James Scott Bell
Blind Justice (2000)
Author: James Scott Bell
Genre: Thriller (Legal/Christian)
Plot Summary:
Howie Patino, a mildly mentally impaired adult, claims that the devil made him kill his wife. It is up to Jake Denney, an alcoholic lawyer, to try to get his client away from being sentenced with first degree murder. In order to do this Jake tries to find out more about the past of the wife and the people in the town. His friend, Trip, and Howie's sister repeatedly attempt to show him that his drinking is not only hurting his performance on this case, but is also messing up his whole life. Things go from bad to worse when the Chief District Attorney of the county decides that he will try the case. Jake suspects that there is more to the DA's position then he is willing to reveal. Eventually Howie is convicted of murdering his wife and is sent to prison. SPOILER: After Jake loses the case he goes on a drinking binge and gets into an auomobile accident. Howie's sister, Lindsey, brings him Pensees by Blaise Pascal. Having nother better to do Jake begins reading and finds his thoughts about God and the order of the universe changing. When he is released from the hospital he meets up with Lindsey, who tells him that she believes that the owner of the local vineyard has something to do with the case against her brother. The break into his property and discover the owner does indeed know something and wants them to stay out of his life. Jake realizes that something else is happening and believes that some sort of Statanic cult activity is occuring. He goes to the District Attorney, who agrees to go with him to the house of the vineyard owner. Once there, the true identity of the killer is discovered and justice is brought about, although not in the way that most would expect.
Geographical Setting: Hinton, CA
Time Period: Present (2000)
Appeal Characteristics:
This book is a very good legal thriller. It has a quick pace, with varying tones of darkness and even a little humor thrown in. Unlike some characters in novels with a Christian theme, the characters are true to life. They have flaws and idiosyncracies that help the reader see them for who they are. The story is told in first person from the viewpoint of the lawyer, Jake. It is action oriented, with much dialog, which helps with the quick pacing of the story. The Christian message of redemption plays a role and is another storyline that is woven in. James Bell's style of writing is direct and to the point, without losing good descriptions of characters and places. He describes the location of various places in present day California with the knowledge of one familiar with the area. The author's explanations of legal techniques speak to his being a lawyer in the past. This book was a finalist for the Christy Award (Suspense Catagory) in 2001.
Read-alikes: Those who wiould like to read more by James Scott Bell certainly have many choices. He has written 19 other fiction titles. The most popular title appears to be Presumed Guilty. In the novel Ron Hamilton, a popular minister and author of a best seller about the evils of pornography is accused of murding an X-rated movie star. His wife, Dallas, needs to decide if she will believe him or not. This book has the same action, legal twists, and similar characters to Blind Justice. Storm Surge by Rene Gutteridge, picks up the story of Mick Kline, a former FBI agent, who investigates the claims that someone has been falsely imprisoned, like Howie in Blind Justice, and also has a Christian storyline with believable characters. While Storm Surge is the third in a series, the author intended them to be read in any order. If you are looking for more legal thrillers with evangelical themes you might want to try Appearance of Evil by Christopher Lane and The Will by Reed Allen. Appearance of Evil deals with the issues of Satanic abuse, a theme similar to Blind Justice and also has similar characters. Susan Grant, public defender, is given the case of Craig hansen a psychiatrist who feel sthat he is innocent of the killing of teenage and the sexual abuse of his own children. Those searching for somethisn with less of a sense of evil behind it, but still having the samll town setting, will probably enjoy The Will by Reed Arvin. Much like the character of Jake in Blind Justice, Attorney Henry Matthews has to return to issues of his past when he returns home to Kansas to read the will of the most prominant man in town. Once there he needs to make up his mind if he will return to the world of corporate law or become the type of lawyer that his father was. A final book that might interest readers is The Great Divide by T. Davis Bunn (Marcus Glenwood Series, Book 1). This book won the Christy Award (Suspense Catagory) in 2001. Marcus Glenwood, another down-and-out lawyer, finds himself in the midst of international intrique when asked to take the case of a missing person. Gloria was investigating the slave labor oporations of a major American company working in China and her parents are suing the company. The company is being represented by Marcus' old legal firm. The legal David versus Goliath battle, the character facing issues from his past, and the small town feel will engage readers from the start.
Red Flags: Alcoholism, brief mentions of Satanic worship.
