Customer Reviews

A Good Conviction

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This gripping story demonstrates how one's life can take a 180 degree turn in a moment. Innocent actions can be misinterpreted and unfortunate consequences result. Weinstein is a great story teller and this is a very well crafted story.

The characters and their emotions were so vividly portrayed that I still think about them as if I knew them. Lovers of New York City will walk the streets of the city and visualize "A Good Conviction" happening. You will walk past a certain news-stand and wonder if the owner remembers Josh. When you read a book that you don't want to end....that is a good book. "A Good Conviction" is a good book.

This is a "page turner" and I loved every minute of it. This author avoids the common fault I find with many mysteries: not having a good ending that leaves you satisfied. The main character is entirely believable and his circumstances are chilling: something that could happen to any one of us. The research behind this book and the author's familiarity with legal procedures (which are not hard to follow in the book) are evident.

Once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down until it was finished - and that was in the wee hours of the morning! Weinstein allows the reader to feel the same anger, scare and frustration that Josh experiences, as we watch him become a victim of a corrupt DA. At the same time that we root for Josh to get justice, we are brought into the world of incarcerated criminals who fill their days with ways to survive. It's a wild ride, and a story that I highly recommend.

Having spent two years of a twenty year career with the NYPD transporting prisoners to and from Manhattan Central Booking, I read much of Mr. Weinstein's book holding my breath. During those long 24 months I never got used to the sound of the cell doors sliding closed with a loud CLANG! Even knowing full well I would be leaving, it induced instant claustrophobia. Well, the scenes in this novel that take part on Riker's Island brought that sound and more back to me with amazing clarity. If you want a glimpse into the hell that is American prison life, read this book.

Anybody who has had the pleasure of reading "The Heretic" knows that Lew Weinstein is a truly gifted writer. With "A Good Conviction" he takes the reader on a completely different journey - one that is terrifyingly realistic and all too common. From the very beginning Weinstein takes the reader on a wild ride into the depths of the U.S. legal system. Fraught with emotion and spot-on depiction of everyone from the lawyers to the hardened criminals, the reader experiences all the perils of life behind bars. With the surety of a jury handing down a life sentence, Weinstein confidently guides the reader through the complicated maze of our legal system and the politics within to a conclusion that is both uplifting and staggering in its depth.

I am an avid reader of fiction, especially thrillers, and I can tell you that Weinstein holds his own among his peers including Baldacci, Grisham & Patterson. Do yourself a favor and add "A Good Conviction" and "The Heretic" to your reading list and discover this truly talented writer.

I am amazed at the research that Weinstein has done for both of his books. A Good Conviction, like The Heretic, is a real page turner with a lot of suspense. However, the book is more than just suspenseful. Weinstein illuminates an issue that is very serious and through a fictional account he sensitizes the reader to the plight of the many people who are incarcerated for crimes that they did not commit. I reccommend the book highly and cannot wait for his next book.

What a ride! A scary, yet thoroughly believable, journey through the police and court systems of New York City. Lewis Weinstein captures the tensions and fears of prison life so well, it's hard to beleve he hasn't done hard time himself. It certainly makes you wonder how many innocent people are behind bars.
Highly recommended!

For an avid reader this is one of the few books that I could not put down and always looked forward to the next chapter! So many books have the tendency to be drawn out in the middle, but this one kept you on the edge throughout and you really did get to know every character. I love a book that when I read it I feel like I am living it and that can only be done by a talented writer. Thank You for the experience!

How glad I was to find this marvelous book available. For two years or more, I have tried the local public library to get it. Don't believe anything you are told when ignorant people are specialists like the reference librarians. I was told first that it is no longer available, then that only three in the whole world were in libraries and none would let it be used outside their vicinity. Finally, I was called with the bad news that there was only one anywhere. The customer reviews show exactly the opposite. She told me that if I know the author, ask him to "give you a copy" if he wants you to review it. All lies and excuses as they are not literate.

Since my son died in January, my reviews were put on the back burner; also my eyes have not been so well. Getting over Justin's death and getting new glasses, so look for a good review for a good writer -- that is, perhaps. Today, I found that one of them had gotten into my Amazon (inside job) and changed my review completely to their own, by someone who had not even heard of that book. Amazon put Title Not Available as they do movie reviews. What a predictament! The Amazon critics are as uneducated as those librarians who thought there had been only one copy of this book was printed. If this gets online, I will be lucky. I have expectations that Jim in Nashville did it, but how can one tell. Oh yes, I will never get over my cat's death, as I almost died in Dandridge Retirement Community in Nashville (came very close) and then this new computer someone has already hacked into would not be mine to look forward to reading more of Lewis Weinstein who was kind to me about another review. I don't choose frivilous stories, fiction or non-fiction, so my collection is limited. I'm glad Mr. Weinstein, my Amazon friend, is alive and still writing. Thank God for that. Tell you what I think as soon as I can get this long-anticipated book of Lewis Weinstein. Dan, you can find Mr. Weinstein and his works on Amazon. He spends some time writing in France. I don't know why he inquired about my writing a review of Good Conviction.