But when he arrives, Josh is persuaded to defend his mother in court. Of course Lauren insists she’s innocent. Killing the man with the money and influence that could fuel her ambitions would be political suicide. She’s ruthless, not reckless. Then again, his mother built her career on smoke and mirrors, and Josh has no idea who she really is anymore or what she’s capable of doing. With camera-ready grief, she’s playing the role of victim to perfection. Josh is duty bound to believe every word she says.
This book moves quickly, I'll give it that. But quick doesn't necessarily mean engaging, and in this case, I think the pacing came at the expense of the characters and the story itself. There simply wasn't enough time spent developing either one, so by the time I reached the end, I wasn't particularly invested in what happened to any of them.
First, let's discuss our main players. We have Lauren Snow, aka Mother. She's a high-profile mayor in a Texas city with her sights set on becoming governor. In fact, Mrs. Snow has always been the ambitious sort, putting her career aspirations above pretty much everything else, including her relationships with her two children and her first marriage. Her second husband, however, was both powerful and wealthy, so at least she seemed to find that marriage useful to her cause. Then there's Mr. Snow, who comes across as a seriously domineering man who absolutely despises his stepchildren, particularly his stepson. He manages to make things so miserable at home that he eventually convinces his wife to send her only son, Josh, off to boarding school hundreds of miles away. And that's when Josh makes a promise to himself that he will never set foot in Texas again. Josh actually does pretty well for himself. He graduates from boarding school, puts himself through college and then law school, earns a degree in corporate law, and becomes an associate at a law firm in Colorado. He's perfectly content living his life far away from his mother and stepfather. Until his younger sister Kinsey calls to tell him that their stepfather has been murdered. Now, we know approximately four things about Kinsey. She's the younger sibling, she's fiercely loyal to her mother for reasons that are never really explained, she's pregnant, and she has a history of drug use. Those last two things are enough to convince Josh to break his promise and return to Texas so he can be there for his sister.
And honestly? That's pretty much the extent of what we know about our main characters. I couldn't tell you what any of them even looked like because I don't remember the book ever bothering to tell me. But surprisingly, that wasn't really my biggest problem.
No, the real problems came with how the story unfolded.
You see, Josh barely has time to say hello to his sister before their mother is arrested for the murder of her husband. And suddenly, the mother he hasn't seen or spoken to in years is demanding that HE represent her. And he agrees. Reluctantly, sure, but still.
Here's where the legal side of things get interesting (or at least should have gotten interesting). Josh is a corporate attorney. He is not a criminal defense attorney. He's also not licensed to practice law in Texas. The book does attempt to explain this away by saying that he can legally assist with the case as long as he works alongside an attorney who is licensed in Texas. Fine. That's believable enough. Except we barely see him doing any of that. He talks about needing to rent an office. He talks about hiring investigators. He talks about working with other lawyers. But then...nothing happens other than him calling a couple of people he works with back in Denver. Where are the local people (especially the law firm he's supposed to be working with on his mother's case). Instead it's fairly obvious early on that Josh is single-handedly running a high-profile murder defense while simultaneously being completely unqualified (and woefully unprepared) to do so. And let's not forget that Josh initially tells everyone he can't stay in Texas for long because he's working on a big case back in Colorado. He's only in his second year at the firm, the partner he's working with is already annoyed that he's left, and yet Josh just...keeps staying. With absolutely no consequences. Not even the threat of being fired. Apparently his law firm simply adopted a very generous “eh, come back whenever you're done there” policy.
Then there's the fact that his mother makes it nearly impossible for him to properly interview her so he can actually build a defense. Which seems like a fairly significant problem when your client is facing a murder charge. Not that that pesky detail seems to both Josh (nor does professionalism) considering he somehow manages to meet up with one of the attorneys working for the prosecution not once, but twice. In a case that is apparently so high-profile that reporters are everywhere, these two are able to meet up in public (once in a very intimate setting), and yet nobody recognizes them? Sure.
But honestly, none of this even mattered that much in the grand scheme of things because the actual murder case takes a backseat almost as soon as his mother is released on bail. Because instead of continuing to put up with his mother blowing him off to focus on her career (and really why was she still allowed to be mayor when she was being investigated for murder), Josh instead decides to make a completely random visit to a family member on his biological father's side while he's in town, and suddenly finds himself going down an entirely different rabbit hole. And down the rabbit hole he goes.
Now, I understand what the author was trying to do here. This storyline eventually connects back to what is happening in the present, and Josh does get some answers because of it. But that's not what this story was supposed to be about. I came into this expecting a murder mystery/legal thriller about a powerful woman accused of killing her husband and her estranged son stepping in to defend her. Instead, I got a story where the murder case itself somehow became secondary to a completely different investigation that Josh wasn't even supposed to be conducting in the first place. And unfortunately, none of those pieces ever came together in a way that was particularly satisfying for me.
DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.
Posts
Post a Comment
0 Comments