Retribution

Rating:
Summary: Great stuff!
Review: Jilliane Hoffman, Retribution (Putnam, 2004)

It's not often that a single book causes me to put aside everything else I'm reading to concentrate on it. I got my copy of Retribution in the mail, and started paging through it about half an hour later. Thirty-six hours later, with little food and sleep in the interim, I'd finished it, having put aside the other books in the queue to concentrate solely on Jilliane Hoffman's debut novel.

Some books are best summed up with the same "what if?" question the author likely asked when forming the idea for the book, and this is one of them: what if an ADA found herself prosecuting a defendant whom she had a vested interest in seeing go to the chair? Such is the premise of Retribution. C. J. Townsend, an Assistant District Attorney in Miami, was raped and tortured in 1988, while still in law school in New York, by an assailant she knows only as The Clown. He left her for dead; she survived, and a nervous breakdown and twelve years of therapy later, she's relocated to south Florida, changed her name, and managed to erase her past. Then a man is pulled over for a routine traffic stop, and in the trunk of his car is found the tenth victim of the serial killer known as Cupid. Many of the details of the case are all too well-known to Townsend, for they remind her of her own violation so many years before. Then, in court, she sees a distinctive scar her rapist had, and knows she's prosecuting her own assailant... but that can't sway her niggling doubts about whether he really is Cupid.

Hoffman, an ex-Florida ADA herself (begging the autobiographical question, of course), delivers the goods in her debut novel. She gives us a well-drawn and engaging cast of characters, a fabulous plot, and almost perfect pacing. The novel rarely slows, and when it does, it picks back up again promptly. While it lacks the onion-like layers of mystery of, say, Erin Hart's recent debut Haunted Ground, Hoffman zeroes in on the simpler mystery she supplies us here and relies on the ethical subtexts for layering; when the prosecutor knows the defendant in such a way, does the case become prosecution or persecution? And how will keeping all the necessary secrets affect Townsend's life, and the lives of those around her, especially in a case where everyone knows the media will be digging so far into it that someone's bound to turn something up?

It's probably not the greatest of form to describe a book with a January release date as great summer reading, but that's exactly what Retribution is. It's got the feel of a literary Law and Order episode (even more so that L&O staff writer Giles Blunt's novels); we see both the police and the prosecution side of the case, there's all the courtroom drama one could ask for, all the twists and turns to keep the suspense in gear until the final pages. (The ending does go a bit over the top. But it's such a fine rollercoaster ride we'll forgive Ms. Hoffman the stock serial killer climax.) Oh, and one other great thing about those twists and turns-just when you think you've figured out the end of the novel, Hoffman springs what you just figured out on you in the next few pages. The revelations of various bits of information throughout are as well-constructed as they are in a Hideo Nakata film, leaving the reader wondering what's coming around the next turn.

A fine debut. Jilliane Hoffman is going places. ****

Rating:
Summary: Kept me up at night!
Review: I completely enjoyed this story. I liked the characters. I felt who C.J. was/is. Another reviewer said that Hoffman didn't give you detail of scenery and that you could not tell if they were in Miami or someplace else...well, knowing about the Miami night life or how colorful it is or isn't was not central to the story. I think Hoffman did a great job setting up scenes and giving detail, sometimes too much, to make you feel as if you were standing there. People, there has been a lot of hype on this book, that is true, but I think you should give the story a try. It is very graphic and sometimes it even had me saying, "eek", but Hoffman does a good job of getting you to feel who the characters are. I read this book quickly because the pace is set to keep you going. Yes, there is a connection between the killer and C.J. that I thought was a little far fetched, but I took the story on its merits and it is good. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition

Rating:
Summary: Terrifying!
Review: This book kept me on the edge of my seat. Hoffman is such a clever writer, and the gruesome scenes work so well. Can't WAIT for the film!

Rating:
Summary: Very weak
Review: Even many of the reviewers I've read who like this book admit that the ending and other key aspects are a stretch and disappointing. So that's a clear indication of problems here, many of which have been pointed out in a sensible, detailed review below. Why this person needs to be insulted by one other reviewer and accused of jealousy by yet another points to a problem with our book culture. If you find fault with widely publicized books like Retribution or The Da Vinci Code or name-that-book, there must be something wrong with you. Well, I've read way over 1000 mysteries and thrillers in my day and Retribution isn't the worst, but it certainly isn't intelligent or well-written. It's full of high school freshman English mistakes, plot improbabilities, dubious psychology and dismal execution. It will likely do very well. So did David Baldacci's Absolute Power. Too bad, when there are so many terrific mystery and thriller writers out there like Dennis Lehane, SJ Rozan, Colin Harrison. These people write beautifully and construct books that are believable and deft.

