Look Again by Lisa Scottoline

Scottoline has another hit on her hands. Yes, it is not a Rosoto & Associates book but Scottoline has proven that she can step outside of her well known series and provide us with great work nontheless.

Ellen Gleeson is confronted with an adoptive parents worst nightmare when she sees her son's face on a "Have you seen this Child?" postcard. The age progressed image is that of a Florida boy called Timothy Braverman. The boy was kidnapped by a man that has a striking resemblance to the 'father' of her own adopted son. As a seasoned investigative reporter she cannot let the resemblance go and she finds herself jeopardizing her own career to followup on her suspicions even though the road can lead to heartache.

The tension in this story just seems to grow with every step Ellen takes closer to the truth and when you think that this story can go only one way, Scottoline throws us a curve ball out of no where and we end up sitting in the car staring off in space listening with bated breath to what is coming next.

If you didn't get it by my above statements let me spell it out: I loved this book! I could not turn off my iPod; I listened to it all in one day (which should not be a good thing since it was during a work day and then I had to go back and double check all my work).

If you don't know of Lisa Scottoline's work pick up anything in her backlist and you won't be disappointed but if you do, keep in mind that she writes a great ongoing series on a group of female attornies better known as Rosato & Associates so try to find one of her stand alone books (like this one!) so you don't fall into the middle of the series.

Grade: A
Format: Audiobook

Lady Killer by Lisa Scottoline

Lady Killer brings us back to Bennie Rosato's land where Mary DiNunzio is her star attorney and bringing in the bulk of the business for Rosato and Associates. Mary is a bit conflicted with her role in life. She has loved and lost, she wants to stay one of the neighborhood girls but her duties threaten her loyalties to the neighborhood and we see those ties seriously tested when Trish Gambone goes missing.

Trish had approached Mary out of the blue asking for legal advice because her boyfriend, Bobby was physically abusing her and she was scared for her life. Unfortunately there is just so much Mary could offer and when Trish refuses to go to the police her options are reduced to nothing. When Trish turns up missing Mary is raked by guilt for not being able to do more for her, but when The Mean Girls (Giulia, Missy and Yolanda, all of who made Mary's life miserable while attending St. Maria Goretti High) show up at her office her guilt goes into overdrive. She sets out to find Trish at all costs.

On the flip side those "loyal" neighborhood clients that are helping Mary align herself for a partnership (if Mary can ever develop enough nerve to ask Bennie) start distancing themselves from her because they have heard that she stiffed Trish in her most vulnerable time. Mary starts spending time with another outsider from the neighborhood, Anthony, the 'gay' son of one of the few neighbors sticking by her. It doesn't take long to discover that Anthony is not flying the rainbow colors and Mary finds herself once more conflicted about her feelings. She feels she is betraying her deceased husbands memories every time Anthony comes over to her parents house. Mary is a complete mess at this time.

Excellent installment in the Rosato & Associate series. Mary eventually shows she has a back bone but not after letting everyone and their brother stomp all over her. She runs the gambit searching for Trish putting up with hostile brothers, groping parents and especially her past. Seems that Bobby, Trish's abusive boyfriend was Mary's boyfriend too and she questions whether their life would have been different if fate had not stepped in the way and caused them to drift apart. We discover a very big secret Mary keeps from everyone which makes us appreciate her more for what she has gone through.

All this and sprinkle a bit of humor in the pot... we have a excellent read! Scottoline does not disappoint and even though this book has the recurring character from her previous novels the book can easily stand alone in the series as most of the other installments have.


Grade: A
Format: Audiobook

Running from the Law by Lisa Scottoline

Lisa never disappoints! Even in her bad days the worse she can do is a B. She reminds me of Linda Fairstein, Iris Johansen and Sandra Brown. All extraordinary in their art.
This was an older title of Scottoline which recently was released in Audiobook and I had the chance to listen to it.
The story is played in first person POV which was a bit different for me but I felt comfortable reading it because it really didn't feel like I was peering over the main characters shoulder and missing the other peoples reaction, which is my dislike for this POV.

Rita Morrone is a young lawyer who agrees to represent her lover's father, a federal judge, against a sexual harassment charge brought by his secretary. Although she has her own misgivings against the case, mostly due to her father's ethical judgments, she prepares to give it her best. During her interview with the plaintiff she discovers that the judge was not harassing the secretary but was having an affair with her. She realizes that to defend him she will have to expose the judge. That is, until the secretary is murdered and Finch, her client, becomes a murder suspect.

As she investigates the murder for the case, she realizes that someone has gone to great lengths to frame the judge. She also discovers that the Judge was not the only one having an affair with this woman. When there is an attempt on her father's life, Rita knows it's time to get to the bottom of things because she might be next.

This was a fast paced thriller that had you guessing at the killer until the very end. I never suspected the real killer. I absolutely love the Rita's father's poker buddies who help her along the way. They were a riot! Which is another thing that I really liked about the book. It was really funny. You would think murder and life threatening situations are no laughing matter but Rita's character was so witty and inventive that you HAD to laugh with her. One of Scottoline's best! (Until I get my hands on Lady Killer, LOL!)

Grade: A
Format: Audiobook

Dirty Blonde by Lisa Scottoline

I love Scottoline's courtroom suspense since it usually focuses on women as the main character.
In this book the main character is Cate Fante, who was recently appointed federal judge. She has been assigned to preside over a celebrity case where Mr Simone (a reknown producer) is accused of stealing the idea to his most recent hit from local lawyer who had pitched the idea to him.

Although Cate would like to rule in favor of Mr. Marz (the local lawyer), since it's clear that the ideas and storylines to the show had been stolen, the law is clear and she has to rule against him. This sets off a chainof events that finds Simone murdered and Marz killed, supposedly by his own hand with the same pistol that had killed Simone. Seems like an open and shut case except, one detective believes Cate did the killing or better said, hired an assasin to do the dirty work.

It seems our lady judge has one big ghost in her closet. She likes to go to seedy bars and pick up men for one night stands. She doesn't do it on a regular basis but the fact that the men are from the lowest spectrum of society could lead to ruination. And almost does.

When the truth somes out, after Russo (the detective) leaks it to the press, her life turns inside out. She finds herself running from a madman intent on killing her, trying to save her job and in her spare time, she is looking for the real killer since she is fairly certain that Marz had nothing to do with the murder of the producer and he was setup to take the fall because of the lawsuit he loss.

Although the book set a decent pace it seemed as if all the characters had been brushed over. We never get attached to anyone, not even Cate. Even though Scottoline gives us a glimpse into Cate's past nothing really explains her behavior or makes us believe that she really wants to be a judge. I was a bit disappointed in this book because Scottoline is an author of higher caliber than the work put out in this book. In the last chapter of the book we discover what happened to Cate's last one-night stand and it seemed as if the author put it there as a last attempt to tie a loose end and decided to use a shock me mentality which failed completely.

If you are looking for a quick, entertaining read... pick this one up, but if you are expecting the usual quality of Lisa Scotoline's books, skip it.

Grade: C
Format: Audiobook