legal thriller – Down the Rabbit Hole

For fans of the compulsive psychological suspense of Ruth Ware and Tana French, a mother daughter story—one running from a horrible truth, and the other fighting to reveal it—that twists and turns in shocking ways, from the internationally bestselling author of The Scholar and The Ruin.

First Rule: Make them like you.

Second Rule: Make them need you.

Third Rule: Make them pay.

They think I’m a young, idealistic law student, that I’m passionate about reforming a corrupt and brutal system.

They think I’m working hard to impress them.

They think I’m here to save an innocent man on death row.

They’re wrong. I’m going to bury him.

Another one I picked off the shelf, but it certainly had an interesting premise. As a legal(ish) thriller, it was fairly well executed, and it wasn’t too jargon heavy, and anything that needed explaining was explained well. Compared to my last review of Verity, there were actually a lot of similar plot elements that I found interesting.

The Murder Rule follows our protagonist, Hannah, who worms her way into the Project Innocence project at the University of Virginia Law. She has high stakes in this project, as they are taking care of a famous murder case. Except she isn’t there to help free him like everyone else is. Will she be found out as she works against her own team? Full of twists and surprises, this is a story of girl who will do anything for her goals, with her own ideals of the justice system.

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3.5 star

Review: False Witness by Karin Slaughter

January 12, 2022 Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

AN ORDINARY LIFE

Leigh Coulton has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She has a good job as a defence attorney, a daughter doing well in school, and even her divorce is relatively civilised – her life is just as unremarkable as she’d always hoped it would be.

HIDES A DEVASTATING PAST

But Leigh’s ordinary life masks a childhood which was far from average… a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and finally torn apart by a devastating act of violence.

BUT NOW THE PAST IS CATCHING UP

Then a case lands on her desk – defending a wealthy man accused of rape. It’s the highest profile case she’s ever been given – a case which could transform her career, if she wins. But when she meets the accused, she realises that it’s no coincidence that he’s chosen her as his attorney. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he knows what happened twenty years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades running.

AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT

If she can’t get him acquitted, she’ll lose much more than the case. The only person who can help her is her younger, estranged sister Callie, the last person Leigh would ever want to ask for help. But suddenly she has no choice…

Ahhh, so many mixed feelings. On the one hand, I’d say that overall the book was quite well-written. There were many themes that recurred and were used in different ways to continue the theme of suspense. On the other hand, the material is just so graphic and horrifying, I did have a hard time getting through it, emotionally.

I’ve actually read one of the author’s other books, which left me feeling the same way. I had read it a while back, and if I had realized this book was the same author, I think I would have just put it down. Not because it’s a bad book, but sometimes the content is just too much for me to handle. So a warning to all those who are sensitive to such topics.

False Witness revolves around two sisters who share a dark past. One has risen through the ranks while the other has sunken into the shadows. When one day, Leigh gets suddenly put onto an all-too-familiar case, things start to unravel. Just how much of the past stays hidden in the past, and how will these ghosts affect both Leigh and her sister’s futures?

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1.5 star, adult

Review: Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci

April 8, 2021April 7, 2021 Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Introducing a remarkable new character from #1 New York Times bestselling writer David Baldacci: Atlee Pine, an FBI agent with special skills assigned to the remote wilds of the southwestern United States who must confront a new threat . . . and an old nightmare.

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a tiger by its toe.

It’s seared into Atlee Pine’s memory: the kidnapper’s chilling rhyme as he chose between six-year-old Atlee and her twin sister, Mercy. Mercy was taken. Atlee was spared.

She never saw Mercy again.

Three decades after that terrifying night, Atlee Pine works for the FBI. She’s the lone agent assigned to the Shattered Rock, Arizona resident agency, which is responsible for protecting the Grand Canyon.

So when one of the Grand Canyon’s mules is found stabbed to death at the bottom of the canyon-and its rider missing-Pine is called in to investigate. It soon seems clear the lost tourist had something more clandestine than sightseeing in mind. But just as Pine begins to put together clues pointing to a terrifying plot, she’s abruptly called off the case.

If she disobeys direct orders by continuing to search for the missing man, it will mean the end of her career. But unless Pine keeps working the case and discovers the truth, it could spell the very end of democracy in America as we know it…

Oh man. For what is supposedly a mystery book, I had such a hard time reading through this. It also had elements of suspense and thrillers but it was just….so boring. And the title and backstory don’t even really make sense to me? Let’s just say I borderline didn’t finish it. Maybe I shouldn’t have.

Long Road to Mercy follows an FBI special agent, Atlee Pine, who specializes in the rural part of West America. Her tragic backstory includes a twin sister who was kidnapped at age 6 from their own house – a man had snuck in and spoke a nursery rhyme to choose which sister he would take. 30 years later, Atlee is still on the hunt for what happened to her sister.

Or so you’d expect.

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