Exposed & Feared by Lisa Scottoline

Welcome to a TBT Throwback Thursday Review.  I am working on reviving this blog and catching up on some long overdue book reviews. Exposed and Feared by Lisa Scottoline are the most recent titles in her Rosato & DiNunzio series and were published in August 2017 and August 2018 respectively.

A BATTLE FOR JUSTICE PITS PARTNER AGAINST PARTNER…
Mary DiNunzio wants to represent her old friend Simon Pensiera, a sales rep who was wrongly fired by his company, but her partner Bennie Rosato represents the parent company. When she confronts Mary, explaining this is a conflict of interest, an epic battle of wills and legal strategy between the two ensues ripping the law firm apart, forcing everyone to take sides and turning friend against friend.
LOYALTY CAN BE LETHAL.  - lisascottoline.com

When three men announce that they are suing the Rosato & DiNunzio law firm for reverse sex discrimination—claiming that they were not hired because they were men—Mary DiNunzio and Bennie Rosato are outraged. To make matters worse, their one male employee, John Foxman, intends to resign, claiming that there is some truth to this case.
The plaintiffs’ lawyer is Nick Machiavelli, who has already lost to Mary once and is now back with a vengeance —determined not to not only win, but destroy the firm. It soon becomes clear that Machiavelli will do anything in his power to achieve this…even after the case turns deadly. The stakes have never been higher for Mary and her associates as they try to keep Machiavelli at bay, solve a murder, and save the law firm they love…or they could lose everything they’ve worked for. Told with Scottoline’s trademark gift for twists, turns, heart, and humanity, this latest thriller asks the question: is it better to be loved, or feared…​ - lisascottoline.com

I love all the Rosato & DiNunzio novels and the prior related series Rosato & Associates.  Exposed and Feared were no exception.  Although Feared was my favorite of the two and one of my favorite of the stories about the "all female law firm" precisely for the fact that the book centered on the possible discrimination issues arising from that very conceit.

Exposed was great in that it really showed some character growth for Mary who has always struggled with asserting herself outside the courtroom and this is further built upon in Feared.  Scottoline always does a fantastic job of balancing the personal dramas of the characters we loved throughout the series as well as providing a thought provoking legal dilemma.

While this series does not need to be read in order, I highly recommend it so that you can develop a relationship with Mary, Bennie and everyone working at the Rosato & DiNunzio firm.  I don't know if a follow-up to Feared is planned but it's still my hope that we get a new book soon featuring attorney Anne Murphy who hasn't carried a book on her own since Courting Trouble.

Final Verdict:  3.5/5 Stars for Exposed;  4/5 Stars for Feared

Special Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC in exchange for a honest review.
 

First Things First: The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

Happy February and welcome back to "First Things First."  Each month I'll be reviewing the first book in a long-standing series.  "The Lincoln Lawyer," is the first novel in Michael Connelly's best-selling series of the same name and is also the basis for the recent Matthew McConaughey film. 

Mickey Haller has spent all his professional life afraid that he wouldn’t recognize innocence if it stood right in front of him. But what he should have been on the watch for was evil.
   
Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind. Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers — they’re all on Mickey Haller’s client list. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence — it’s about negotiation and manipulation. Sometimes it’s even about justice.
   
A Beverly Hills playboy arrested for attacking a woman he picked up in a bar chooses Haller to defend him, and Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. It is a defense attorney’s dream, what they call a franchise case. And as the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe this may be the easiest case of his career.
   
Then someone close to him is murdered and Haller discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face-to-face with evil as pure as a flame. To escape without being burned, he must deploy every tactic, feint, and instinct in his arsenal — this time to save his own life. - michaelconnelly.com

This book was fantastic. From the minute Mickey meets Louis Roulet, an affluent young man accused of assaulting his date, you know that something isn't quite right.  Is Roulet being set up?  Or is he really an abusive man?  As Haller begins to prepare his defense and investigates Roulet, we get some answers and that's where the real story takes off and you're on a fast paced ride as Haller soon finds himself in more trouble than he ever bargained for. Soon everyone in Haller's life is a suspect in what seems to be a sinister plot against Haller's life.  You'll be guessing everyone's true motives until the very end.

In addition to the great plot, the characters were also fantastic.  Connelly does an amazing job of making them not just characters on a page but real people.  Haller is a very interesting and complex person.  He's a brilliant lawyer.  His legal tactics are clever and he works hard but his problem is he knows he's good and as a result he's more than confident. He's a tad arrogant and that arrogance ultimately leads him into the mess he finds himself in here.  Regardless, he's also charming and and a little snarky which is a combination I find irresistible.  Haller's ex-wife describes him as a "... a sleazy defense lawyer with two ex-wives and an eight-year-old daughter and we all love you."  However I didn't find him sleazy.  While he may represent some awful people, he also sees the good in some of his other clients who've just made poor choices and found themselves in legal trouble such as his driver, Earl.  Even the minor characters in this novel such as the prostitute Haller routinely represents have depth.

I have yet to see the film adaptation of "The Lincoln Lawyer," but I'm a little reluctant to as this book was so wonderful.  I am about to the start "The Brass Verdict," the second novel in the series.  "The Brass Verdict," also features Harry Bosch from Connelly's other best-selling series.  "Bosch," has also been adapted into a television show for Amazon streaming and will debut this month. I look forward to starting that series as well.

If you haven't read "The Lincoln Lawyer," yet, go get it!  You're in for a real treat. If you have read it, seen the film or read any of Connelly's other novels, I'd love to hear your thoughts on them below.  Please try to keep your comments spoiler free.

Killer Ambition by Marcia Clark

When Hayley, the daughter of Russell Anatonovich, a prominent Hollywood director, is brutally murdered in a kidnapping plot gone wrong, Los Angeles Special Trials Prosecutor, Rachel Knight is assigned to the case along with her friend, Detective Bailey Keller.  As the ladies work the case they soon discover that all the evidence points to former child star Ian Powers, agent and longtime best friend of Russell.  Rachel and Bailey soon find themselves in a battle between Ian's high-priced lawyers, a doubting Russell, and tabloid media.

Clark definitely took her experience as a former prosecutor for California and put it into this novel.  "Killer Ambition" is full of intricate detail to every step of a criminal case from the criminal investigation through the courtroom proceedings.  I appreciated the fact that things didn't always come easily for Rachel.  You got a real feel for how much hard work goes into putting a case together and the complexities of criminal law.  However, at times, the book had a little too much detail.  I may be nitpicking a bit here but the numerous notations of Rachel's various ringtones for friends and colleagues were repetitive and distracting.  Rachel's frequent concern and fretting over what fashion choices would cause her to perspire the least also seemed odd for a California native.  Aside from that, "Killer Ambition," is a great read.  It's also the third in the "Rachel Knight" series but newcomers (like myself) will have no trouble starting with this novel to enter Rachel's world.

Look for "Killer Ambition," or the first two books in the "Rachel Knight" series "Guilt by Association," and "Guilt by Degrees," at bookstores everywhere. 

Please note that I received no financial compensation for this review.  I received a complimentary ARC at Book Expo America where I had the privilege of getting my copy signed by Ms. Clark herself!