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Summary
Summary
"Margolin continues his return to the exceptional form of his early novels with this gripping, tightly plotted, and smoothly written legal thriller... A winner from a veteran genre author." -- Booklist
The "master of heart-pounding suspense" returns with a brand new series and a USA Today bestseller The Third Victim is New York Times bestseller Phillip Margolin at his very best.
A woman stumbles onto a dark road in rural Oregon--tortured, battered, and bound. She tells a horrific story about being kidnapped, then tortured, until she finally managed to escape. She was the lucky one--two other women, with similar burns and bruises, were found dead.
The surviving victim identifies the house where she was held captive and the owner, Alex Mason--a prominent local attorney--is arrested. Although he loudly insists upon his innocence, his wife's statements about his sexual sadism and the physical evidence found at the scene, his summer home, is damning.
Regina Barrister is a legendary criminal defense attorney, known as "The Sorceress" for her courtroom victories. But she's got a secret, one that threatens her skill, her reputation, and, most of all, her clients. And she's agreed to take on the seemingly impossible task of defending Alex Mason.
Robin Lockwood, a young lawyer and former MMA fighter, has just left a clerkship at the Oregon Supreme Court to work for Regina Barrister. The Alex Mason trial is her first big one, a likely death penalty case, and she's second chair to Regina. Increasingly, she's worried her boss's behavior and the details in the case against their client don't quite add up.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
This uneven series launch set in Oregon from bestseller Margolin (Violent Crimes and four other Amanda Jaffe novels) revolves around newly hired lawyer Robin Lockwood and her mentor and boss, legendary criminal defense attorney Regina Barrister, who may be experiencing the symptoms of early-onset Alzheimer's. Lockwood is thrown into the fire when Barrister agrees to represent an affluent attorney arrested for the kidnap, torture, and murder of two young women. The third victim escaped, and all evidence points to the accused. While Barrister secretly struggles with a deteriorating memory, Lockwood finds connections between the case and a lawsuit involving a crooked cop with a penchant for abuse. Unfortunately, despite an adequately complex plot and three-dimensional main characters with interesting backstories (Lockwood is also an MMA fighter), the narrative doesn't generate much tension. Here's hoping for a more exciting case in the next outing for Lockwood and company. 100,000-copy announced first printing. Agents: Jean Naggar and Jennifer Weltz, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A novice lawyer signs on to an Oregon attorney's practice just in time to catch a case that will leave her skeptical about just about everyone involved, including her boss.Portland prostitutes Tonya Benson and Patricia Rawls were both tortured to death, but barista Meredith Fenner is lucky enough to escape her captivity and eventually leads Detective Carrie Anders back to the cabin where she was held. It belongs to dislikable attorney Alex Mason, whose DNA is found on a piece of cut tape used to gag Meredith. Things rapidly get worse for Mason even after legal superstar Regina Barrister agrees to defend him. His trophy wife, Allison, tells police that he enjoyed S/M sex, provides detailed descriptions of the games they playedwhich echo Meredith's ordeal in several key particularsand then files for divorce. Regina declines to pursue Arnold Prater, another highly plausible suspect, not because he's a bent cop, but because of an elaborate series of relationships that create a conflict of interest. Worst of all, as Regina's new associate, Robin Lockwood, gradually realizes, her boss, well-known for her laser-sharp ability to examine witnesses in court without notes, has suddenly developed awkward, sometimes-crippling gaps in her memory that she neither recognizes nor wants to talk about. Could they be a sign of early-onset Alzheimer's? And whatever their cause, do they amount to a sufficient basis for a new trial for Mason, not the world's most appealing defendant, if things continue to go as badly for him as they've been going ever since he was first taken into custody?The setup is arresting, but the structure is awkward, with one large subplot awkwardly integrated and the final solution at once unlikely, obvious, and slow to arrive. A lesser outing for the highly variable Margolin (Violent Crimes, 2016, etc.). Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
A woman accuses a well-known attorney of kidnapping and torturing her. Despite both evidence found at the location where she says she was held and troubling statements made by the accused's wife, the attorney insists he is innocent. He hires the noted defense lawyer Regina Barrister to prove his innocence, but Robin Lockwood, Barrister's second chair, soon begins to wonder if there's something going on behind the scenes, something that would cast the relationship between Barrister and her client in a whole new light. Margolin continues his return to the exceptional form of his early novels with this gripping, tightly plotted, and smoothly written legal thriller. Barrister is an especially compelling creation: brilliant but deeply flawed, although the particulars of that flaw are withheld from the reader until the author is prepared to divulge them: he gives us hints but nothing solid until it's just the right time. A winner from a veteran genre author who has thoroughly rebooted his career after a lackluster few books.--Pitt, David Copyright 2017 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Margolin (Violent Crimes) opens this convoluted new series with a woman, bruised and battered, stumbling along a dark road in Oregon. The victim leads Det. Carrie Anders back to the cabin of prominent attorney Alex Mason, where, supposedly, he tortured her and murdered two prostitutes. Noted lawyer Regina Barrister, with her new assistant Robin Lockwood, agrees to defend him. Mason's trophy wife, after divulging the particulars about how he gets into S/M sex, files for divorce. Despite Alex's pleas of innocence, his DNA is found on a restraint used in the crimes, which leads to his conviction. In a seemingly unrelated case, a local pimp who threatened a prominent cop for beating up one of his prostitutes, winds up dead. The officer is also a plausible suspect in the double murders; however, Regina won't pursue the case owing to conflict of interest issues. In addition, Robin realizes that her boss, although noted for her ability to cross-examine witnesses, has demonstrated consistent memory lapses that she's unwilling to discuss. Robin seriously questions whether these facts might force a new trial for Alex. Verdict Readers may find the complex plotlines and backstories in this uneven and boring novel confusing. Strictly for Margolin's fans. [See Prepub Alert, 9/11/17.]-Jerry P. Miller, Cambridge, MA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.