Try Dying (2007)
Author: James Scott Bell
Genre: Suspense (Soft-Edged/Christian)
Plot Summary:
Ty Buchanan is an up and coming trial lawyer working a big case against a powerful and talented veteran lawyer. All is well in his life and career until his fiancée, Jacqueline, is killed in a freak accident involving an ex-gang member who has killed his wife. After murdering his wife the man drives to an overpass on the freeway and shoots himself sending himself over the side of the overpass and onto the roof of the fiancé’s car crushing the roof and killing her in the process. At the funeral Ty is confronted by a homeless looking Hispanic man soliciting money for what he says is information regarding the death of Ty’s fiancé. The man claims that Jacqueline was murdered. Ty starts to lose his bearings and the man beats Ty unconscious and steals his wallet. Even though everything about this encounter screams scam Ty cannot let the possibility of foul play go. This information becomes an obsession for Ty and brings his professional and social life into a tail spin. After finding no help from detectives he begins to investigate the circumstances of his fiancée’s death on his own. As the trail drags him deeper into an underworld of gangs and seedy characters his career and life become endangered. Ty recruits a reporter’s help in exposing the murder of his fiancée. During this time he is beaten numerous times in his attempts to uncover the truth, his behavior at work is putting his job at peril, and his house is ultimately burned down as a scare tactic by the gangs. After Ty suspects reformed gang member, Rudy Barocas, and self help king of really being involved in underworld activities the reporter is killed and Ty is framed as the killer. Ty seeks sanctuary at a monastery where an informant from his big case is a priest and they help him as he tries to clear his name and find Jacqueline’s killer. After Ty’s bail is revoked he becomes a fugitive and things begin to come to a climax.SPOILER The truth about Jacqueline’s death comes out as he gets too close to Rudy and as one of his henchmen is beating Ty he taunts him by confessing to murdering her. In a fit of survival he overtakes his attacker and turns the henchman in to police. Meanwhile the trail leading to the real killer of the reporter is leading Ty to someone very close to the big case he had been working on, his client. After tricking her into blaming her accomplish on tape the accomplice comes clean and Ty’s name is cleared. Ty is offered his job back, but he claims to be a different person. He returns to the monastery and looks to become a lawyer for the underprivileged.
Geographical Setting: Loa Angeles
Time Period: Present Day
Series: Book 1 in the Ty Buchanan Series
Appeal Characteristics:
Try Dying is a Christian suspense novel written in the third person. It is more suspense than thriller because while the main character is a lawyer and this takes up a large portion of the story it does not go into much detail regarding the profession. The focus of the book is on Ty Buchanan whose character is really the only one that is well developed, however this really only pertains to Buchanan’s last five years including his career background and his courting of his fiancée. The story is formulaic suspense in that it is very formulaic; Buchanan is attempting to overcome the threat posed by what turns out to be two different fronts. The pacing of the book falls more in line with soft-edged suspense given the short chapters and quick dialogue, as well as some longer chapters dealing with very descriptive matter regarding Ty, his past, or his introspection on certain matters. The time frame for a this book however is longer than one would expect from a suspense novel taking place over months as opposed to days or hours. The Christian aspect of the title is very generic. The story does involve a Catholic priest and a Nun, but also alludes to Ty's fiancée’s Protestant background. The story is typical good versus evil. Although this plays out in two ways, Ty trying to maintain his own goodness and not succumbing to evil acts to find out the truth, and the overall triumph of good and justice of the two story lines contained within the novel. The inspirational aspect of this title is lacking though. While it is a novel of "finding more" as is said in the story the book airs on the side of extreme implicitness when it comes to Christian themes. The book also uses a tad more descriptive language in regards to violence and sexual situations and can be gritty at times. Not overboard, but in a way most Christian fiction fans would find a tad too close to secular realism.
Read-alikes:
Fans of this book may want to try the two other Ty Buchanan books in this series, Try Darkness and the upcoming Try Fear. In these titles readers will find more of Bell’s legal suspense that showcases a man’s struggle with good and evil with more secular writing style and emphasis on the protagonist’s search for faith. For those fans looking for more explicit Christian themes but wanting the face pace of a suspense novel and the struggle of good and evil, then Uncharted by Angela Hunt might be right for you. Publishers Weekly described the story as “being a "good person" outwardly often hides an interior life that is far from pure.” Readers who want to venture outside of the States and get into an international Christian suspense novel may want to try Betrayed by Jeanette Windle. While this offers more character development and description, but the story picks up and moves very quickly similar to Try Dying. The book also tends to be more gritty than most Christian fiction, like Try Dying, but is more explicit about faith and Christianity. For those that want to get away from the gritty, but want to maintain the thrilling pace and a more implicit spiritual message of Try Dying try Finder’s Fee by Alton Gansky. According to reader reviews at Christianbook.com this is edge of your seat pacing, well developed main characters, and journey of faith and truth. If a stronger evangelical message and legal suspense is what you are looking for try Self Incrimination by Randy Singer. Publisher’s Weekly claims this is a complicated novel with many twists and turns and the focus on the legal systems is secondary to the characters and the story. Reader reviews also point out that the pace of this book is roller coaster and quick.
Red Flags: Mildly descriptive violence and sexual situations.
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