Book Review / Madman Walking by L.F. Robertson

Appellate lawyer Janet Moodie is called in to work on a post-conviction investigation on a sordid murder-for-hire case. The client is uncooperative, likely schizophrenic, although he's never let a psychiatrist near him long enough to get a diagnosis. 

Convicted of arranging the shooting of a drug dealer, under orders from the Aryan Brotherhood, Howard Henley is not an easy case, and even on death row he doesn't seem to understand the severity of his situation. It is up to Janet to discover just what was done and by whom, and to determine whether to risk putting her client on trial again...





Published:     15th May 2018
Publisher:  Titan Books
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 2, Janet Moodie
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

MY REVIEW

After reading and thoroughly enjoying this author's first book in this series (Two Lost Boys), I was really excited about digging into this book.  Yes, this is book 2 in a series but I will say that I don't think there is a need to read these in order if you wanted to pick this book up independently and not pick up the first book first.

In this story, we follow Janet Moodie who is a lawyer who after the death of her husband retreats to a 'cabin in the wilderness'  but doesn't cut off all life on the outside world as she continues to work as a lawyer and take on clients.  She then receives a call from an old lawyer friend who wants her to be the second lawyer in a case that he has picked up.  At first, this looks like a guy who is on death row and deserves to be but as we follow Janet and her fellow lawyer investigate this things are not what they seem.  Obviously, there is a lot that I could say but won't because of spoilers but what I will say was that this story was full of twists and turns and I had plenty of suspects going through the story.   For me, the best part of this story was finding out more about the legal system and processes when someone is on death row.

If I had to be picky, I would have loved to have had a bit more surprise and twists and turns that were out of the blue but that doesn't mean that I didn't really enjoy this story as much as I did.  I can't wait to pick up the next book in this series, or the next book from this author...

Blog Tour Book Review / Two Lost Boys by LF Robertson

 Janet Moodie has spent years as a death row appeals attorney. Overworked and recently widowed, she's had her fill of hopeless cases, and is determined that this will be her last. Her client is Marion 'Andy' Hardy, convicted along with his brother Emory of the rape and murder of two women. But Emory received a life sentence while Andy got the death penalty, labeled the ringleader despite his low IQ and Emory's dominant personality.


Convinced that Andy's previous lawyers missed mitigating evidence that would have kept him off death row, Janet investigates Andy's past. She discovers a sordid and damaged upbringing, a series of errors on the part of his previous counsel, and most worrying of all, the possibility that there is far more to the murders than was first thought. Andy may be guilty, but does he deserve to die?



Published:     16th May 2017
Publisher:  Titan Books
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher 

MY REVIEW

What I liked about this story...   This book could not have come at a better time, right in the middle of my 'I really want to read thriller style books' mood.  What I liked the most was actually following the case as it went along and discovering things as Janet was discovering them.  A lot of the time, to be honest, I had not guessed what might happen but sometime I did but that didn't matter.  This book definitely kept me on the edge of my seat for most of the book.  As most who know me know that I love a good book about secrets and this one fit right into that category.   The ending for me was brilliant, I had kind of suspected what would happen but loved to see it all play out.

What I didn't like about this story...  Although this is not technically a negative I am putting it here anyway because it is all I have to put in this section but I would have loved to have learnt more about Janet, more about her back story etc throughout the book as well as having the main story.