Customer Reviews

Above the Law

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Drug Enforcement Agency was ready to lead the raid on the isolated Northern California compound of drug czar Reynardo Juarez. Dozens of specially selected agents waited for the word to begin the assault. Their only guidance from their boss, the US Attorney General, is to bring Juarez in alive so he can be pressured to rat on other cartel members. However, the simple attack turns into a trap and three agents soon lie dead. Juarez is killed as he tries to escape through the woods.

Northern California District Attorney Nora Ray investigates the fiasco. She quickly concludes the Feds are hiding and stone walling what happened in Muir County. Nor also believes someone executed Juarez. She asks a reluctant friend, defense attorney Luke Garrison to act as a Special Prosecutor to help her bring the case to justice. Though he believes justice was served with Juarez's death, Luke agrees that no one is ABOVE THE LAW. However, neither Nora nor Luke knows that their investigation will leave both in danger as they surf through the underbelly of society.

ABOVE THE LAW is a astonishingly exhilarating police-legal thriller that will excite readers with its non-stop action and strong characterizations. The story line is filled with exciting conflict from start to finish. The cast ("heroes and villains") is developed so that readers comprehend their motives, connections, and treachery. Additionally, the return of Luke Garrison (see THE DISAPEARANCE and not the Seagal movie) brings back one of J.F. Freedman's best charcaters. The New York Times bestselling author spins a triumphant complex novel that will attain more acclaim for Mr. Freedman.

Harriet Klausner

This is the second story about Luke Garrison, the former DA from Santa Barbara, who is a again pulled from his tiny law practice to handle a huge case that the whole country is watching.

The case centers around a major drug kingpin who is killed while in the custody of the DEA after an attempted drug bust went bad.

I think Freedman makes a critical mistake in this book, in that the entire story revolves around a very bad guy who it's really hard to care about. If you can't care about the central cause for the story, then it's also hard to care about who killed him and why.

It was an OK read. The characters, as always, are very well developed. There are also some sub plots that creep in and out of the story that are good. There are just too many dead spots in between the parts that interested me.

If you like Freedman, it's worthy of reading. If you've never read Freedman, check out "The Disappearance" first. It's a much better book, and will give a feel for what he's really capable of.

When a DEA raid on a drug baron's wilderness compound goes bad with casualties on both sides, there's going to be hell to pay. The federal agents had explicit orders to capture Reynaldo Juarez alive, so how did he escape custody only to end up with a bullet through his brain? Santa Barbara attorney Luke Garrison is brought in as Special Prosecutor by his old law school friend, Nora Ray, now the local D.A.

As Luke begins building an airtight case against DEA agent Sterling Jerome for Juarez's murder, troubling questions arise about the local sheriff, sudden wealth on the nearby Indian reservation, the veracity of some of the evidence against Jerome, etc. And there's something about Nora... This is a great novel encompassing elements of mystery, suspense, police procedural, and courtroom drama, with a shocker of an ending.

There is a bit of a conundrum here. If you haven't read The Disappearance before reading this one, you will enjoy this one more, because you won't know the true mystery maestro that Freedman can be. BUT, if you haven't read The Disappearance, you won't know the background on Luke and Riva which adds interest and wrinkles to Above the Law.

This is a good read. The mystery is well presented, and the author gives readers several believable red herrings to suspect and follow before ultimately revealing who the killer is. It is well paced, and Freedman is a gifted writer, particularly in capturing the aura of places: Santa Barbara, and the small towns of Northern California, among others.

Ultimately, though, it doesn't measure up to the riveting, edge-of-the-seat, I've-got-to-stay-up-all-night-to-finish-this-book drama that Freedman offered in The Disappearance.

Above The Law is a very good novel, but not the truly great read that Freedman offered mystery lovers with The Disappearance.

I picked this up in paperback at an airport. I have not read Freedman before and wasn't familiar with the book - it just caught my eye and I had some time to kill.

Freedman's strength is a complex plot line that will likely reveal a few surprises in the final pages. He gives the narrator (former prosecutor Luke Garrison) a great back story - which makes it easier to get absorbed in the book. You won't always agree with the decisions Garrison makes, but you'll probably appreciate the dilemma that forced the decision.

