Rating: 
Summary: Local cops and DA versus the FBI !
Review: This is the first J F Freedman book I had read but by now I have also read The Disappearance. If I had not read this book first, I might not be so interested in going backward into this author's work! I found it to be a page-turner, and was thrilled with the expert team the special DA pulls in to assist in his investigation of the circumstances. There are a lot of plot twists as well as many additional interests from the involvement of a native American tribe, a suspected drug felon, the DEA and other local versus national agencies. The denouement was never as obvious as in the Disappearance so I gave it an A+!
Rating: 
Summary: Another Mystery
Review: This is the second book I have read of this author. This novel is basically a mystery mixed in with some courtroom scenes. This is a classic mystery in which the reader doesn't know who the killer is until the last chapter. Luke, very successful criminal defense attorney suddenly receives a call from Nora, an old law school friend. Nora happens to be the District Attorney of Muir County in Northern California. She convinces Luke to take on a temporary assignment as a special prosecutor to find out and prosecute the person who has killed Juarez, the drug lord. Juarez was in custody of the Drug Enforcement Administration after the Agency raided Juarez's compound in the Muir County. Luke recruits a team and conducts an independent investigation. All the circumstantial evidence points to Jerome, the agent-in-charge of the raid. Jerome hires a high-profile defense attorney to represent him in court. Most of the book follows Luke's investigation and the subsequent courtroom battle. The ending as usual is a surprising one. * Character Development: Freedman spends a fair amount of time developing Luke's character. In fact, he is practically the only person in the book that receives any serious attention from the author. Luke could be a very likable character. Unfortunately, the author seems unable to make up his mind whether Luke is a super-hero or a once very successful and now very tired attorney who wants no more glory. Freedman spends the first few chapters describing Luke's heroic action where he single-handedly protects all the people trapped in a bar by killing two bank robbers who hold those people hostage. At the same time, Luke is described as a very family-oriented man who doesn't want any more high-profile cases. He has seen it all. Therefore, he started his one-man firm which handles only small but highly-billed cases. I was left with a feeling of not knowing what kind of character Luke really is. Score: 3. * Pacing: For the most part, the pace is rather fast. It starts out a little slow, then the pace picks up and gets quite exciting in the middle. Score: 3.5. * Plot: The plot is the classic whodunit. Unfortunately, Freedman does not develop as good a plot as he could. There are times that the investigators are just chasing phantom leads. I realize that real-life detective works are quite boring. But this is a novel, so I do not expect a lot of details describing routine grunt work. A top-notch writer will certainly know how to allocate space between key events and minor events. Score: 2.5. * Storytelling: The chapter's length is uneven and generally quite long. It certainly shows that this is not a top-notch novel if I feel the chapters are too long. Freedman also has a habit of writing long and complex sentences. This is in sharp contrast to James Patterson, who likes to write in simple sentences and short chapters. I obviously enjoy the latter's writing style. This novel is written in first person with a lot of conversation. Conversation could be very powerful writing if used properly, especially in courtroom scenes. However, the author uses too much conversation in the book and, as a result, it slows down the pace. I just don't think this type of writing style fits well in a fast-paced thriller. In addition, this book would be much better if it were 10 to 20% shorter, especially the beginning part which glorifies Luke's heroic event. Fortunately, the pace is relatively fast, which offsets some of the above mentioned negatives. Score: 2.5.
* Reviewer's Lean: When I tallied up the score, it came to only 2.9. I think this book deserves a 3.5 for the simple reason that I want to find out the ending. Therefore, I'm adding half a point and rounding it up to 3.5.
