The Victim by Eric Matheny
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Victim is a legal drama set in America mainly in Florida but with a second setting in Payson Arizona. This is a huge read full of detailed legal suits and jargon. The author is himself a criminal defence attorney and has a vast knowledge of the American legal systems which he has demonstrated in this book.
The story begins with a car accident in 2003. The drunk driver sets the scene ablaze to hide any evidence, or so he thinks.
The story then jumps forward eleven years. Anton Mackey lives in Florida and works as a lawyer. He juggles home life with a busy work schedule. He’s approached by a new client, Daniella Avery with a domestic violence case. This case becomes complicated as Anton and Mandy, the security cop who works for the business, are both sloppy and unprofessional in their relationship with Daniella. A past experience comes back to haunt Anton and a women’s revenge goes to extremes.
Along side Daniella’s case is one also from 2003 and involves a missing girl’s body and kids exposed to a correctional idea known as “Wilderness Therapy”. Investigations by Anton and Mandy open up this case again.
Meanwhile other clients of Anton’s feel he’s not giving their cases enough time and Anton finds himself jumping from lawyer to all action hero more than once. I felt that the author made Anton’s character more than was necessary to the story in these action moments.
There was room to slim this book to make is a smoother read between the action by trusting that the reader could imagine for themselves places like “judges chambers and court rooms”. We didn’t need to know how Anton could tell a judge’s height when she sat behind her desk or that she wore a skirt which he probably wouldn’t have seen. The magic of TV and years of popular crime dramas have given authors the opportunity to be confident that less descriptive details can be more and to choose carefully which descriptions add to scenes and tension and which add very little.
In summary this book would be ideal for readers who want to read deeply into the American legal system alongside their enjoyment of this courtroom drama.
This review is based on a free copy of the book given to me by Book Publicity Services
Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
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Rosie Amber 