The Conviction
Review: Attorney David Sloane must defend his own son against excessive charges levied against him by a rural judge, who rules his county much like he rules his courtroom, in Conviction, the fifth book in this series by Robert Dugoni.
Sloane's step-son Jake Carter is still living the nightmare of having witnessed the murder of his mother. Sullen, ill-tempered and angry, he has had several recent brushes with the law. His biological father is at a loss as to what to do, so when Sloane's friend Tom Molia, a homicide detective, suggests that Sloane and Jake accompany him and his son TJ on a camping trip, Sloane jumps at the chance … even if Jake is less than enthusiastic. It isn't long, however, before Jake and TJ are trying to buy alcohol and cigarettes from a local store, using fake IDs. The IDs are confiscated, but Jake and TJ have a plan to get their IDs back while also getting back at the store owner: simply break in, retrieve their IDs and lift a few "essentials" while they're at it. Unfortunately, Jake and TJ are caught. But before their fathers even know they're missing, a local judge has tried, convicted, and sentenced the boys to a detention center in the middle of nowhere. Sloane and Molia try to get them released but all their legal attempts are rebuffed. Their only option now is an illegal attempt, breaking into the detention compound to free their sons, who they believe are not prisoners but captives.
Conviction presents a fascinating, and most compelling, twist on the typical legal thriller … and most assuredly thrilling it is. The pace is swift, but takes important and well spent time out to develop a couple of key relationships: one between the two boys, sons of successful, sometimes larger than life fathers; and one between the two fathers, who agonize over the situation their sons are in all the while conscious of the irony that they are willing to break the law — and possibly lose their lives — in order to preserve it. This is an exceptional novel, among the best in this series.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Conviction.
Acknowledgment: Simon & Schuster provided a copy of The Conviction for this review.
Review Copyright © 2012 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Selected reviews of other mysteries by this author … Bodily Harm Touchstone (Hardcover), May 2010 ISBN-13: 9781416592969; ISBN-10: 1416592962 My Sister's Grave Thomas & Mercer (Trade Paperback), November 2014 ISBN-13: 9781477825570; ISBN-10: 1477825576
Location(s) referenced in The Conviction: California
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The Conviction by Robert Dugoni — A David Sloane Mystery
Publisher: Touchstone
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-1-4516-0672-0
Publication Date: June 2012
List Price: $25.00
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Page Author: Lance Wright Site Publisher: Mysterious Reviews
Mysterious Reviews is a Division of The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and a Business Unit of the Omnimystery Family of Mystery Websites
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