Customer Reviews

No Physical Evidence

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

 

 

Chinese American Writer Gus Lee explores an important area of criminal abuse in this new legal thriller. But Lee, author of four fine novels, experienced deputy district attorney, Army judge advocate, FBI trainer, and executive of the California state bar forgot to review his notes on how the system works. Lawyers and politicians will probably hate this drama. Readers will turn the last page knowing the law is not handled this way, yet will appreciate his passion for what is right, and his love for children and family. His window into the human soul saves this tangled story. A little polish would have helped as Lee creates great sentences in difficult paragraphs and confusing chapters.

This book is engrossing despite its flaws. Josh Jin's career and his personal life are slipping away due to his emotional collapse caused by the death of a daughter. Resulting mistakes caused him to lose respect and position. Jin is forced into a case in which he finds himself conflicted from grief, loss of status, ugly politics and morals, cultures, and outrage. A 13-year old rape victim refuses to talk. There is no physical evidence. He has nobody's confidence and no professional support. The accused ex-con may not be the one. Worse, his legal adversary is a powerful ex-girlfriend he once jilted who knows how to pull his chain. He cries in court and colleagues think he is without hope.

Jin struggles back from the edge while pulling another from disaster. The reader learns a bit about the Chinese-American culture and very real child sexual abuse, accurately rendered. As the story unfolds, there are surprises aplenty.

This BOMC alternate is awkward but remains a page turner. It is a complex crime story based on what is really happening, though a bit overplotted. A tale of lives in crises, untidy politics, horrifying crime, sleazy judges, shoddy legal work, messy lives, committment and personal salvation. Lee toys with the reader right up to the last few words. This is a book of passion dotted with clever observations and characters that resonate. Readers will think about this book for a long time despite it's rather unbelievable legal, political core. Gus Lee could do better and has done so(Honor and Duty) than this sometimes confusing book, but "No Physical Evidence" remains a worthwhile read.

A complicated moral man wrestles honorably with the unpredictable complexities of evil, and the plot is great, and somehow you can't put the book down. Gus Lee reminds me of Scott Turow. The style is different, Lee's spare and vivid and Turow's discursive and courtly, but the moral center holds with both, and the superior writer's touch. I hope Gus Lee is hard at work on the next one, because this guy is really, really, really good.

Joshua Jin is a brilliant prosecutor with a heart trying to recover from the loss of his young daughter, an emotional trauma that threatens both his personal life and his career. The case he takes on, proving the horrific rape of a 13 year-old girl without the aid of physical evidence, is not only extremely difficult from a legal standpoint, it is politically unsound for a career already in jeopardy. Josh's deep compassion for the girl underscores a brilliant, passionate performance in which both the helpless victim and the downtrodden prosecutor may be vindicated. Filled with well-developed characters and an ever-changing plot that tugs at the emotions, this finely-spun story keeps the reader turning pages to its exciting conclusion.

The story tracks the lives of many wonderfully developed characters all revolving around the horrendous rape of a 13 year old girl. The book reaches deep into your emotions as the author relates the efforts of district attorney Joshua Jin to save the girl, his marriage and the very fabric of the California legal system. This is a must read by anyone who loves a good Follett or Grisham tale. Placing this book in a particular genre would be almost impossible as it covers: love, detective, mystery, suspense, courtroom drama. The unabridged audio reading is superb.

Gus Lee scores again in this fast-paced and evocative legal drama with some characters you love to hate, and an unlikely hero you love to love. Unlike most writers, Lee creates a central character who, in the middle of his life, is overcome by personal tragedies that have depleted him, and as the book progresses, we can cheer him on as he rises from the ashes. It's refreshing to see a hero who feels not only his own pain, but also the pain of all the other hurting people around him. I love a book like this that combines great character development and a compelling story line into a wonderful morality play. If you like crime dramas with a human interest twist, you'll love this book. It will keep you guessing until the end when you're left marvelling at the Hitchcock-ian twist!

As a trial attorney, I found this book almost unreadable, to my great disappointment, since I very much enjoyed Mr. Lee's HONOR AND DUTY. The author clearly lacks any knowledge or experience of how our legal system works or how the people within it do their jobs. At the outset, the police all bear a grudge because of misbehavior by the D.A., and no longer cooperate in prosecutions. What kind of fantasy is this? The police want successful prosections a whole lot more in the real world than anything else and would NEVER respond in this fashion. Nor does the political infighting in the D.A.'s office make much sense. I have seen plenty of political infighting in my time, but Mr. Lee's account of it is quite fantastc and unbelievable. His knowledge and understanding of criminal investigations and prosecutions is pathetic. Any reader who thinks criminal law really works like this is very mistaken. His turning criminal defense lawyers into morally compromised monsters bears no relation to real life, where such attorneys often work long hours for very little compensation simply out of a dedication to justice, and whose personal lives are above reproach. On the whole, a sadly failed effort.

This has been the most compelling crime drama I have listened to in along while. The author expertly combines the conflicts ethnic culture, personal tragedy, and work promblem into a into a court room drama. The plot is the difficulties of doing a child rape trial where the victim is silent. The author also shows the personal and work difficulties the D.A. Jin has to overcome to mount a successful. The only drawback is the subject of child rape is gruesome and I personal had to stop reading at times to control my emotions. I am anxious to look forward to more novels about D.A. Jin.

About halfway through this book I was thinking "this is the best courtroom drama since To Kill A Mockingbird!" The book then quickly disintegrated into a confusing tangled web of conspiracy. I got frustrated because it could've been a fantastic book. Mr. Lee just needed to trim a little of the fat.

Although I'm not a fan of courtroom dramas, I had read Gus Lee's books before, and had especially enjoyed "Tiger's Tail", so I thought I'd give his new book a try.

What I really liked was the character of Josh. He seemed to be able to get past his own miseries when it was really important. He is not what you think of when you think "lawyer" - that stereotype was epitomized for me by the defense lawyer. He's actually a nice person. Had I been on that jury (and if jury selection is actually done they way it's described, you can see why people avoid jury duty like the plague), I would have found his case the more compelling.

Definitely worth reading.

Everybody hates everybody. DA hits cop so cops hate the DA. The judge hates Josh, the main character.Josh;s daughter dies and all the supporting characters in the book make fun of him for crying about it. The 13 year old victim in the book who has been raped is called a tramp a slut by the cops and the judge.Could have been good if it was handled with care and less hate.Could not finish the book so I don't know how it ended and I don't care to find out. Save your money.