Final Appeal [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Lisa Scottoline (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1998

Hard-hitting and unforgettable, Lisa Scottoline's Edgar Award winning second novel Final Appeal shines with her characteristic wit and gift for inventive plot. To Philadelphia lawyer Grace Rossi, who is starting over after a divorce, a part-time job with a federal appeals court sounds perfect. But Grace doesn't count on being assigned to an explosive death penalty appeal. Nor does she expect to have an affair with her boss, Chief Judge Armen Gregorian. Then the unimaginable happens: an apparent suicide in strange circumstances leads to Grace becoming involved in a murder investigation. As events spiral out of control she finds herself unearthing a six-figure bank account kept by a judge with an alias, breaking into another judge's chambers, and following a trail of bribery and corruption that has even the FBI stumped. In no time at all, Grace under fire takes on a whole new meaning.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Philadelphia lawyer Grace Rossi is a single mother trying to make ends meet by working part-time for the handsome Judge Armen Gregorian in the federal appeals court. Although he is by all accounts happily married, many women carry a torch for him. Grace is no exception, so when Gregorian picks her out of a group of clerks to assist him in researching the infamous Hightower case, she considers herself lucky-maybe even blessed, when their first night on the job turns romantic. But her newfound happiness is shattered when the morning news announces that Gregorian has been found shot, apparently a suicide. Grace, knowing that it has to be murder, immediately takes up the search to find out who is responsible for his death. She encounters help along the away, in the form of a resourceful homeless man who turns out to be an FBI agent in disguise, investigating possible fraud within the court. Scottoline, an Edgar nominee for her first book, Everywhere That Mary Went, has again pulled together an intriguing cast of characters and a smart mystery to make an exciting, action-packed read.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Review

'Lisa Scottoline has been added to my short list for must-read-authors. Her stories are filled with teeth-gnashing suspense, her characters are compelling, and her humor cuts to the heart of the issue with laser-like accuracy.' Janet Evanovich 'Lisa Scottoline's greatest skill, and it is a remarkable one indeed, is to make the domestic incident, the small characters, and moments come to life and ring absolutely true.' Stuart M Kaminksy --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 303 pages
• Publisher: Wheeler Publishing (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568954891
• ISBN-13: 978-1568954899
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,961,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lisa Scottoline is the New York Times bestselling author of seventeen novels including her most recent, THINK TWICE, and also writes a weekly column, called Chick Wit, for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Lisa has won many honors and awards, notably the Edgar Award, given for excellence in crime fiction, and the Fun Fearless Female Award from Cosmopolitan Magazine. She also teaches a course she created, called Justice and Fiction at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and regularly does speaking engagements. There are twenty-five million copies of her books in print, and she is published in over thirty other countries.Lisa graduated magna cum laude in three years from the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.A. degree in English, and her concentration was Contemporary American Fiction, taught by Philip Roth and others. She graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She remains a lifelong resident of the Philadelphia area, where she lives with her array of disobedient pets.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Scottoline's best work, June 16, 2002

By 

Claudia Summer (Puget Sound, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Final Appeal (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read three other Scottoline books and liked all better than this. Of course, this was written when she was a fledgling novelist, so she's learned much from good editors over the years. In this book, she writes in first person, which I found limiting. Supporting characters did not ring true at all. Also, her political views determine the course of the plot. This is a very bad mistake, I believe. All of the more conservative types are villians, all of the liberals are heroes. Identity of killer is predictable for that reason alone, and it's not a good enough reason. One wonders why this particular book won an Edgar Award.

In her later books, like Legal Tender and Mistaken Identity, I give Scottoline an A for plotting and an A+ for pacing. They're written in third person and her quirky characters are all interesting if not totally believable. But the books move so fast, you go with the flow anyway.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fortunately, I didn't give up on Lisa Scottoline..., November 17, 2002

By 

Debra Ackley (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Final Appeal (Mass Market Paperback)

Final Appeal was the first Lisa Scottoline book that I read. I have to agree with some of the other reviewers here. At least half of this book was senseless chatter, and the novel did not seem to flow smoothly. But because the other half of the time, the novel did seem to flow smoothly, I plugged away and finished the book. I didn't like the first-person, present-tense type of writing found in this book, but this has not been encountered in any of Lisa's other books that I've read so far.

Since I had bought five other Scottoline paperbacks recently, I decided to keep reading. And I'm glad I did! I have really enjoyed reading her other books so far. They are 'unputdownable-type' of books, and I'll continue to buy her books. The stories flow smoothly in Legal Tender, Moment Of Truth, Mistaken Identity, and Running From The Law, without the needless chatter found in Final Appeal. I'll be starting The Vendatta Defense today and expect that I'll not want to put it down until I finish it later today.

I still need to buy Everywhere That Mary Went, Rough Justice, and Courting Trouble. I've read all of John Grisham's books and have to say that Lisa Scottoline is now one of my favorite top-five authors, along with John Grisham.

41 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Final Appeal is a wonderful read!, March 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Final Appeal (Mass Market Paperback)

It is easy to see why Final Appeal won the Edgar Allen Poe award! It's pace is swift, the plot line totally believable and Ms. Scottoline's characters are so real you speculate about them long after you finish this delightful novel. One can only hope Grace Rossi appears in another Scottoline novel soon!