AN Innocent Client (Joe Dillard) [Paperback]

Scott Pratt (Author)

Book Description

Series: Joe Dillard | Publication Date: November 4, 2008

This is the kind of crime the tabloids love...

This is the kind of case most lawyers dream of...

This is the kind of trial that destroys more lives than it saves...

this is the kind of “terrific debut novel”( Sheldon Siegel, New York Times BestSelling Author of Judgment Day) that reinvents the legal thriller.

A preacher is stabbed to death in a Tennessee motel. The suspect is a waitress at a strip club. Defense attorney Joe Dillard’s too burnt out to defend anyone he knows in his heart is guilty. Then he meets the vulnerable Angel—the accused, incriminated by circumstantial evidence. Dillard’s sure she’s not capable of killing anyone. What Dillard doesn’t count on are the others drawn into the storm of the stunning crime—from the vindictive detective to the victim’s avenging son to Dillard’s own deeply troubled sister—all of whom will help to erase the line between guilt and innocence, and between an unthinkable lie and the unbelievable truth.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Former attorney Pratt delves into rural Tennessee law and politics in this brilliantly executed debut. When a preacher is murdered after visiting an infamous strip club, the club's owner hires jaded attorney Joe Dillard to defend Angel Christian, a beautiful waitress accused of the crime. Dillard, savvy but cynical, wants to quit doing criminal defense, but he can't resist the chance to represent someone who might actually be innocent. His drug-addicted sister has just been released from prison and his mother is succumbing to Alzheimer's, but Dillard's commitment to the case never wavers despite the personal troubles and professional demands that threaten to destroy him. Pratt's richly developed characters are vivid and believable, especially the strong Southern women who fight their male-dominated culture from behind a facade of vulnerability. Readers will eagerly anticipate Dillard's further adventures. (Nov.)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Onyx (November 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451412656
• ISBN-13: 978-0451412652
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,236 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #59 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Legal

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Strong Debut that will Appeal to Grisham Fans, November 29, 2008

By 

Thriller Lover (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: AN Innocent Client (Joe Dillard) (Paperback)

AN INNOCENT CLIENT is an impressive legal thriller debut. If you enjoy the work of John Grisham, you might like this one too, since it's written in a similar style.

This novel takes place in rural Tennessee, and stars Joe Dillard, a burnt out criminal defense lawyer who hopes to represent at least one innocent client before he retires. When the novel opens, he is seemingly handed such a client, an 18-year old waitress at a strip club who is accused of murdering a fundamentalist preacher.

AN INNOCENT CLIENT has a lot of good qualities. Author Pratt, an ex-attorney himself, does a superb job with all the courtroom scenes. The prose in this book is quite polished (truly exceptional for a first effort), and the main character is easy to root for. Pratt also does a good job structuring the plot, which sustained my interest until the very end.

If this novel has a downside, I would say it's the rather superficial characterization. Like John Grisham, author Pratt tends to see things in black-and-white, moralistic terms. As a result, most of the supporting characters in this novel are little more than colorful caricatures of one sort or another. The villains in particular are outrageously corrupt and evil, which makes the story more corny than realistic in many spots.

Overall, though, AN INNOCENT CLIENT is an entertaining debut, and Grisham fans should definitely give it a try. This is apparently the first in a series, and I look forward to future installments.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Debut, April 1, 2009

By 

N. Gargano "nokegchris" (Waynesville NC and Bradenton, Fl) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: AN Innocent Client (Joe Dillard) (Paperback)

I really really enjoyed this book. First of all, I really liked the way the author went between first and third person. It was a great way to move the book along. I liked that you felt a kind of connection to the character when he was front and center and then the watching view when it was the other characters. Kind of like real life, you know what is going on in your head, you are only watching the rest!!
I have to admit, using the old "former soldier" as the main character has been done over and over, I know it gives the author a way to have the character handle physical problems that come along, that most of us could not handle. I didn't mind that. I also saw the end coming, well most of it anyway, I didn't mind that. I loved that the character loved his wife and kids, had a family, it just seemed, normal. I liked that as an adult, he was doing normal kind of soul searching, like have I made the right decisions in my life?
Anyway, I laughed and I was surprised and I just really, really , liked this book. I see the author has a new one coming out in paper in June, I'm surprised they have not picked him up for a hardback yet, but I won't be surprised if that happens on his third. Again, great debut.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly Twisted Plot, April 24, 2010

By 

N. Bilmes "bookaholic" (Vernon, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: AN Innocent Client (Joe Dillard) (Paperback)

Scott Pratt's debut novel is a page-turning legal thriller featuring devious characters, corrupt government officials, drunken preachers, and more strippers than you can shake a terwilliger (inside joke to anyone that's read this book) at! At the book's core is Joe Dillard, jaded defense attorney, sick of working for a bunch of lousy criminals and getting them off on technicalities. The dialogue, plot twists, and courtroom scenes are well done, and the characterizations are top-notch without being overly explicit.

I am going to be recommending this book to all legal thriller fans, and ordered the 2nd in the series two days ago.