Rating: 
Summary: Not a great book
Review: Despite the uneven writing I perservered to the end due to the endorsement of the book by Janet Evanovich. Although the book is advertised as a story of a young corporate female attorney who finds herself doing criminal defense work with a kind of down and out lawyer, she is the least interesting of the characters. The male characters are truly interesting. The story is the usual legal whodunit, but despite that, I still wanted to know whodunit enough to finish the book. Terry Devane is a pseudonym, and if I had to guess this award winning writer's true identity I would guess the author is Jeremiah Healy owing to the piles opf praise he gives to the New England School of Law where he taught and perhaps still does. Wait for the paperback on this one.
Rating:
Summary: to tell the truth
Review: exasperating, slapdash style abounds in incomplete and dangling sentences. pace lurches like a funicular. the main characters all have broken hearts but combative spirits. some courtroom drama. average.
Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: I picked this book up based on the description inside the jacket. For a series it's a good start. I'd grade a little harsher if we were dealing with a standalone book. The story is intriguing, the characters are interesting and have plenty of room for growth, and the 300 pages were an easy, but good read. As for the guess that "Terry Devane" is Jeremiah Healy,it never occured to me while I was reading it but now that I think about it the style felt very familiar -- especially the bits where one of the characters constantly hears the voice of a former teacher a la John Cuddy's guidance from his dead wife.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Cast of Characters
Review: If what you want from a thriller, even a legal thriller, is fast-paced action, a great plot and a twist at the end, Uncommon Justice may not be your fare. But if you delight in chracters you can care about, there are few legal thrillers better than this first entrant under the pseudonym Terry Devane by a best-selling author(Jeremiah Healy?).
The attorney-protagonist, Mairead O'Claire, is young, an orphan, has a skin disfigurement and is so spunky you want to cheer for her. The attorney she hooks up with after quitting a stuffy if prestigious job, Sheldon Gold, lives with sorrow wrapped around his heart. Their secretary, Billie Sunday, is tough, plucky, and surviving her own tragedy. Their investigator, Pontific Murizzi, is equally memorable with his own secret and his loyalty. And the defendant, Alpha, accused of murdering a fellow homeless man, is as intriguing as he is devious. This character-driven novel centers around who really committed the murder of which Alpha is accused. There is some excellent courtroom tension and while much of it seems no surprise, there is a most satisfying twist at the end.
Please give us more of Mairhead and friends, Mr. Devane.
Rating: 
Summary: A new Series is Born
Review: Just a few months into her career as an associate lawyer at Boston's Jaynes and Ward, Mairead O'Clare finds herself totally bored. When her boss catches her daydreaming during a "seminar", he not only lectures her, but also warns her that her future (and perhaps the Western World) is at stake. Feeling no remorse, Mairead already loathes her role in the firm so she goes to the Commons to think about her future. There she meets criminal lawyer Sheldon Gold, who offers her a job with an office and lots of hard work at much less pay. After quitting her current job, Mairead accepts Sheldon's employment offer. He immediately sends her to the courthouse on a criminal case where they will represent Alpha, a homeless person accused of murdering a peer Old Man River. Alpha is intelligent and friendly, but refuses to fully cooperate with his attorney. As Mairead continues to obtain information, she gains an on the job education that thrills her even if the case is proving difficult due to the attitude of her slick client. UNCOMMON JUSTICE is a criminal legal tale that demonstrates why author Terry Devane is an award-winning writer. The key characters which include Sheldon, Mairead, their office assistant, and Alpha seem so genuine readers will believe their part of the case. The who-done-it seems obvious, but the twists and turns of the story line prove that there is more to justice than the obvious. Sub-genre fans have an uncommon treat with this intelligently written novel. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic legal thiller
Review: Just a few months into her career as an associate lawyer at Boston's Jaynes and Ward, Mairead O'Clare finds herself totally bored. When her boss catches her daydreaming during a "seminar", he not only lectures her, but also warns her that her future (and perhaps the Western World) is at stake. Feeling no remorse, Mairead already loathes her role in the firm so she goes to the Commons to think about her future. There she meets criminal lawyer Sheldon Gold, who offers her a job with an office and lots of hard work at much less pay. After quitting her current job, Mairead accepts Sheldon's employment offer. He immediately sends her to the courthouse on a criminal case where they will represent Alpha, a homeless person accused of murdering a peer Old Man River. Alpha is intelligent and friendly, but refuses to fully cooperate with his attorney. As Mairead continues to obtain information, she gains an on the job education that thrills her even if the case is proving difficult due to the attitude of her slick client. UNCOMMON JUSTICE is a criminal legal tale that demonstrates why author Terry Devane is an award-winning writer. The key characters which include Sheldon, Mairead, their office assistant, and Alpha seem so genuine readers will believe their part of the case. The who-done-it seems obvious, but the twists and turns of the story line prove that there is more to justice than the obvious. Sub-genre fans have an uncommon treat with this intelligently written novel. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Great Beginning...Then Dribbles Off...
