Tag: Los Angeles DA

The Competition by Marcia Clark

September 23, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

Rachel Knight’s 4th outing seems to be business as usual; the familiar characters are investigating a Colombine – style shooting at the local high school. Two students come in with guns blazing during an assembly and wreak havoc, and the body count is high. Knight, Bailey, and Graden attempt to track down the shooters, but as soon as they get a lead, things change and confuse the trail. Our favorite gang banger, Luis Revelo, makes an obligatory appearance also. The more I read about him, the more I wish Clark would give him a bigger part in her books.

This story line was very interesting, bringing in psychology and referencing other tragedies such as Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook. I think the book could’ve been about 70 pages shorter, as Clark added twist after twist and it started to annoy me. Without spoiling things, all I can say is that the last 80 pages dragged, and then all of a sudden sped up, as if she just wrote any damn thing just to be finished. Pretty much everyone becomes a red herring, and I lost track of how many times they “solved” the case and then it twisted again. I just kept rolling my eyes and turning pages.

All that aside, The Competition is a solid book for Rachel Knight fans. Looks like I’ll be continuing to read through the series.

Want your own copy? [easyazon_link asin=”0316220973″ locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”yes” popups=”yes”]You can get it here![/easyazon_link]

Guilt By Degrees by Marcia Clark

September 8, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

In this second outing for Los Angeles DA Rachel Knight, she becomes the champion for a homeless man that is murdered in broad daylight. No one is interested in taking the case, so she steps up. The case quickly becomes a hotbed of intrigue, as Knight discovers that it shares aspects of another case–that of a murdered policeman. In between eating at every local restaurant, and drinking into the night, Rachel and trusty sidekick Bailey uncover layer after nasty layer. No one is who they appear to be, and there is a character that has potential for an appearance in another future book.

The plot is interesting. Less interesting is the constant dialogue between Rachel and Bailey about food, booze, and calories. I’m just skimming over those parts to get to the juicy stuff. Clark is a good writer, but spends too much time filling the book with descriptions of clothes and food. It’s not enough to turn me off, however, and I’ll be reading the next two books in the series.

Want to get a copy for yourself? You can pick it up here.

Guilt By Association by Marcia Clark

August 5, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is number one in a series about fictitious Los Angeles DA Rachel Knight, who bends the law just a bit to help solve crimes. The cast of regulars wasn’t too hard to keep up with, and their personalities were different enough that I didn’t get them confused. That is a win. Second, the plot held my interest (her colleague is found violently dead under dubious circumstances) and it was mostly plausible. Her cop friends take her along to question suspects, and she uses HER contacts in the Justice Building to find short cuts and get inside information.

Her residence is in a high priced hotel, and there are a lot of scenes where she and her cronies are getting room service, boozing up at the hotel bar, and living luxuriously. This woman does NOT cook at home. In fact, I was annoyed at a plot point that had her car vandalized and her subsequent bemoaning the lack of funds to repair it. I actually said out loud to my Nook “Maybe if you didn’t go to fancy restaurants so much you could save some cash! Nuke a frozen dinner for god’s sake!”

Sumptuous dining aside, this debut novel had minimal courtroom drama, lots of sleazy and colorful characters, and was written smoothly, with wisecracks and pathos alike. Author Marcia Clark was the lead prosecutor in the OJ Simpson trial and knows the inside scoop. Think John Grisham, but less down-homey and more fast action. I’m curious to see which characters reappear in book #2. As of this writing there are four Rachel Knight books, and editions marked 1.5, 1.6, and 2.5. Number 4 was published this year, and I hope to get to it in a timely fashion. I’m really excited to find another series with a lead character I want to follow, a la John Sandford and Lee Child. No smarmy girl protagonist here; Knight is a strong woman. This one is a “gimme” for sure.