“Through the ages, the works of playwrights, novelists, and filmmakers, from Shakespeare to Steven Spielberg, have gleefully skewered lawyers. In Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, the first movie in the popular franchise, a discerning dinosaur chomps on a particularly sleazy attorney, delighting fans worldwide. But depictions of heroic lawyers also remain plentiful, particularly on TV, in classic series (Perry Mason) and more recent fare (The Good Wife).

Forsaken Oath“Kirkus recently reviewed three legal thrillers that focus on resourceful attorneys pursuing justice. In V.S. Kemanis’ Forsaken Oath, Manhattan prosecutor Dana Hargrove finds herself embroiled in three cases, including the murder of a fashion designer. In this page-turner, she must uncover the truth and save her career. “The author manages to compellingly depict many distinct areas of the justice system, from the cops on the street to the lawyers on both sides of the courtroom,” our reviewer writes. Jerri Blair’s Black and White, set in 1979,follows Florida public defender J.T. Lockman, who takes the case of an African-American accused of murdering a white car dealer. J.T. believes a Ku Klux Klansman committed the crime but must gather the evidence to prove it. Our critic calls the novel an “energetic tale that’s rife with drama and mystery.” A sinister figure kidnaps teenage girls in Brian Clary’s Amicus Curiae: the daughter of Texas attorney Michelle “Mickey” Grant disappears and the police soon arrest Willie Lee Flynn for one abductee’s murder. Although he’s convicted, Mickey harbors doubts and files an amicus curiae brief, seeking to retry Flynn and discover her daughter’s whereabouts. Our reviewer says, “Fans of crime dramas will find Clary’s suspenseful yarn a welcome addition to the genre.”

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Stay tuned for the third installment of Legal Eagles! I’m currently reading a great legal thriller by attorney Manuel Ramos, soon to be reviewed.

Q & A with Mystery Sequels

Posted on by - Reviewers on Forsaken Oath

Answering questions from reviewers and bloggers is a great opportunity for me to reflect on why I write and how I feel about my characters. Here is a link to my interview with Marika from Mystery Sequels, a site for “Everything Crime with a Sequel: Crime Fiction, Mystery & Suspense, Thrillers.” I always enjoy her down-to-earth reviews and recommendations for great mystery reads. And in the midst of answering her questions, I came to realize how I’ve grown attached to my protagonist, Dana Hargrove!

Countdown to April 30, when Forsaken Oath is released to the world! Mystery Sequels gives it 5 Stars. Forsaken Oath “really shines”!

Forsaken Oath Now in Preview/Pre-Order!

Posted on by - Legal fiction

Once again, Dana Hargrove is caught at the intersection of family and career—a career that happens to involve criminal suspects, judges, attorneys, and officers of the law!  The thematic core to these novels picks up the internal conflict familiar to any career woman with a family: the incessant tug between the professional and the personal.  In my career, both in and out of the courtroom, I have felt that tug keenly.  Over the past few years, in writing these novels, I’ve become very attached to Dana, her family, her colleagues, and her adversaries, and that is my wish for you, the reader.  Pick them up in any order.  Each novel is a standalone, as I take Dana through various stages of her career and life, with several years in between each storyVSKPaperbacks - Copy: Thursday’s List (1988), Homicide Chart (1994), and Forsaken Oath (2001).

Already, in a curl of my mind, I’m starting to envision Dana’s life in 2008…

 

For the e-book, pre-order here on Amazon.

Release date for both paperback and e-book is April 30!

If you are a reviewer or blogger and would like to receive an ARC, please send me a message through my contact page!