Review: The start of this book was a delight and I liked most of the characters. Neither the murder case nor the suspect were interesting enough for me; I found no reason to care. The parts of the book having to do with a homosexual relationahip were distasteful to me and unnecessary to the story. I found the plot hard to believe; I want to "go along" with the author and his premise but it was too much of a stretch in this novel. In more capable hands this could have been a really good book. As it was I read to the end and closed the book with relief that it was over.
Rating:
Summary: A Most Enjoyable Mystery
Review: This is a terrific book. The best one I've read in quite a while. I look forward to the next book written by Terry Devane. Hopefully, it will continue to have the same main characters.
Rating:
Summary: The Crazy Irish
Review: Uncommon Justice by Terry Devane I liked this book although the main character, Meiread O'Clare may use a few references that are out of my ream. But, since Meiread O'Clare is a young Irish lawyer who plays hockey for a hobby anything goes. Meiread had left a position with a partnership firm where she felt that she was stuck in `dung'. She accepted a job offer from a guy she met setting on a park bench feeding pigeons. This was her first job in the real world with a real tough woman with a big heart for a secretary and a boss with marriage problems. She was determined to be a good lawyer. Then she was assigned to defend a crazy Irishman who said he was innocent of murder but who did not want to be defended. It gets worse! For her first case she is defending a cave dweller who lived along the Charles River in a riverbank cave shored with scrap lumber who has been charged with a murder. He is also a well read Irishman, and that is about all that is know about him. He was self named Alpha and did not want to be defended by anyone? When he was picked up by the police looked like he had not had a bath, haircut or shave for years. He smelled to heavens, but luckily the police had cut off his hair and beard and made him take bath before Meiread met him. His club, `shillelagh' or walking stick had been used to kill another cave dweller who lived close by. Alpha was an educated Irishman and a likeable one with his crazy sense of humor. Meiread did not know how to take him when she found the jail and her client with help from her boss. She liked him, but he made her mad. The book keeps the pace going full blast with some believable characters, very good and very evil until the end. This author is strange to read until you get into his book and get synchronized with his characters. Then you will like is style of writing. It's crazy whimsical Irish. This book is better than average. I'll give it three and a half stars for the Irish feeling. If you think this review is messed up, wait until you read the book. Roger Lee
Rating:
Summary: The Crazy Irish
Review: Uncommon Justice by Terry Devane I liked this book although the main character, Meiread O'Clare may use a few references that are out of my ream. But, since Meiread O'Clare is a young Irish lawyer who plays hockey for a hobby anything goes. Meiread had left a position with a partnership firm where she felt that she was stuck in 'dung'. She accepted a job offer from a guy she met setting on a park bench feeding pigeons. This was her first job in the real world with a real tough woman with a big heart for a secretary and a boss with marriage problems. She was determined to be a good lawyer. Then she was assigned to defend a crazy Irishman who said he was innocent of murder but who did not want to be defended. It gets worse! For her first case she is defending a cave dweller who lived along the Charles River in a riverbank cave shored with scrap lumber who has been charged with a murder. He is also a well read Irishman, and that is about all that is know about him. He was self named Alpha and did not want to be defended by anyone? When he was picked up by the police looked like he had not had a bath, haircut or shave for years. He smelled to heavens, but luckily the police had cut off his hair and beard and made him take bath before Meiread met him. His club, 'shillelagh' or walking stick had been used to kill another cave dweller who lived close by. Alpha was an educated Irishman and a likeable one with his crazy sense of humor. Meiread did not know how to take him when she found the jail and her client with help from her boss. She liked him, but he made her mad. The book keeps the pace going full blast with some believable characters, very good and very evil until the end. This author is strange to read until you get into his book and get synchronized with his characters. Then you will like is style of writing. It's crazy whimsical Irish. This book is better than average. I'll give it three and a half stars for the Irish feeling. If you think this review is messed up, wait until you read the book. Roger Lee
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