Customer Reviews

A Darker Justice

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This is the second Mary Crow book and once again the tough no-nonsense attorney returns to the mountains of North Carolina, where she grew up and straight into a heap of trouble. Like the first book, it casts Mary as an intrepid heroine who is prepared to take on all comers regardless of how prudent her approach might be.

Someone is killing the federal judges of the United States, 11 of them so far. Although the deaths have been set up to look like accidents - apart from the last one, that is, it has become obvious that they're anything but. After the first 11 deaths, the FBI have strong suspicions about who will be the next target and want to provide close protection, but the judge won't hear of it. It just so happens that the judge in question, Judge Irene Hannah, virtually adopted Mary after her mother was killed and has become like a second mother to her. So the FBI ask Mary to step in to try to convince Irene to accept the protection offered. Of course, once Mary Crow becomes involved, she goes the whole hog and winds up providing more assistance than she bargains for.

Before the dramatic conclusion to this story, Mary has reacquainted herself with the serene Upsy-Daisy Ranch, had an uncomfortable reunion with old boyfriend Jonathan Walkingstick - and his new lover Ruth Moon, enjoyed an abrasive relationship with FBI agent Dan Safer, and underestimated the people who turn out to be dangerously ruthless enemies. It's well presented, riveting reading that manages to entertain from the opening chapter.

For those who have read the first book, this becomes a very informative sequel, answering some very important questions regarding Mary's past that were first raised in In The Forest Of Harm. Don't worry if you haven't read In The Forest Of Harm yet, because A Darker Justice sits just as comfortably as a stand-alone thriller as it does part of an on-going series.

Mary Crow returns for a second outing after her debut "In the Forest of Harm." She is a successful Assistant District Attorney in Atlanta, but has strong ties to her mountain upbringing and Cherokee heritage.

Mary is called in to help persuade her mentor, Federal Judge of the 4th Circuit Court, Irene Hannah, to accept FBI protection. Eleven of the twelve Circuits have had a mysterious death among their judges during the past year. The 4th Circuit is the last one. Judge Hannah has stoutly refused any type of protection.

There are subplots galore in "Darker Justice." Mary's long time lover, Jonathan Walkingstick has a new love interest (much to Mary's dismay) who is a full-blooded Cherokee, a tepid attraction grows between Mary and FBI agent Dan Safer and Judge Hannah herself has a courtly Irish farmer swain. "FaithAmerica," a wealthy televangelistic group has designs on world domination, and there is a "camp" for poor boys right in Irene's backyard run like a Marine boot camp by Soldier of Fortune, Sergeant Robert Wurth.

In the strongest section of the book, two boys, Tommy and Willetts, try to discover the secrets of the draconian Camp Unakayawa to facilitate their grand escape. The hidden cachets in the mountains, the moldering old pile of a once abandoned castle-like building and the interaction between the two boys show Ms. Bissell at her best.

The author keeps a tight rein on her many threads, and leaves no strings dangling. The pace is good as are the characterizations. I had some problems with Judge Hannah who seemed almost too good to be true, and became a mite weary with Mary brooding over her love life. As yet, Ms. Bissell has trouble bringing mature male characters to life, but she has improved in this area since her last novel. I wish she would dispense with some of the slash and gash; with her strong feel for the mountains and the people who live in them, I feel she could write her own ballad books that could stand the test of being compared to Sharyn McCrumb.

"A Darker Justice" is a good second book and highly readable. Ms. Bissell is improving all the time. Probably best read in order.

Sallie Bissell knows people; she understands the complexity of personality, and has no inhibition about delving into the darker side of the human mind. In A Darker Justice she has painted a prolific scenario of greed and power counterbalanced by her female protagonist-Mary Crow-who portrays the strength and determination of all women with a purpose. This is the finest psychological thriller I have read in a very long time. If you have not read Bissell, you have not experienced pure exhilaration!

I met Sallie Bissell at a book fair in Kentucky in April 2002, and just now got around to reading A Darker Justice. I won't wait so long to read her first book, "In The Forest of Harm" in order to catch up on the other adventure in the life of Mary Crow.

A Darker Justice is the story of Mary Crow, an assistant district attorney in Atlanta who is asked to convince her friend and mentor, Judge Irene Hannah to accept FBI protection in order to avoid being the next victim on a killer's list. Actually it is a combination of three plots that are intrically woven togeter to make a great suspense read. The FBI is aware of a conspiracy to kill federal judges, and the race to find out both why and who makes for a page turner from start to finish.

In case Ms. Bissell is reading reviews of her book, it was a pleasure meeting you in Bowling Green and your book was a great new find. I'm looking forward to both catching up and to the next Mary Crow book.

I read Ms. Bissell's first book about assistant DA Mary Crow, "In The Forest of Harm", by chance last year. This year I made sure that I read this sequel. I've definitely put Ms. Bissell on my must-read list.

Mary Crow is an intriguing character. She's obviously a dedicated public servant, yet she is also a product of her upbringing, someone raised out of the urban setting. Her ethnic heritage is mixed and she's still trying to reconcile who she is and who her parents were, but not to the point where introspection become repetitive or boring. She tries to do her best, but even though her forest skills are above average, she's not superwoman and still makes dumb mistakes. This book involved an increasing number of deaths of federal judges, all without apparent rhyme or reason. The FBI knows there is a conspiracy, but they can't pinpoint the origin. The obvious next target is a very stubborn judge, living on a horse-breeding farm, who Mary considers to be almost a surrogate mother. Mary is recruited as a volunteer by the FBI to try to protect her, since the judge will not agree to any other form of protection. The setting is out in the country - at the judge's farm, at an old sanitorium, and in the surrounding woods.

