Customer Reviews

Judgment Calls

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A hard-to-put down legal thriller by a debut mystery writer with a great new voice. The protagonist, Portland ADA Samantha Kincaid, is witty, gritty, and wise, a likable fighter for justice. The plot has already be told and retold, so I won't go there, and just will say I was hooked from the first few pages. I'm now getting ready to read the second book in the series, "Missing Justice." As others have mentioned, she is a talent in development, demonstrating the literary genes of her legendary author father, James Lee Burke.

As a law teacher and former deputy district attorney, Alafair Burke certainly knows her legal stuff - there's just too much of it. Yes, this is a legal thriller. But, it's all legal and no thrill. Every legal term, document, division, and procedure is explained in dry, tedious detail, all the way down to the nine-digit case number.

A rape case is going to be kicked to the general felony unit for prosecution, a dumping ground for cases not deemed serious enough for real lawyer work. The lead detectives convince Samantha Kincaid to prosecute instead, telling her, "...The suspects are bad, bad guys, Sammie."

Well, aren't they all.

THE CHARACTER SETUP IS TRANSPARENT AND UNREALISTIC. After a phone conversation with a lecherous superior, it's no surprise who the bad guy turns out to be. Then there's the two page, unrelated description of a closed case. So unrelated to what's going on at the moment that you know it will be related later on.

DIALOG IS DRY AND UNINSPIRED. When speaking to a group of panhandling kids:
"Why don't you guys hightail it out of here before [the mounted patrol] give you a hard time." The one I was pretty sure was Haley piped up. "What do you care?" "Honestly? I don't care whether you go to juvie or not. But the officers doing the rounds today are coming up on reporting time, and I got a bet with a buddy at the precinct that their unit's not going to meet their enforcement quotas this month. Listen to me or not. It's up to you."

When speaking with a potential witness:
Hands still on her hips, she rolled her eyes and laughed to let us know that the notion of cooperating with the police amused her. She nodded in my direction. "Yeah, and what's she here for, fit me for my Girl Scout uniform?" I had some damn good tacos going soggy on my desk. The last thing I needed was for some twit to patronize me, but I did my best to keep the anger out of my voice.

ATMOSPHERE IS NONEXISTENT. When told that the victim might again be in danger from her attacker: "I tried to calm down. ...Despite all the logical reasons not to worry, it was hard to concentrate, so I distracted myself by checking my bottomless voice mailbox."

After detailing (for two pages) the dating history and break up with a co-worker: "I set the table, blinking away tears before any could roll down."

Yawn.

I gave it 100 pages but couldn't see my way through another 235. I kept hoping it would start to live up to all the rave reviews from the likes of Lee Child, Sue Grafton, and the Washington Post. But I don't understand what all the hype is about, other than friends of her father giving glowing reviews just to be nice. Bad judgment calls on their part.

JUDGMENT CALLS marks the debut of Alafair Burke, daughter of famous crime writer James Lee Burke. The plot involves Samantha Kincaid, an assistant DA in Portland, who's prosecuting a brutal rape/attempted murder. The case looks airtight, but then a possible link to a serial killer arises, as does the possibility that Samantha's lover (a cop) may have put an innocent woman in jail.

Much of the book details the legal maneuverings around the rape case, and there's quite a bit of description of legal procedures that will be familiar to anyone who has seen a couple of episodes of Law & Order. At times I thought the book dragged, but I enjoyed being in the company of these characters and the final plot twist is genuinely exciting. I look forward to reading more from this author.

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.

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.

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

In her debut novel, Alafair Burke introduces us to Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid in an excellent start to what promises to be a very enjoyable series. And the news is good because the second book in the series is already in the works.

Sam Kincaid agrees to take a case that looks like it could be poison from the start. A 13-year-old prostitute and heroin addict has been raped, severely beaten and left for dead by a couple of men. Even though the girl can positively identify one of her attackers, the fact that she's a prostitute and may have been under the influence of drugs at the time will mean the jury may be unsympathetic to say the least. Sam puts a case together regardless and pretty soon the evidence begins building and the case looks stronger all the time. It's only halfway through the trial that things begin to go wrong and the case doesn't look quite so clear cut after all.

This really is a particularly good legal thriller and the fact that it's a debut novel only makes it all the more commendable. Through Sam we are stepped through the legal procedure as seen from the D.A.'s perspective. This could have been quite tedious and boring, but in this case, the telling was anything but. As for the mystery, I thought it was very well constructed, complete with a clever twist or two at the end.

Ms. Burke should apologize to the souls of the trees that gave their lives for this pap. If 10% of what James Lee Burke has had rubbed off on this kid, it might have been salvagable. This book is marred by (among other things): stock characters lifted from a rejected script Steven Bochco used to line his cat box; a hackneyed, overworked plot; dialogue like no people ever spoke; and truly cringeworthy prose. It beats my previous low-water-mark for a novel by a non-writer, which was Chuck Scarborough's "Aftershock".

I guess Ms. Burke figured with the (likely) interesting cases she's seen and Dad's brain to tap, she could become the latest, greatest lawyer-novelist. I think this is just the sort of bravado Frank Sinatra, Jr., felt.

Portland, Oregon, Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid, is trying the case of a man who raped and sodomized a young girl who supported her growing heroin addiction with bouts of prostitution. As she is preparing for her straightforward attempted murder trial , it takes some bizarre twists involving child pornography rings, a possible serial killer, and corruption in the DA's office. There is a secondary story involving her on again/off again relationship with her first love Chuck Forbes. Chuck, the son of a former governor, is now detective on the Major Crime Team.

Alafair Burke is former deputy district attorney and is now a law professor at Hofstra School of Law, so she is knowledgeable about her subject matter. The characters were multi-dimensional and well developed. The plot of this story was pretty good, but tended to be slow at times due to the lengthy explanations of the legal process. One annoyance in the book was the liberal use of acronyms. There were too many and it slowed down parts of the story even more. This is a good start to a promising series, but it could have been better if it were better paced.

This may be the first novel for Alafair (I love that name!) Burke, but she is no novice at writing a gritty,fast-paced, witty page-turner. It must be in the genes! Protaganist, Samantha Kincaid(a Portland DDA) is entirely likeable & this book leaves you wanting more of her, not to mention her old-flame & current Portland detective, Chuck Forbes. I am pleased to know that this is the first in a "Sam Kincaid" series & I eagerly look forward to the next installment!