Customer Reviews

Imperfect Justice

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

 

 

Angelo Ucellio used to be a major player in the Mafia, having run the Miami branch while belonging to John Gotti's New York family. With the Don in jail, the glue that held the family's power together falls apart. Angelo is literally kicked out of Florida by the Columbia drug cartel. Angelo's most trusted friend, a lawyer who has successfully kept him out of doing time, has recently died. This combination of events leaves Angelo in a very vulnerable position which culminates in an FBI raid netting enough coke in Angelo's office to charge him with drug trafficking.

Ucellio surprises everyone by going outside the family and hires renowned defense attorney Karen Perry-Mendori to represent him. Though Karen prefers to see criminals like Angelo rot in prison, she accepts the case when he insists that the cocaine was a government plant. The evidence leans towards Angelo telling the truth. Someone wants to see the Mafiosi take a fall. Karen's investigation takes her into the heart of thedrug cartels and the highest levels of the government where powerful individuals plan to insure that Karen and Angelo cannot go public with what they have learned.

Catherine Arnold's legal thriller will be immensely enjoyed by readers who relish the works of Barbara Parker and Nancy Taylor Rosenberg. IMPREFECT JUSTICE provides the audience an insider's glimpse at the justice system filed with power brokers and renegades all nursing their own agendas. Karen is an intelligent individual who understands the system and chooses to fight withinit in order to make a difference. Surprisingly even Angelo comes across empathetic and likable, demonstrating the master techniques of an artist at work. IMPERFECT JUSTICE is near perfect entertainment.

Harriet Klausner

Not terrible, just kind of pointless. The ending has a surprise, but I found it to be a cheap and contrived one. Mrs. Arnold doesn't have a solid grip on style and plot, and her main character for some reason isn't all that likeable.

If you're looking for a dazzling read, try British author Robert Goddard, who is constantly hailed by all reviewers from the W. Post to the NY Times, but has never really achieved fame in the US. His plots are brilliant!

I have been reading legal thrillers for years, long before Grisham hit the bestseller lists. Catherine Arnold does it as well as anyone I've read. Not only does she provide the reader with a plot; her pacing and character development is excellent. You fall in love with her charaters. You really care about them. For those who really want to learn something about the law, I strongly recommend the chapter in which she takes us though a deposition. I've been deposed and I can tell you that Arnold gives you the real thing. After reading this book, you will do what I did - order Arnold's first book, "Due Process". You won't be disappointed! Danny Harper

This is a good book to pass the time. But I found the plot is a little bit similar to Nelson DeMille's The Gold Coast, which is funier.