The Literate Kitty

Even though I've been incredibly busy with work, I have been reading, so a few mini-reviews (all I had time for), of things I didn't want anyone to miss out on... The Gods of Guilt (Michael Connelly) Connelly's cool legal eagle, Mickey Haller (first seen in The Lincoln Lawyer , as the attorney who conducts a major part of his work from the backseat of a chauffeured Lincoln Continental), is back for another case, this one involving someone from his past—a former client he'd befriended along the way, who used to be a prostitute, before Mickey helped her find another life path... or so he thought .  Turns out, the ex-pro was still active, and something he did may have just gotten her killed.  It's when someone else dies—again, because of Mickey ( at least, sort of) —that the story really gains its oomph, though, as we watch guilt eating away at a man struggling to cope with all the repercussions of his actions.    Like previous entries in the series, Conne...

I’ll never be a trial lawyer, yet have a fair idea of what they go through. (It’s well-trod ground in countless books, shows, and movies, which has to count for something.)  Nor have I had jury duty—despite being on the receiving end of a couple of summons—but have little difficulty putting myself in a jurist’s shoes.  And, although I’ve never been (nor ever will be, knock on wood ) the defendant in a court case, it’s easy enough to imagine how awfully fraught that situation must be.  Being the judge, though—the mysterious, all-powerful figure who sports those flowing robes and rules like royalty in his/her courtroom—well, picturing just what that’s like is another matter.  Until now, that is. Enter newcomer Michael Ponsor into the fray of legal thrillers with his stellar debut, The Hanging Judge . ~ / ~ / ~ / ~ / ~ It’s just another ordinary morning in an urban neighborhood in Holyoke, Massachusetts... until, that is, a drive-by shooting leaves a dru...

To what ends will a mother go for her child? Are there lines she cannot, will not cross... or does the mother-child bond trump all? That's one of the primary questions at the very heart of NY Times best-selling author Nancy Taylor Rosenberg's latest legal thriller, My Lost Daughter . ***** Lily Forrester is definitely one of those "bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan" kind of women. But, after spending the last twenty-eight years working overtime, trying to make a good life for herself and her daughter—climbing up the ladder from prosecutor to superior court judge in the competitive California legal system, then trying to keep the family afloat while her alcoholic husband's career  languished—Lily is fully aware that she hasn't exactly been the model mother ... and that her daughter, Shana, has always resented her for it.  The rift between them has continued to grow over the years, turning Shana into a spoiled, bitter young woman.  So, when Lily h...

Ah, Winter. How I love your cold, bracing winds and the snow you (hopefully) deposit in substantial amounts during your three-or-so-month reign. You make me feel so invigorated, and you give me a reason to own all those warm sweaters and cool boots.  Of course, when you’re still leaving the white stuff around in April—as you occasionally do—my love affair with you becomes somewhat diminished.  In the middle of summer, though, with temps hovering in the mid-90s? I love you, Sweet Winter, I truly do. So, when a book set in Toronto primarily during the winter finally made its way to the top of my TBR pile? It was a happy July day for me.  That it’s a legal thriller was just more cause for celebration, since it had been awhile since a good courtroom drama found its way into my eager paws. (The dust-jacket blurbs from others authors whom I regularly read didn’t hurt, either.) Robert Rotenberg’s Old City Hall begins bright and early one blustery December morning, with an elde...