Set in the late 1960s in Virginia, this was an absorbing legal thriller during a time of racial tension and shifting social constructs.
Jack Lee, a white lawyer from Freeman Country, Virginia, joins forces with a Black lawyer from Chicago, Desiree DuBose, to defend Jerome Washington, a Black man charged with the murder of an elderly white couple for whom he had worked. Given the place and time, the odds are against the jury and the courts giving Jerome a fair shake and even friends and family are divided in their reactions to Jack’s defense. Many other forces are at play during this trial and justice seems to be looking the other way.
While quite uneasy and uncomfortable reading about these aspects of racism and violence, I was completely taken by the characters and the evolving drama and revelations during the course of the trial.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book by this author and I’d forgotten what an excellent writer David Baldacci is. Hard to put aside, the whole experience was made even better by the fabulous audio version that I was listening to while following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. There were 4 different narrators who did a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life and transporting me to that locale and that era. I highly recommend it.
This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Genre = legal thriller, mystery, racial tensions, family drama. Social and civil unrest
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