Book Review: Private Screening by Richard North Patterson

Private Screening by Richard North Patterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Richard North Patterson sits on my list of top authors along with Ed McBain, Ginger Scott, Debbie Macomber, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and a few non-fiction writers. I hadn't realized that this particular book had gotten past me. I thought I'd read all of RNP's earlier works. As it turns out, I somehow missed this first Tony Lord novel. Private Screening tells the story of the assassination of Presidential hopeful James Kilcannon (Kerry Kilcannon, younger brother of James, is the subject of a trilogy of RNP novels).

What follows is the trial of the shooter who Tony Lord defends. That story is interwoven as a wonderfully written flashback story with a present day  abduction. Stacy Tarrant is a famous singer, and former girlfriend of James Kilcannon. She was with James Kilcannon the night he was murdered. In the present day, she is in need of a good attorney and calls on Tony Lord even though she despises him for defending James' killer.

My thoughts on this book are basically the same as all of the other Richard North Patterson books I've read: they're brilliant. If you like crime novels, mysteries, court dramas and/or a mixture of some or all of those things, RNP is the writer for you.  In this particular novel, you're actually reading two novels in one. The fist novel is told in flashback and the second is in present day. But they're also interwoven and except for James Kilcannon, all of the other characters are in the past and present.

The two stories are interwoven so well, it's easy to keep track of what's going on. Many authors don't use the flashback so well. RNP nails it in this earlier work of his.

Tony Lord, our "hero" in this case, is obviously a good looking man. But his skill as a lawyer and his adoration for his son, Christopher are the two most attractive qualities of the character. If you'd already read "Silent Witness," the second Tony Lord novel, this novel gives you a look at how Tony Lord becomes a successful and much sought after attorney. In fact, he's similar to RNP's other attorney character, Christopher Paget. They are definitely different but both brilliant.

RNP tackles topics in his books that are usually controversial like gun control, abortion, the death penalty and so on. He researches like a madman before he writes and it definitely shows. In this particular novel, the reader will see how easy it's NOT to put on an insanity defense and it also tackles the subject of Vietnam Veterans who came home extremely different men and the issues attached to them as a result.

This one is an absolute must read. Every Richard North Patterson book should be on everyone's TBR list for at least a try. Chances are highly likely that even those who do not typically read the genre will be dragged in.

Like the late Ed McBain, who is probably the best mystery and crime novelist of all time, Richard North Patterson is right up there. Definitely 5 out of 5 stars!!!!!


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Book Review: The Trial of Dr. Kate by Michael Glasscock III

This is the second book of a four part series set in Round Rock, TN.  While set in the same town with some of the characters from the first book, Little Joe, it is now some years later.  Dr. Kate Marlow is going on trial for murdering her best friend, Lillian.  She insists that she didn't do it but has no recollection of the day her friend died because she blacked out.

Seeing the news of the trial on the AP teletype, expat of Round Rock, Shenandoah Coleman, now working as a reporter for a Memphis newspaper, decides to return home to Round Rock to cover the trial and after seeing her old friend Kate, decides to help Dr. Kate by interviewing everybody who knew her to find character witnesses for her.

Along the way, Shenandoah meets up with her old friends and her old foes, she meets new people along the way and makes new friends as well.  Including, Bobby, a handsome mechanic who happens to work for Lillian's husband, Army, and they develop a romantic relationship with each other. The fact that Bobby and Army are moonshine runners isn't exactly favorable to Shenandoah but she seems to understand that the activity goes along with all of the other unfavorable activities of the time.

The book covers just about every topic associated with the deep South in the early 50's including racism, sexism, classism, corrupt politics, etc.  There is a trial and we get a good picture of just how differently the court systems worked back then.  Michael Glasscock made it all very real.

A verdict is rendered.  What really happened that day comes to light.  There's even an epilogue that details what happened to each of the characters years later.

What I liked about the book was how Shenandoah held her head up high in the faces of those who once looked at her as poor white trash and still see her as that even though she's been a WASP pilot in WW2, college educated and doing well for herself.  I also liked how she kept her promise to Dr. Kate and visited her everyday to see how she was doing and to keep her up to date on how her interviews were progressing.

We also get to see the good things too.  Like Southern hospitality and how the town protects each other (this is a bad thing too when it turns into people covering for each other).  The book is written really well, it's not hard to follow and you can get caught up in it quickly.

What I didn't like was how the trial ended and the reaction to the verdict just seemed to fall flat.  I'd expect, in this particular case, that ANY verdict would spark outrage and outcry.  But it was just nothing.  Even finding out what really happened was just flat.  Then out of what seems like nowhere, we are given this shocker of an ending with Bobby, whom Shenandoah has fallen in love with and wants to be with forever.  Frankly, I *hated* how Bobby's ending was written.  It seemed incredibly unnecessary and I still don't understand why Glasscock decided to go in the direction he did what him.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of the book.  Honesty, I dropped it to 4 stars because of that ending.  In fact, I can't think of another book ending that I disliked more.  Overall, it's a good book and a good read.  I plan to read the next two books in the series.