Guilty [Large Print] [Paperback]

Karen Robards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2009

In the newest novel from New York Times-bestselling author Karen Robards, a feisty female attorney's past comes back to haunt her. One cold November night when Kat White was fifteen years old, she and some friends held up a convenience store. In the heat of the moment, one of the others shot and killed an off-duty cop moonlighting as a security guard. Kat and her pals fled the scene in a panic, and no one was caught. Sixteen years later, Kat-now Kate-has built a new life for herself. Now a single mom with an eight-year-old son, she works as a prosecutor in the Philadelphia DA's office. But her dark past rears its head when she walks into court one day and discovers that she is to prosecute Mario Castellanos, one of her friends from that terrible night. Kate is in a bind: even though Mario was the one who probably did commit the crime, he's counting on Kate to make sure he's not convicted. If she convinces the judge of his guilt, he'll claim that she was the one who killed the off-duty cop. Before real despair sets in, Mario is found dead-in her apartment, and with her pistol. When homicide detective Tom Braga shows up to investigate the murder, Kate is far from relieved; the two have clashed since she started working for the prosecutor's office. But when another man who knows the secret of Kate's past gets involved in the investigation, she learns that her life-and her son's-are in danger. Frantic, she realizes that she has nowhere to turn. Except, maybe, to Tom . . .

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this scintillating romantic thriller from bestseller Robards (Obsession), Kate White, a single mother and Philadelphia ADA, is embarrassed in court when her cellphone goes off during a trial. Just then the defendant pulls out a pistol and starts shooting, killing the judge. The terror-stricken Kate fears for her life and the future of her young son, Ben, should she die in the melee. After being taken hostage, Kate escapes, supposedly by killing her captor. Kate soon discovers that her past as a troubled foster child has caught up to her. Someone tries to break into her home, while someone else follows her, threatening her and Ben. Det. Tom Braga, who investigates the courtroom shooting, is firmly convinced that Kate didn't kill her captor. Kate's vulnerability appeals to Tom's protective nature, drawing the pair together in a heated affair. Robards once again shows her flair for coupling first-rate suspense with multidimensional characters. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Single mother Kate White has had to travel a long, hard road to become a prosecutor in Philadelphia. A foster child, she had trouble with the law, culminating in a brutal incident at a Baltimore convenience store involving her friends. The birth of her son Ben changed her, and she put herself through college and law school, only to, once again, end up at the wrong place at the wrong time with the same wrong friends. During a routine trial, chaos erupts as the defendant attempts to escape, and Kate is taken hostage. After the murder and mayhem, Kate walks away a hero, but Detective Tom Braga senses that there is more to her story. Tom almost lost his brother in the melée, and although he is very attracted to Kate, he is determined to find out what she’s concealing. Guilty is truly a pleasure as the ever-popular and prolific Robards gives her readers an especially exciting, top-notch tale of romantic suspense. --Patty Engelmann --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 587 pages
• Publisher: Large Print Press; Lrg edition (May 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594133441
• ISBN-13: 978-1594133442
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,592,099 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Karen Robards is the bestselling author of twenty-seven novels. The winner of six Silver Pen awards for favorite romance novelist, as well as numerous other awards, she lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband, Doug, and their sons Peter, Christopher, and Jack. She says, "I read, I write, and I chase children. That's my life."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best one in quite a while, April 5, 2008

By 

Elaine C McTyer "avid reader" (Dawson, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Guilty (Hardcover)

Karen Robards latest novel is the best one in quite a while. Her last two novels have been some of her worst, but this one had all of her trademarks in it. I really enjoyed it and am thankful she has finally gotten her act back togather. When you pay for a hardback you expect to get your money's worth.

Kate White is an ADA in Philadelphia, she is a new lawyer. She has fought and worked her way from poverty to where she is now. She has a 9 year old son and as she starts work in the DA's office her life finally looks rosy. Raised in the foster child program, she has been alone until she married at 18 and had Ben. Her husband left her when Ben was born and he was later killed.

Tom Braga is a homicide detective at the PPD, his brother works for the Sheriff's dept. as a deputy. He comes from a large family, he is the oldest. Divorced and alone he has decided to protect the tender parts of himself. But during a shootout in the courtroom he makes a connection to the woman held hostage.

On the first day of her new job she is in court, when everything goes to ****. The defendent somehow gets a gun and the killing begins, at the end she is held hostage by the defendent in a hall way where he has demanded a helicopter for her life. The unexpected happens when a former member of the gang she ran with when she was 15, turns up. He is one of the crimimals held in one of the holding rooms, he also is part of this escape. He quickly kills her tormentor and tells her she better help him out and get him out of jail or he will reveal her presence at a murder of an off duty cop, when they were young.

She is stunned not just to be saved, but by Mario, the thug, who killed the cop. That was the reason she left Baltimore and ran away at 15. Her life is totally messed up again by the same person and for the same reason. She must protect her son and herself, anyway she can.

Tom's brother is the deputy shot and left for dead in the room Mario was in. When he wakes up he tells Tom there were two men in the hall with her. She has admitted to killing her abductor. He and his partner feel something is not right. However, nothing can stop the desire for her that he feels. He knows there is something wrong but can he trust this woman who lies to him with every breath.

Dropping by her house late one afternoon to question her again, he saves her and her son from someone who seems to be confronting them. Once again he knows she is not telling him the truth. But he spends the night on her sofa anyway.

The story is fast-paced and doesn't get draggy, the plot is involved and the romance is hot. Everything you expect from a Karen Robards story. I really enjoyed it and encourage you to get it. Good Reading. I must admitt that I didn't read it immediately, because I wondered if it was any good. Glad I did.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great suspense and romance, April 18, 2008

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Guilty (Hardcover)

Kate has spent the last 16 years trying to forget the night that her friends held up a convenience store and killed the clerk. Now a single mom and an ADA in Philadelphia, she is trying her first big case and in a bungled and deadly escape attempt, becomes a hostage in the court room. When her assailant is shot, she is face to face with Mario the friend who pulled the trigger all those years ago, and he insists that she help keep him out of jail, or he'll implicate her. She immediately becomes a media darling for taking out her attacker, but Tom Braga, the detective in charge, knows she's hiding something; and worse, he's falling for her and her son. When a series of break-ins and suspicious characters find their way to Kate's door, Tom appoints himself protector of both.

Robards keeps the suspense and action going from the first page to the last. Just when the reader thinks they know what will happen next, another surprise is tossed in. The chemistry between Kate and Tom is incredible, bringing a sense of authenticity into the story.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GRIPPING FROM PAGE 1, April 5, 2008

By 

Sandra R. Maike "mailwhiz" (In the Middle of No-where, Ks.) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Guilty (Hardcover)

This book will grab you from page 1 and hold your interest thru the last paragraph. The horrible mess that Kate White ADA in Philadelphia finds herself involved in is incomprehensible, however you can actually imagine it from the headlines in any newspaper in the country. She has brought herself up with her "bootstraps" and made a real life for herself and her son Ben. Having that all ruined by "who knows" is unbelievable. However, I'm sure this plot (or various sub-plots of this book) happen on a more regular basis in the U. S. than we want to think.

I found this book very good. It held my attention, and I never put the book down from Page 1 thru the end...and even then I was disappointed there wasn't more.

If you like a good romantic suspense novel, you simply cannot go wrong with this one.