Customer Reviews

AN Innocent Client (Joe Dillard)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Defense attorney Joe Dillard is burnt out and sick of defending guilty killers. He wants nothing more than to throw in the towel and walk away from it all. But first he wants one thing that will make his career worthwhile; he wants to defend one innocent client.

Angel Christian is a beautiful young woman with a secret and troubled past. She's moved to Tennessee to waitress at the Mouse's Tail, a steamy strip club owned by Erlene Barlowe. After one of the customers--Reverend John Paul Tester, who used his church's money to fund his after-hours entertainment--becomes aggressive with Angel, a murderer sets out to make the man pay. The Reverend's body is found in a motel, minus an important body piece.

Agent Phillip Landers from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is a slimy, arrogant womanizer, and one of the least likeable characters in this novel. Landers will do anything to help prosecute this case and to settle old scores, even if it means convincing Dillard's druggie sister to testify against her brother's client and getting her to lie in court.

There are many other interesting characters, including Erlene Barlowe, the "madam" of the strip club who keeps her girls in line, even if it means telling them to lie. Her relationship to Angel is motherly, a trait that is intriguing. Erlene's involvement in the case creates riveting twists and turns, and an unexpected conclusion that will leave you satisfied. And just when you think it's over, the author throws in one last "hold your breath" scene.

An Innocent Client is an excellent thriller with compelling characters. Its only flaw is that the first half of the book has too much "tell" and not enough "show", which bogs down the pacing. The second half is much tighter. Debut novelist Scott Pratt sets up the crime, invites us to the scene, allows us insight into the investigation, puts us in the jury box and delivers a strong close. Kudos, Scott!

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
Author of Divine Intervention

This is my first Scott Pratt book and I enjoyed it very much. The story itself is an interesting one and the protagonist, Joe Dillard, is extremely likable. I also liked that he is happily married with a family, something you don't often see in this kind of book. It is told alternatively in the first person by Dillard and the third person for the rest of the story. I have read comparisons of Scott Pratt to John Grisham, but I would disagree. I would compare him to Harlan Coban, which is a compliment. The characters are likable and there is enough humor to offset some of the more tragic aspects of the story. The book moves along quickly, always keeping your interest and has a very satisfactory ending. I would highly recommend it and look forward to reading more of his books.

To be honest, I downloaded this book to my kindle by accident, thinking it was another in David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter series. Although I had never heard of Scott Pratt, the title, "An Innocent Client" sounded interesting and I hoped it would be another legal thriller that might have been a fun read. It was.

Like the Andy Carpenter series, this author's book was a fast read, but that is where the similarities part ways. There was no David Rosenfelt humor in Scott Pratt's novel and the judicial system was painted in dark and negative hues by the later.

Joe Dillard always wanted to be a prosecutor; however, even though he found it repugnant, the real money was in defending clients, most of whom he was sure were guilty. More sickening, believing one of his clients was "not guilty" of committing a particularly heinous crime, after successfully defending that client , the scumbag came to his office admitting the crime and offered a bundle of money that he stole before he murdered the victim.
Joe Dillard had come to believe that his clients, the police, the lawyers from both sides and the judges were all manipulating liars who cared only about themselves and winning, not justice.

Joe longed for too things--having "An Innocent Client" and leaving the criminal justice system with his sanity.

Believing he had "An Innocent Client" Joe Dillard accepted a much needed $250,000 cash payment from, Erlene Barlowe, the wealthy southern Tennessee owner of a gentleman's club representing Angel Christian on charges that she viciously murdered a drunken Reverend John Paul Tester who manhandled her as she waited on him at the club.

Suffering flash backs from his war time service, thoughts of seeing his step father sexually molest his older sister Sarah, and ruminating about vicious murderers who used his legal skills to set them free only to murder again, Joe finally tells the truth to his loving wife Caroline, as twists and turns in the "Innocent Client" case comes to a head.

Although I did not find myself chuckling through this legal thriller as I did will David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter series, Scott Pratt's debut was a quick read that I enjoyed and believe that others will as well.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Phillip Landers is an arrogant womanizer, boozer, one to not always play by the rules, and he's looking to settle a score. If the bad guy ends up behind bars, does it really matter how he got there? So what if a few rules were broken. It's the end result that counts. Defense Attorney Joe Dillard is over defending one scum ball after another. He's finishing up his last few appointed cases before he switches teams and heads over to the other side, the prosecution. There is just one last thing he wants, and that's An Innocent Client. He just wants one, one he knows in his heart is completely innocent of the charges leveled against them. And he just may have found that case.

Preacher John Tester is found murdered and missing a vital organ in a local motel. The investigation quickly leads the TBI to The Mouse's Tail, a "gentleman's club" owned by Erlene Fowler. It soon becomes apparent that Erlene (who practically steals every scene she is in) is hiding something, we just don't know what it is yet. Then Angel Christian, a waitress at the Mouse's Tail, who is a young, beautiful, timid runaway that Erlene has taken under her wing, is arrested for the murder, and Erlene begs Joe to take the case. Joe is determined to refuse the case, he wants out of the business, he's done. But then two things happen: he meets Angel and can't picture her committing murder, and Erlene offers him more money than he's ever made on one case. How can he say no? The money will help provide for his family since he will be working as a lesser-paid prosecutor, and Angel will finally be the one innocent client he's been looking for. Unfortunately this isn't the only case Joe is dealing with. He has a few other death row cases he's trying to resolve, with clients that are so demented they should be locked up 24/7, never seeing the light of day again. What these men have done, and will do, will make your insides curdle. And if all of this isn't enough, Joe is also dealing with his mom being in a nursing home and his drug-addicted, thieving sister. A sister who holds a dark secret, a secret Joe is part of and has so much guilt over.

As a former lawyer, Scott Pratt knows what he writes about. The jailhouse visits are vivid and realistic, the people are tough and very true to the character roles they play, and the courtroom scenes are on par with any John Grisham or Scott Turow book that I've read. I can't wait to read the next Joe Dillard book to find out if defending those that may in fact be innocent finally appeals to Joe and he remains a defense attorney, or if he still wants to become one of the good guys, a prosecutor. Scott Pratt hits his first legal thriller solidly out of the park. A brilliantly twisted tale of deceit, murder and the truth, that will have you shaking your head in amazement and wondering - is it really over?

I never go very far in this one, despite good reviews, as there was too much unnecessary swearing to tolerate getting to the acutal story. A total waste of money.

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of "An Innocent Client," and I loved it, it was one of the best books I've read this year! Hard to believe it's Pratt's first, the writing is tremendously polished for a debut novel. And since I'm not generally a fan of legal thrillers, I initially had some reservations about reading it. But trust me, this book is so much more, I'd compare it to Grisham's early work. Highly recommended.

I recently finished Scott Pratt's An Innocent Client and thoroughly enjoyed it. Joe Dillard is a protagonist you can believe in and root for. The surrounding cast of family, police and court personnel, criminals, and strippers are fully and accurately drawn, and Erlene, the strip club owner, steals almost every scene she's in with her heart of almost gold. Best of all this is wrapped around a satisfying plot that keeps you with it to the last page.
Highly recommended