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Customer Reviews

27 Reviews

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One Bad Apple Destroys the Novel, May 2, 2000

By

Jason Birkby - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Alternate (Paperback)

When John Martel started this novel, he had all the beginings of a great courtroom novel. Then he made his first mistake. He titled it, and made a title character that is so unbelievable that the novel just dissolves into a poor effort.

The story revolves around the murder trial of Elliot Ashford an ex-congressman with possible mob ties. All the lawyers in this case have hidden agendas and are well thought out. Barrett Dickson and Grace Harris are very well rounded and likeable. Then enters the alternate juror Amanda Keller. An ex-actress with delusions of grandeur. She starts by slowly breaking all the rules of being a juror and then things get messy.

The Keller character is so unrealistic in this novel. Martel portrays the lawyers to be very competent, but even they get fooled by Keller which is hard to believe. Martel gets two stars for the surrounding characters, but no more due to Keller

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Legal Thriller, July 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Alternate (Hardcover)

For anyone interested in courtroom thrillers, this is a "must read". John Martel captures the pressures and excitement of trying high visibility cases and masterfully passes it along to the reader. As a retired trial lawyer, who has tried high visibility cases, I can attest to the great job Martel does. I think it the best of his three novels to date.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read, August 29, 2002

By

David A. Spearman (Harbor Beach, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Alternate (Hardcover)

If you enjoy a reading cocktail of one half law,one quarter mystery and 2 jiggers of intrique(Mafia style) and a splash of intensity, this is the book for you. As late as the last sixty pages I could not fathom the final outcome. This is the first book of Mr Martel's that I have enjoyed, I certainly look forward to reading more, if they are even close in interest as this one, I know it will not be a mistake.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars trial groupie
legal potboiler where fatal attraction meets the godfather in a schmaltzy way. despite a solid framework - pretrial prep, trial and retrial- the interjection of an overly used... Read more

Published on February 1, 2001 by donatdeux

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read but some silly mistakes
I had a hard time putting this book down. I ended up staying up till 3am to finish it. The characters, especially Bear, are people we can relate to. Read more

Published on November 6, 2000 by Richard Lobel

2.0 out of 5 stars Good beginning--poor follow through
The first half of this book is a better-than-average courtroom thriller, with well drawn characters and plot twists to keep one interested. Then it starts to fall apart. Read more

Published on September 17, 2000 by John Cragg

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read but one MAJOR flaw
The Alternate certainly has an interesting plot with lots oftwists and turns. I found enjoyed Amazing Grace and Bear believable, but some of the others were weak. Read more

Published on August 22, 2000 by Carmen Leal

3.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Courtroom Drama
Martel's story of an ex-congressman, connected to the mob, who goes on trial for the murder of his beauty queen wife, grabs the reader on the opening page, but slowly eases its... Read more

Published on July 12, 2000 by edwardn

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but not superb thriller!
This is definitely an interesting and unusual thriller. There is plenty of suspense, and the characters are reasonably well-developed. Read more

Published on May 21, 2000 by Joe

4.0 out of 5 stars Juries ARE unpredictable
As "courtroom thrillers" go, this one is well written, skillfully constructed, and interesting enough to read through to the end even though you have a fairly good idea... Read more

Published on May 16, 2000 by Sherrie Martin

5.0 out of 5 stars This one is "Out There" and Great!
I am so glad I had a full day of uninterrupted time to read this terrific novel. I couldn't put it down. Read more

Published on May 2, 2000 by K. Barrett

5.0 out of 5 stars Page Turner
Great read! A real page-turner with good, complex characters and great courtroom scenes. Mr. Martel's courtroom experience really shows, as it does in all his novels.

Published on April 24, 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Page Turner!
Now I'll have to read John Martel's first two novels. I couldn't put The Alternate down! It was obviously written by an extremely experienced trial lawyer. Read more

Published on April 20, 2000 by Fan in NW

› See all 27 customer reviews...

Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
The various and arcane means by which one human being sometimes ended the life of another had always fascinated Grace Harris, head of the district attorney's homicide trials team, but this one, she thought, took the cake. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
trial bag, regular jurors, defense verdict, juror number, fingernail scrapings, other jurors

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Earl Field, Elliot Ashford, Grace Harris, John Hernandez, San Francisco, Amanda Keller, Barrett Dickson, Judge Hernandez, Sam Quon, Jack Klegg, Renee Babcock, Lani Jefferson, Julian Gold, Lara Ashford, Hall of Justice, Mike Reasoner, Carmine Rizzo, Winston Cray, Barney Seagrave, Los Angeles, Steve Wilmer, Arnold Sun, Leviticus Heywood, Manon Barnes, Martin Chin

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