NetGalley Top Reviewer

NetGalley Top Reviewer
NetGalley Top Reviewer

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Final Judgment (Samantha Brinkman #4) by Marcia Clark

"Maybe not truth. But justice for sure."

This is the 4th in this legal thriller series featuring lawyer and vigilante Samantha Brinkman. I've read the previous books and find them fast-paced and the stories typically have complex plots with a lot going on -- mostly outside of a courtroom.

Samantha is a defense attorney and definitely bends the rules and the law most of the time. Unfortunately, Samantha is a total hypocrite and operates with a strange double-standard as the reader sees when her boyfriend, Niko Ferrell, looks to be guilty of murder. Now, keep in mind that Sam doesn't mind so much that he killed someone, what makes her angry is that he didn't tell her -- a lot, actually, and she can't stand that. The aggravation and irritation I felt with her is due to the fact that she has not shared her own past and truth with him. Hmmm.

For the most part, the characters are quite unbelievable and stereotypical. The bestie, Michy, is Samantha's Gal Friday and of course there is Alex, the expert hacker and investigator who operates without boundaries of any kind. So much illegal stuff going on here that it stretches credulity to the max. The trio spends a lot of time together and there is a great deal of detail and description about what they eat, wear, etc., and lots of banter. Samantha's endless angst over her personal relationship with Niko got old fast. I found it difficult to imagine how Samantha, as an attorney, spent more time investigating the cases and chasing leads than the police did. Her relationship and interaction with her father, Dale, a cop, is also quite weird. Samantha is definitely operating outside of moral and ethical codes in her quest to save Niko from himself and his conscience as well as to take care of someone who did her great harm in the past. If you like vigilantism, you will like Samantha and this series. Anyway, despite my reaction to her dubious behavior and the need to suspend disbelief at her antics, I do like the series and will most likely be reading the next installment. The author is well-known and is herself a practicing criminal lawyer in LA. She served as prosecutor for the OJ Simpson trial and is a legal correspondent and talk show commentator. So she knows the law and definitely uses that expertise when writing these legal novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this e-book ARC to read and review.

This is the 4th in a series that is best read, from the beginning, in order.
Genre -- Legal thriller

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