Rating:
Summary: Escape fiction, intelligent and well-plotted
Review: Other reviewers have recounted the plot: Following her rape, a young law student "Chloe" assumes a new identity and moves to Miami, where she becomes a successful, high-profile prosecutor now known as "CJ." When she realizes a high-profile defendant was the man who raped her, C.J. faces a moral dilemma.Should she excuse herself from the case? Should she seize any opportunity to put him away, on any criminal charge that will "stick," even if it's not the right one?

Hoffman knows how to plot and she moves us along deftly. She creates atmosphere -- hot streets, tense courtrooms. Having lived in Fort Lauderdale, I could imagine the heroine's world. I think I even know her condo complex -- I rented an apartment in a complex with the same name, and there was a condo tower!

Retribution is a legal thriller, a member of the genre made famous by Grisham and Fairstein. We get action and a sense of how the law really works. The characters are just deep enough to hold our interest. They're like pawns on a giant chessboard -- and, in the case of Retribution, this metaphor may be chillingly appropriate.

Plot keeps the pages turning and Hoffman takes us backstage, to the world of a prosecutor faced with a challenging case. She doesn't shield us. In one scene, prosecutor CJ "rehearses" a police officer, presenting evidence in court for the very first time. If this scene grew from Hoffman's memories as a prosecutor, we have yet another reason to be skeptical of the justice system.

As other reviewers have noted, the ending seems contrived -- not on the same level as the rest of the book. To enjoy this book, you have to take a big gulp and accept a major coincidence and a villain whose behavior, described mostly in flashbacks, was not always consistent or credible.

Retribution probably won't be discussed at your book club, but it's the perfect book to pack if you're facing a long, miserable airplane ride or a siege in a waiting room. It's intelligent, well-written escape, cleverly plotted. I'm looking forward to Hoffman's next!

Rating:
Summary: Intellectually thrilling page turner, couldn't put it down.
Review: Jilliane Hoffman's Retribution keeps your mind racing without the predictable result often found in the genre. The character definition is excellent. Just when you think you have it figured out, there is a new twist. Excellent first effort can't wait for the movie.

Sounds to me like the 'reader from Thrillerville' below might just be reviewing more than the book itself and covetous of the hype that he/she mentions.

Rating:
Summary: Five stars?! What is the world coming to?
Review: This book is violent in the most graphic, sadistic, and deviant way. But I guess that's a selling feature, huh?

Rating:
Summary: Deserves zero stars
Review: I love well-written, well-wrought thrillers, like Colin Harrison's Manhattan Nocturne or Joseph Finder's High Crimes This book is a mess, from start to finish. First, it's sadistic, with unnecessarily long and detailed stalking and torture at the beginning. There's no need to revel in the torment of the protagonist. Perhaps the author feels she has to show that she, too, can gross out a reader, just the way some male thriller writers do.

Second, the characters are thin, micro-thin, and deadly dull. The therapist doesn't sound real, nobody sounds real here, because the author has a terrible ear for dialogue. Try Jospeh Finder's Paranoia for a thriller with good dialogue and characters you can believe in.

Third, the plot twists are ridiculous. A rapist ends up in the same courtroom as the woman he raped, twelve years later, tried for a different crime? And then both of them are seeing the same therapist? Please! It only gets worse after that, and the author's conception of how serial killers work is way off-base. I can't give details because it would reveal too much; suffice it to say that when I ran the plot by psychologist friends who have studied serial killers, they found it highly implausible.

Fourth, the author can't create setting in the slightest. There's no sense of New York or Miami here, none at all. Think of how well Edna Buchanan does the latter, and Jim Fusilli does the former. Both of them can write rings around this author.

Fifth, the writing isn't just full of clichés and amateurish, it's atroocious and consistently unidiomatic. On page after page I found howlers, read them aloud to a mystery buff friend who asked, "Is English her native language?" This book cries out for editing. Why should thrillers be held to a lesser standard of writing than other novels? How can an editor let a character think he resents being treated as "a communal leper" or "the devil himself incarnate"? I could go on and on listing examples of solecisms and mangled prose. It's depressing that print reviewers and reviewers here are calling this book well-written; that shows how low standards have fallen.

Don't waste your money on this book, which is being marketed to death. The publisher should be ashamed of foisting such work on the public, but sad to say, it will probably do well since so few reviewers seem to care about good writing and solid characterizations.

Rating:
Summary: MOVE OVER MARTINI, HOFFMAN IS HERE NOW...
Review: RETRIBUTION. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an ARC copy of Hoffman's first novel. It's rare that a book can claim my complete attention to the point that I CANNOT put it down to go do something else. However, Hoffman's debut novel had me spellbound, reading non-stop until I'd reached the end.