The book is tightly plotted and well written. The evil presented is believable. The characters and their relationship to one another all have depth. If you read the first one, you'll definitely want to read this one. Each Mary Crow novel can be read as a stand-alone book, but I'd recommend reading them in order for maximum enjoyment.

It looks like someone is trying to kill off the federal judiciary. One judge has been murdered each month for the last eleven months, each in a different way. The FBI and local police are stumped. There are no clues, no forensics, no witnesses, and no suspects. Now there's only one circuit left untouched, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the FBI thinks Judge Irene Hannah could be the next target. Enter Deckard County Assistant District Attorney, Mary Crow. When her mother was brutally raped and murdered thirteen years ago, Irene Hannah was more than there for her. She helped her deal with and accept the terrible loss, and find direction and a new life in the law. Now the feds are asking for Mary's help. It seems the very stubborn and principled Judge Hannah has refused federal protection. Agent in Charge, Daniel Safer, wants Mary Crow to work with him, and change the judge's mind, and of course, she's only too glad to do it. She can't imagine her life without her friend and mentor. But when Irene is kidnapped on Mary's watch, she defies the authorities, and sets out on her own to find the judge before it's too late, and she's willing to risk everything, even her own life to bring Irene Hannah back home..... Sallie Bissell has written a fast paced and suspenseful thriller, complete with twists, turns, and more than a few surprises, that begs to be read in one sitting. Her crisp and eloquent writing is full of detail, and atmosphere, the intricate story line tight, tense, and compelling, and her scenes vivid and riveting. But it's her marvelously complex and intriguing characters that really make this novel stand out, and once you've been introduced to empathetic Mary Crow, you won't be able to put this thriller down. This is the second installment of a superb series. If you're new to author, Sallie Bissell, start at the beginning with In The Forest Of Harm. If you're already a fan, A Darker Justice doesn't disappoint.

Like her other book, IN THE FOREST OF HARM, I was hooked on the adventure and suspense. Some may find the book too violent, but when the heroine prevails, it's a ride worth taking!

Sallie Bissell's "A Darker Justice, " (2002), a conspiracy thriller, second in her Mary Crow series, and her second book, has a lot going for it. Its protagonist, half American Indian Assistant District Attorney, Atlanta (Deckard County), is an interesting, sturdy creation, and the Indian lore adds another dimension to it; particularly in the byplay as she and another beautiful young Indian woman struggle to win Crow's former boyfriend, the full-blooded Indian Jonathan Walkingstick. The book also is set in the Western mountains of North Carolina, territory that's hardly over-exploited, and that the author knows well; she was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and currently divides her time between there and Asheville, NC, in those mountains. In fact, her nature writing is quite good:

"Camp Unakawaya lay northeast of Hartsville. She skirted the town to avoid any Feds, then drove into the mountains along a bumpy two-lane road that snaked beneath a high canopy of trees that waved gray, skeletal fingers as she passed, whispering sibilant greetings to the icy wind. As she twisted up the highway a Cooper's hawk swooped in front of her, nothing more than a high-pitched whistle and a blur of speckled feathers."

In fact, Bissell is a good writer: her dialogue's not bad, and her story jumps out fast, and keeps moving fast. Crow finds herself drawn into a Federal Bureau of Investigations effort to protect Judge Irene Hannah, her surrogate mother and mentor, whom the FBI believes will soon be the target of a conspiracy by unknown parties, apparently murdering federal judges. In her efforts to save Judge Hannah, she runs into a stage Irishman with the broadest burlesque accent you've ever heard. And the boys of Camp Unakawaya, where the formerly cashiered-out from the U.S. Army, Sergeant Robert Wurth, is subjecting last-chance boys, particularly the stuttering Tommy Cabe, whom we will come to know best, to a really nasty boot camp.

It's a good thing Bissell has so fresh a touch, because the two best-known, though surely not the first, books to posit conspiracies to take over the U.S. government were published long ago: "The Manchurian Candidate," by Richard Condon, in 1959; and "Seven Days in May," by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II, in 1962. And most people would agree they're still the two best of genre. Well, as the famous suspense director Alfred Hitchcock said sometime back, the hardest thing to do in a thriller is to come up with a good "McGuffin," as he called it, the thing that sets the plot in motion. And, unfortunately, you've just got to have one.

By the way, the plot deals with people who have achieved "black feather" status in military training, and there's a black feather on the book's front cover. For the longest time, I thought it was a pickle, and wondered what it had to do with anything. Eventually, I figured it out.

It wasn't at all surprising in any way, but it's well written, had interesting characters that engaged me, and I immediately looked for other books by the author. I'm looking forward to reading some of her other books.

I wasn't sure I'd get past the first few pages, but once I settled in, it was hard to put down.

It was definitely worth the time it took to read (and the dishes that didn't get done because I sat on the sofa to finish it).

I'd recommend this series. They are best read in order - I read the third one first.It takes some of the punch out if you know what happens in the third book. A great read though!