Rating:
Summary: Another Mystery
Review: This is the second book I have read of this author. This novel is basically a mystery mixed in with some courtroom scenes. This is a classic mystery in which the reader doesn't know who the killer is until the last chapter. Luke, very successful criminal defense attorney suddenly receives a call from Nora, an old law school friend. Nora happens to be the District Attorney of Muir County in Northern California. She convinces Luke to take on a temporary assignment as a special prosecutor to find out and prosecute the person who has killed Juarez, the drug lord. Juarez was in custody of the Drug Enforcement Administration after the Agency raided Juarez's compound in the Muir County. Luke recruits a team and conducts an independent investigation. All the circumstantial evidence points to Jerome, the agent-in-charge of the raid. Jerome hires a high-profile defense attorney to represent him in court. Most of the book follows Luke's investigation and the subsequent courtroom battle. The ending as usual is a surprising one. •Character Development: Freedman spends a fair amount of time developing Luke's character. In fact, he is practically the only person in the book that receives any serious attention from the author. Luke could be a very likable character. Unfortunately, the author seems unable to make up his mind whether Luke is a super-hero or a once very successful and now very tired attorney who wants no more glory. Freedman spends the first few chapters describing Luke's heroic action where he single-handedly protects all the people trapped in a bar by killing two bank robbers who hold those people hostage. At the same time, Luke is described as a very family-oriented man who doesn't want any more high-profile cases. He has seen it all. Therefore, he started his one-man firm which handles only small but highly-billed cases. I was left with a feeling of not knowing what kind of character Luke really is. Score: 3. •Pacing: For the most part, the pace is rather fast. It starts out a little slow, then the pace picks up and gets quite exciting in the middle. Score: 3.5. •Plot: The plot is the classic whodunit. Unfortunately, Freedman does not develop as good a plot as he could. There are times that the investigators are just chasing phantom leads. I realize that real-life detective works are quite boring. But this is a novel, so I do not expect a lot of details describing routine grunt work. A top-notch writer will certainly know how to allocate space between key events and minor events. Score: 2.5. •Storytelling: The chapter's length is uneven and generally quite long. It certainly shows that this is not a top-notch novel if I feel the chapters are too long. Freedman also has a habit of writing long and complex sentences. This is in sharp contrast to James Patterson, who likes to write in simple sentences and short chapters. I obviously enjoy the latter's writing style. This novel is written in first person with a lot of conversation. Conversation could be very powerful writing if used properly, especially in courtroom scenes. However, the author uses too much conversation in the book and, as a result, it slows down the pace. I just don't think this type of writing style fits well in a fast-paced thriller. In addition, this book would be much better if it were 10 to 20% shorter, especially the beginning part which glorifies Luke's heroic event. Fortunately, the pace is relatively fast, which offsets some of the above mentioned negatives. Score: 2.5.
•Reviewer's Lean: When I tallied up the score, it came to only 2.9. I think this book deserves a 3.5 for the simple reason that I want to find out the ending. Therefore, I'm adding half a point and rounding it up to 3.5.
Rating:
Summary: OKAY....But "The Disappearance" is much better...
Review: This is the second story about Luke Garrison, the former DA from Santa Barbara, who is a again pulled from his tiny law practice to handle a huge case that the whole country is watching. The case centers around a major drug kingpin who is killed while in the custody of the DEA after an attempted drug bust went bad. I think Freedman makes a critical mistake in this book, in that the entire story revolves around a very bad guy who it's really hard to care about. If you can't care about the central cause for the story, then it's also hard to care about who killed him and why. It was an OK read. The characters, as always, are very well developed. There are also some sub plots that creep in and out of the story that are good. There are just too many dead spots in between the parts that interested me. If you like Freedman, it's worthy of reading. If you've never read Freedman, check out "The Disappearance" first. It's a much better book, and will give a feel for what he's really capable of.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Read
Review: This was the first Freedman novel for me. I have since read the Disappearance and have just started Against the Wind. Above the Law was a great story, very suprising, suspensful, couldn't put it down. However, (and I know this is not Mr. Freedman's fault), there were MANY errors throughout the book. I was amazed. I have never read a book with more than one or two errors, but this had at least a dozen, maybe more. It didn't deter me from liking the story or reading another book by this author, but it was extremely frustrating. I didn't notice any in The Disappearance, but I did notice it was by a different publisher.
Rating:
Summary: A COMPLICATED COURTROOM THRILLER
Review: When a DEA drug raid goes bad, leaving several agents, as well as a top informant dead, Luke Garrison is called in to investigate what went wrong. Luke knows the case is a tough one, for exposing what went wrong will bring to light enemies in very high places. Determined to get answers, Luke will risk his life, to find out the truth. "Above The Law" starts out with a bang, and then becomes too complicated to enjoy. With the introduction of too many characters, and a much too complicated plot, the book gets confusing, and boring. J.F. Freedman is a very good writer (check out any of his previous novels), but his usual fast-pacing, and suspenseful plot are missing in this book. Nick Gonnella
Rating:
Summary: Riveting!
Review: When a DEA raid on a drug baron's wilderness compound goes bad with casualties on both sides, there's going to be hell to pay. The federal agents had explicit orders to capture Reynaldo Juarez alive, so how did he escape custody only to end up with a bullet through his brain? Santa Barbara attorney Luke Garrison is brought in as Special Prosecutor by his old law school friend, Nora Ray, now the local D.A. As Luke begins building an airtight case against DEA agent Sterling Jerome for Juarez's murder, troubling questions arise about the local sheriff, sudden wealth on the nearby Indian reservation, the veracity of some of the evidence against Jerome, etc. And there's something about Nora... This is a great novel encompassing elements of mystery, suspense, police procedural, and courtroom drama, with a shocker of an ending.
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