The moral angles in the story were sometimes overplayed, but in all I felt that it added a dimension to the story that over novelists frequently omit. There are times when you feel Garrison (the narrator) is looking to the reader for approval; once or twice is OK... but after a half dozen similar pleas, it gets old.

Freedman does sacrifice his secondary characters - they are little more than caricatures to move the story along. But in Luke, Nora, Riva, the sherriff, and Louise you get characters who have more at stake than is often apparent.

I enjoyed the story, and it certainly passed the time. I'm eager to pick up The Disappearance based on other reviews here... I would certainly recommend Above the Law as an entertaining thriller that will keep you guessing up to the final chapter.

The author does a nice job of keeping the story active, and the reader does keep turning the pages, but this book falls flat sometimes. A supposedly first rate detective investigates the DEA for homicide of a scumbag. The plot has some twists, but the twists never come full circle really, and too late in the story a new curve appears that fizzles the ending. With the introduction of the whole Indian tribe deal, I think the author may have blown what could have been a true grit kind of book. Instead, I was left finding the book sort of predictable at that point, and then a little ridiculous. The main character is noble, sincere, and unrealistically honest for his field of work. The ex-team leader turned suspect is formidable as well, and the courtroom drama is very good. The author's style is impressive, this is the first novel I have read by this author, and I found the book easy to read and pleasantly cushioned with understandability. It took me about 4 days to read it, and I rate it average. You won't be wasting your money really, but it could be better spent.

A stellar performer as both prosecutor and defense attorney, Santa Barbara lawyer Luke Garrison, enjoying a recent happy marriage and new fatherhood, fights nightmares over the act of heroism which opens J. F. Freeman's "Above The Law." When an old friend asks him to investigate the murder of a drug dealer during his escape from custody after a botched DEA raid in rural northern California, Garrison is reluctant but his wife convinces him it will banish his demons. While Garrison sympathizes with DA Nora Ray, the old friend whose promising life has badly fizzled, her sexual advances force him to shut her out of the progressing investigation. Gathering evidence from high officials and ruthless gang leaders, uncovering old secrets and new, Garrison puts together an explosive and controversial case and tries to keep any surprises from developing in his orchestrated prosecution. While at times overwritten, the story is absorbing, sparking new interest with a succession of twists and turns. Freedman ("The Disappearance," "Key Witness") also explores legal ethics and conflicts between a lawyer's obligation and the truth. Garrison, while sometimes overly self-righteous, demonstrates both lawyerly zeal and conscience in an interesting mix.

A great book, wonderfull read with believable people. One dissapointing note was that there were no surprises like in his "Dissappearance" book. I found myself actually getting frustrated because the clues were staring at Luke Garrison in the face but he didnt see them. Perhaps it was the authors intention. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and look forward to another book by Freedman

This book seemed to take a century to get through. The only part that I liked was the drug bust in the beginning with all the action and the assassination. After that it seemed that the book just dragged on and on. I like Luke Garrison, the main character, alot. If you are going on a vacation and need a book to read, then this won't be a bad choice if you need a time fillerg. Don't et me wrong, J.F. Freedman is a good author. I absolutely loved "The Disappearance." That was a great book, but "Above The Law" was just too long and slow paced. I have faith in Freedman's next novel.

This is the first Freedman book I have read, and I did enjoy it. The basic story, as set forth in the other reviews, involves Luke Garrison, the former DA for Santa Barbara, being appointed special prosecutor to assist a law school friend with the investigation of a botched DEA raid.

Freedman does a great job with characterization and a little too good a job with foreshadowing. There was not a single plot point "revealed" at the end of the novel that was not completely obvious several pages earlier.

The other problem was that the book was about 10-15% too long. First there is the investigation, then there is the trial, complete with the same questions from the investigation. Unneccessary repetition made the book longer than it needed to be.

That said, I still liked the book. The opening sequence, only tangentially related to the rest of the book, is exciting, tense, and completely ignored by the other reviewers.