Content Warning
Subjects of rape, murder, and gangs
Plot Summary
Peter O’Mahoney’s unstoppable criminal defense attorney, Joe Hennessy, is back to fight against the criminal justice system in a corrupted battle of cops and gangs. Hennessy returns to Charleston, South Carolina for more intense courtroom action. He unexpectedly runs across information on the unsolved murder of his son. Desperate to receive this information, Hennessy is demanded to take on Alicia Fenton’s murder trial case, in which she claims self-defense for the execution of her sexually and physically abusive stepfather. In a final venture to reveal his son’s killer after 20 years of restless grief, Hennessy attempts everything he can to prove 18-year-old Alicia Fenton’s innocence through self-defense. Will Hennessy live up to the task? Or will he fail his son once again?
My Take On The Southern Killer
Most people, including myself, may turn their back on any genre that includes the words “legal” or “lawyer” because in many cases they think it will be boring. Unless you’re a lawyer yourself, many people don’t jump out of their seats in excitement for a trial hearing. However, I can attest that I could not put this novel down, especially during some of the trial scenes. Joe Hennessy single-handedly changed my perspective on the stereotypical tedious legal thriller genre.
I found this novel easy to read with captivating plot features and a lovable protagonist in Joe Hennessy. O’Mahoney did an incredible job developing Hennessy into an attention-grabbing and compelling character to follow throughout this legal thriller series. I jumped right into the middle of the series without any knowledge of the previous two novels and was able to follow along with the plot without any issues. There is just enough background information for the reader to get caught up, yet the information has compelled me to invest in the previous two novels to learn Joe Hennessy’s origins.
This novel’s characters were fully developed and were tightly woven into the plot’s structure, which I enjoyed. O’Mahoney also creatively divided the investigative work up between Joe Hennessy and his Australian private investigator, Barry Locket. I loved this Batman and Robin legal spinoff, as Hennessy couldn’t complete his complicated investigative work without Locket’s help. I also felt Hennessy’s determined characterization meshed perfectly with Barry’s Australian rigidness. Also, you can’t go wrong with the addition of an Aussie.
The plot had its ups and downs. The notable ups had me on the edge of my seat during the ongoing investigation into the corrupt nature of police officers and Alicia Fenton’s claim of self-defense in the murder of her stepfather. I also felt that there were random side cases that were not necessary for the sake of a fluid plotline. However, I will say that O’Mahoney did a fantastic job at tying all of these elongated plot mysteries together into the conclusion of the main case. With that being said, the conclusion of the plot gives you no other option but to follow Joe Hennessy into his next trial. The plot downs mainly consisted of repetitiveness and predictability. Throughout the novel, stale points within the plot had me questioning whether I was supposed to get mad at the prosecution’s repetitiveness. There were also points where I felt like I was supposed to get excited about finding out the plot twist; however, the previous chapter set up the reveal so much that it spoiled the plot twist. Overall, the predictability and repetition throughout the middle of the plot were relatively minor. I especially forgot about the blandness of those features in the ending chapters, since they were packed with twists and turns that had me pacing back and forth. Let’s just say there is a reason I have no other option than to follow Joe Hennessy on his revenge tour.
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars