Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Legal Thriller
Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or
Smashwords store
Author:
Best-selling
author Rebecca Forster has had more than twenty books published in her career,
most legal thrillers.
For more,
visit her website.
Description:
“Hermosa
Beach attorney Josie Bates is missing and the cops say there's nothing they can
do. They believe she can take care of herself. But the release of an old client
and a mysterious list found in her car say different. Racing against time,
Josie's sixteen-year-old ward, Hannah Sheraton, and Josie's lover, Archer, must
work together despite their differences to find her before it's too late.”
Appraisal:
Although
the fourth in this series of five books (thus far), this is the last of the
five I’ve read and the third or fourth I’ve reviewed somewhere. Despite knowing
that many (probably most) of those who read this review won’t have read all (or
even any) of the other reviews, I find myself struggling to say something new.
I’ve already said (multiple times) how much I love the main characters, Josie
Bates and Hannah Sheraton. I’ve mentioned the most important of the secondary
characters (Hannah’s friend Billy Zuni who is a primary focus in book five and
Josie’s lover, Archer, who is in a co-starring role in this installment) and
described how much these characters add to the book. I’ve think I’ve described
how, while legal thrillers, this series is much different than the typical book
in the genre because of the character dynamics and how much that enhances the
story. There is always plenty going on outside the courtroom that often has
little to do with whatever legal dilemma is happening, but very much to do with
the overall story. The books should appeal to fans of legal thrillers, but also
to fans of other thrillers who shy away from the legal sub-genre.
However, as
I was pondering what new there was to say I realized that, just as I struggled
to find something different to say, many series authors have the same problem.
A series that is episodic (for lack of a better word) where there seems to be no obvious story arc, where
instead each book is one case as you’ll
often find in mysteries, police procedurals, and legal thrillers, often starts
to feel like it’s retelling the same basic story. The minor characters and the
story conflict have different details, yet there seems to be a formula. While The Witness Series has some things that
are consistent from book to book, mainly involving the quirks of the various
characters and how they interact with each other, the plots or storylines of
the books are vastly different. This installment especially as Josie, the
lawyer in the series, has disappeared and has conflicts and challenges to
overcome that are far away from prevailing in a courtroom while Archer and
Hannah find themselves trying to prevail in court without her. How’s that for
turning the legal thriller formula on its head? Replace the lawyer with someone
else in the courtroom.
With Expert Witness, Rebecca Forster has
another winner. I hope we’ll be seeing another book in this series. I’m eager
to see what happens to Josie, Hannah, and Archer next.
FYI:
Although
the fourth in a series of five (so far), this can be read as a standalone.
Format/Typo Issues:
No
significant issues.
Rating: ***** Five stars
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