Review by meenia -- Blanket Immunity by Adam Van Susteren
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meenia
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Review by meenia -- Blanket Immunity by Adam Van Susteren
[Following is a volunteer review of "Blanket Immunity" by Adam Van Susteren.]
Blanket Immunity by Adam Van Susteren is not your typical legal thriller. There are no courtroom scenes and just enough legalese to keep you interested and learning but not overwhelmed.
Joanna P. Channing just opened a criminal law practice after a failed run for judge, Jo has ten years of legal experience: five years as a public defender and five years as Deputy District Attorney. She has no clients until Brad Gecina walks in her door with a story and a plan. Brad is on leave from the police force and hires Jo to get ahead of a rape charge. He is willing to voluntarily resign from the force if Jo can get him a deal for blanket immunity,
Jo quickly, and quite accidentally, takes on two other clients of questionable repute: Tai Nguyen who is in jail on drug charges and Marcos Omar. “Omar” is known by the police force as “the tiny terror” - quite the understatement. Jo finds herself being used as a confidential courier for her clients putting her in an ethical, moral and financial quandary.
There are a lot of twists and turns as we get to know and despise her clients. Some of the plot lines deal with everything from possible tax fraud to murder, blackmail, kidnapping and rape. Jo recognizes that she should pursue a less risky clientele, but continues to put her career on the line wheeling and dealing for them.
I have a love/hate relationship with this story. The book is very well written and I couldn’t put it down. Then there’s the main character. Jo is a very intelligent, ambitious woman. In addition to her aggressive business persona, she is also portrayed as a warm, loving person who has a very close, loving family willing to put themselves at risk for her. Jo borrowed money from her parents in pursuit of furthering her career and is, therefore, anxious to get her law firm on solid financial ground. I really want to like her. She can be sweet, funny and also vulnerable. Because she has worked with the undesirables in society for 10 years, she’s frightened of her potential clients but doesn’t hesitate to jump head first into some dangerous and unethical situations.
I guess what bothers me most is that Jo has been in business for two weeks! Yes, she owes her parents money and they are going through personal and financial difficulties, but, again, it’s only been two weeks! She should have had a better business plan going into her new venture. Kudos to the author, because if he hadn't laid such a solid foundation developing Jo’s character, I wouldn’t be so upset with her!
Now she does want to do the right things and get the right outcome but puts herself and others, including her new romantic interest, Dzuy, pronounced Z, at great risk. I have trouble coming to grips with how she could make so many poor and questionable moral and ethical decisions. However, Jo summed it up herself when she said: “I made a deal with the devil to protect me from a wolf. Dumb, Jo, Dumb.”
The ending shocked me and I am now compelled to read the sequel because I just can’t believe it! The author left us with a lot of different routes it can take, but I don’t think Jo will have a white hat firmly planted on her head.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. There were a few typos, but overall it was professionally edited. There were a couple of sections that contained Spanish dialogue but did not offer English translation. Fortunately, these were minor. Anyone who appreciates legal thrillers, suspense and crime novels will enjoy this book, but please note that there is some violence and sexual content as well as profanity.
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Blanket Immunity
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Blanket Immunity by Adam Van Susteren is not your typical legal thriller. There are no courtroom scenes and just enough legalese to keep you interested and learning but not overwhelmed.
Joanna P. Channing just opened a criminal law practice after a failed run for judge, Jo has ten years of legal experience: five years as a public defender and five years as Deputy District Attorney. She has no clients until Brad Gecina walks in her door with a story and a plan. Brad is on leave from the police force and hires Jo to get ahead of a rape charge. He is willing to voluntarily resign from the force if Jo can get him a deal for blanket immunity,
Jo quickly, and quite accidentally, takes on two other clients of questionable repute: Tai Nguyen who is in jail on drug charges and Marcos Omar. “Omar” is known by the police force as “the tiny terror” - quite the understatement. Jo finds herself being used as a confidential courier for her clients putting her in an ethical, moral and financial quandary.
There are a lot of twists and turns as we get to know and despise her clients. Some of the plot lines deal with everything from possible tax fraud to murder, blackmail, kidnapping and rape. Jo recognizes that she should pursue a less risky clientele, but continues to put her career on the line wheeling and dealing for them.
I have a love/hate relationship with this story. The book is very well written and I couldn’t put it down. Then there’s the main character. Jo is a very intelligent, ambitious woman. In addition to her aggressive business persona, she is also portrayed as a warm, loving person who has a very close, loving family willing to put themselves at risk for her. Jo borrowed money from her parents in pursuit of furthering her career and is, therefore, anxious to get her law firm on solid financial ground. I really want to like her. She can be sweet, funny and also vulnerable. Because she has worked with the undesirables in society for 10 years, she’s frightened of her potential clients but doesn’t hesitate to jump head first into some dangerous and unethical situations.
I guess what bothers me most is that Jo has been in business for two weeks! Yes, she owes her parents money and they are going through personal and financial difficulties, but, again, it’s only been two weeks! She should have had a better business plan going into her new venture. Kudos to the author, because if he hadn't laid such a solid foundation developing Jo’s character, I wouldn’t be so upset with her!
Now she does want to do the right things and get the right outcome but puts herself and others, including her new romantic interest, Dzuy, pronounced Z, at great risk. I have trouble coming to grips with how she could make so many poor and questionable moral and ethical decisions. However, Jo summed it up herself when she said: “I made a deal with the devil to protect me from a wolf. Dumb, Jo, Dumb.”
The ending shocked me and I am now compelled to read the sequel because I just can’t believe it! The author left us with a lot of different routes it can take, but I don’t think Jo will have a white hat firmly planted on her head.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. There were a few typos, but overall it was professionally edited. There were a couple of sections that contained Spanish dialogue but did not offer English translation. Fortunately, these were minor. Anyone who appreciates legal thrillers, suspense and crime novels will enjoy this book, but please note that there is some violence and sexual content as well as profanity.
******
Blanket Immunity
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Blanket Immunity by Adam Van Susteren