If I could, I would gladly give this novel a ten-star rating. Hoffman draws from her experience as a former State Attorney for Florida, as well as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. This is where she acquired her credentials before she left the legal field to pursue writing murder/mystery stories. Which, I might add, she's gained a great deal of respect. Although both areas in the legal field are a great plus for Hoffman, that has nothing to do with her ability as a talented writer, which shines through like you wouldn't believe in this novel.

Hoffman begins her story in June 88 as Chloe Larsen, a struggling young law student living in NYC and studying her heart out to take the bar exam. She's also (she thinks) in love with a creep named Michael Decker that she'd met two summers before. She's hoping the date that she was about to have with Decker (their second anniversary) would leave her with an engagement ring and promise of marriage. Actually, by the time Hoffman finished describing this Decker character and his part in the novel, I absolutely hated the guy. As if being deeply disappointed by Decker's failure to show up in time for their theatre date wasn't bad enough, he later shows up to present Chloe with a beautiful, diamond-lined, heart-shaped necklace instead of an engagement ring she'd hoped for. Naturally, being the creep that he is, Decker tries every way in the world to get Chloe into bed that evening, but she's not game. Besides, she's faced with having to study for the upcoming bar exam she's about to take. All in all, it's just too much. So she sends Decker away. No doubt, Chloe later thinks, might have been her biggest mistake. But never mind. After Decker leaves and Chloe goes to bed, she's going to endure the most horrendous crime that can ever be imposed upon a woman. She's raped, cut to pieces, and left for dead...not to mention that she's now a barren woman. Chloe's whole life has changed from this point on.

Hoffman's description from the beginning of this story goes to a complete change in POV (point of view), which begins with Chapter #14 and the date of September 2000. She has changed her name to C.J. Townsend, and has now been employed for the past ten years with the State Attorney office in Florida. She has her act together now and has gained a great deal of respect as C. J. Townsend, Esq., Asst. Chief, her present position as a prosecuting attorney.

C.J. Townsend's lovelife certainly hasn't been anything to brag about, and she's still a single woman. But enter Dominick Falconetti, a Special Agent for the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement. He's a widower and he has more than a professional interest in C.J. Townsend. This guy is SHARP, in more ways than one. I dearly loved this character.

C.J. had gotten her life back together since her horrendous and unforgettable experience in NYC, until she's in the court room facing the man she's positive raped her, cut her to pieces, and then left her for dead...as well as barren.

It took a lot of counseling and a very long time for C.J. to get past the trauma of that horrendous night, and she's only human. She's expected to crumble after seeing her assailant in the courtroom, the man's she's now going to give her best shot at prosecuting for murder. But what does she do? Well, I'm not going to tell it, and that's for certain. I don't want to spoil the ending for readers who happen onto this new writer's talent.

This story weaves in and out so much, that it keeps the reader wondering, "What the hell can happen next?" I'm a big fan of romance, which I might add this story has just enough of. But Hoffman surpasses my greatest expectations as a new comer in the mystery/murder writing department. And what I like most, there aren't a lot characters in this novel that a reader has to keep up with, trying to remember who's who.

I can't wait for this author's next novel. I'll be the first to buy it as soon as it hits the shelves. If you love a good mystery/murder story, do yourself a favor and buy a copy of "Retribution". If I'm wrong on this one, and this novel doesn't climb all the way to the top as #1 on the NY best seller list, then I 'm going to be highly disappointed, and I'd like for someone to tell me why.

You go, Julianne! Right straight to the top, girl! I'll be watching you all the way.

Rating:
Summary: strong legal thriller
Review: Twelve years ago, Chloe was an average person worrying if she will pass the bar examination and hoping her boyfriend will propose to her. The night she thinks he is going to give her a ring; he gives her instead a diamond heart as an anniversary present. He wants to go up to her house but she is angry and tells him to leave her off at her apartment. When she wakes up in the middle of the night, a man wearing a clown costume rapes and tortures Chloe.

In the present, the serial killer who has raped, tortured, and killed ten blonde women ages eighteen to twenty five is caught with a dead body in the trunk by a rookie patrol officer in a routine traffic violation. Chloe, now going by the name of C.J. Townsend, is the prosecutor assigned the case. At the first hearing, she lays eyes on the face of William Robert Bantling and recognizes him as her rapist from his voice and a scar on his arm. She doesn't tell anyone that she should be excused. She decides to prosecute Robert seeking justice or is it retribution?

The new star in the legal horizon is Jilliane Hoffman if RETRIBUTION is any indication of her skills. If the answer is yes and more books as great as this follows, fans will discus her name along side of Patricia Cornwell, Linda Fairstein and Perri O'Shaugnessy. The characters are well developed (especially the villain and avenging angel), and the storyline is original with spellbinding action. The trial scenes are particularly fabulous and quite polished as RETRIBUTION is on the way to the bestseller lists.

Harriet Klausner