<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Masterful literary insight
Review: From attorney to writer in one magnificent stroke, this man captures the reader in the first sentence. As a defense attorney, he is well versed in the skill of sinking his teeth in and not letting go. His books are his courtroom where he flourishes. As a forensic professional myself, I could not find one instance where the prose, dialogue or terminology missed it's mark. Patricia Cornwell was the preview and William Coughlin is the standing ovation!
Rating: 
Summary: Slow, slow, slow
Review: I expected a true thriller. Scott Turow had said "Vintage Coughlin. Sharp, tight and full of suspense." I found this book to be none of these. It took forever to get started and once it got going the outcome was predictable and offered no suspense.
Rating: 
Summary: Coughlin is among the best
Review: I have read a number of Coughlin's books. Some are better than others, but this one proves again, as do his other novels, that Coughlin is among the best of the lawyer-novel authors. His plots are always interesting and developed; his writing is very good; there is humor and sophistication to a degree that is rare in this genre.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a complete false interpretation of my Father's work
Review: My Father William J. Coughlin, who died at the early age of 62, did not write this book. Although the publisher wants you to believe he wrote and finished this book on his death bed. This is completely untrue. The rights were sold by a family member to the publisher and another writer from the west coast was hired to write this. My father had a great idea regarding a story he wanted to write, but there is not one parargraph in this entire book that my Father wrote. The publisher is just trying to sell you on the name and his success from his previous novels. If you would like to read a couple of very good books William J. Coughlin did write: Try "Shadow of a Doubt" or : "Death Penalty"
Rating: 
Summary: Evil and innocence
Review: Recovering alcoholic attorney is involved in two different cases. In one he is representing assistant police chief who's accused of stealing money used to pay drug informants. The charges seem to be political in nature. In the other, he is called into to represent various suspects being questioned in murders of seven year old children. The child murders cause him to question God although he is a lapsed Catholic and also cause him to slip in his alcohol recovery program. In the end, He's able to vindicate the police chief and secrets of the police chief's past are revealed. In the other, he discovers who the child-murderer is (really not too hard to figure) and confronts him.
Rating:
Summary: "Only God can invent such stories" (Page 424)
Review: This is one of the finest novels I've ever read. While at one point I may have given "The Judgment" only four stars, I quickly decided against the score. Coughlin may or may be the author, however, I surely wish I knew who wrote this fine story of innocence and struggle.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not great?3 ½ stars
Review: This is the first book by Coughlin that I have read. It was engaging and enjoyable but not a pageturner. Coughlin spins two parallel but unrelated stories through the book. This leaves the reader to wonder if the two story lines will come together in the end or remain separate vehicles that develop the main character, Charles Sloan. As the novel progresses in a somewhat meandering fashion, the reader comes to know Sloan, who is a lawyer of keen mind and thought process, a recovering alcoholic, and, at times, a tortured soul. The story is able to hold the reader's attention but the ending is rather predictable. The story is written in the first person perspective of Sloan, much like the Paul Mandriani novels from Steve Martini. Personally, I will seek out a Martini novel before I again reach for Couglin.
<< 1 >>
| 
