Customer Reviews

Premeditated Murder (Zack and Terry)

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

 

 

I picked up Premeditated Murder, the first novel by lawyer-author Ed Gaffney, because I'd heard of him through his wife Suzanne Brockmann, one of my favorite romantic suspense authors. Overall I found the book readable and the main characters enjoyable, although the plot of the story ended up being sort of far-fetched and some of the storylines almost totally extraneous.

The main plot involves two close friends and law partners, Zack Wilson and Terry Tallach, who take on a nightmare indigent defense case. The perpetrator freely admits to a massacre in which he shot 6 people dead in cold blood, and further admits to carefully planning and preparing to carry it out. He has a reason for his behavior but it is nearly unbelievable--yet it is the only shot the lawyers have at avoiding a near certain guilty verdict and death penalty.

Intertwined with this is a tumble of other plots--one involving a likeable US President-by-accident who uncovers a frightening top level government plot, an aspiring investigative reporter in Detroit who is doing her best to figure out another branch of that plot, and a planned terrorist attack on the Fourth of July--that all somehow come together in the murder case. Certain of the storylines, such as one involving a cop and an injured teenager, ended up going nowhere, and others, like the one with the reporter, were sketchy. Their only relevance seems to be in setting up characters for later reappearances.

Nevertheless I did find myself turning pages quickly even though I was less than totally satisfied by the end. I did like the main characters well enough to try another Gaffney book, and hope that the potential I see in the pacing, dialogue and likeable characters develops as he continues to write.

This is my first review, so I am going to ask that everyone reading this hang tight --

Terry and Zack are two criminal defense attorneys set to defend a coldblooded killing "monster" who admits to killing six college students who turn out to be terriorists. They believe everyone is entitled to a fair trial and take on the seemingly unwinable task of defending their client. Then, much to Zach's uneasy dismay, this monster turns out to be all too human, all too likeable. But is he innocent of murder?

The twists and turns throughout this book are interwoven with tales of Zach and Terry's life that allow the reader to see inside and get to know these two goofy good guys. They make the job of defending this killer suddenly take on a different meaning. And make the obvious outcome of this trial for Zach to be totally unacceptable.

I would like to see more of Matt & Sammy, the chemistry between them is wonderful.

The rest of the plot is sort of convuluted and the reader has to work to keep in mind where the story is going, but he does a great job of tying it all together. For a first time out, it was a home run. I loved it.

I can't wait on his next book -- will Zach and Terry be back?

I would like also to say thanks to Suzanne Brockmann for mentioning that her husband was writing his first book -- she plugged it in one of her acknowledgements, but Ed Gaffney is the one who hit it out of the park!

I love to read and I love to read books that I can't put down. This was one of those. The book started out interesting and continued on from there. The trial transcripts at the first of each chapter were a departure from the normal telling of a story, but very effective. The twist at the end -- I never saw it coming. I can't wait for this new author's next book.

I had high hopes for this legal thriller. It felt to me that the genre could use some new blood.

Unfortunately, this story did absolutely nothing for me. The author basically has two concurrent storylines going on at the same time and for the longest time, the two don't blend. Actually, it took forever for them to merge and by then, you can't really care about either of them.

The writing style was ok, but that's about the best I can say about this one. It was boring.

This book has exactly four stories that supposedly merge at the end, but:

1) The main story, the terrorists' one is a real thriller and will keep you reading all the time (when you can find this story among the pages of the book.)

2) The story of the journalist is overly long and after reading too many pages that says nothing at all you'll find exactly two paragraphs that are very important to the main story. This means that this story could be written with many less trees.

3) The president's story is good enough but the first two assignments he has to do are worthless and a waste of time. Those you definitely can skip them.

4) The story of the 17 years old drunk kid definitely doesn't have anything to do in this book.

I foolishly thought I could read just a couple of chapters of this book before bed ... several hours and no sleep later, I finally finished this book. What's so compelling, I wonder, that I get no sleep? I'm 32, I should know better. I already know the man is guilty! But the finding out of not only why things happened but how it plays out is a fascinating tale.

What happens in society when there is a war on terror? What shakes out? Who is really guilty, who is really innocent? Does the judge care, and will he even listen to enough to find out? Read Premeditated Murder by Ed Gaffney and you will know the answers. The irreverent style and quirky humor add a liveliness to this courtroom drama that I doubt would be quite as fun in real life.

I only rated the book 4 stars because there is room for improvement - the scenes can be a little choppy, but the storytelling, pacing, and voice are first rate. I hear Ed's working on another book - and I'll be buying that one too.

In Northampton, Massachusetts a big black man Calvin Thompson waited next door for the right moment to kill six men. He fired 120 bullets at them and received two back. District Attorney Fran O'Neill feels he has a perfect case for premeditated murder and plans to prosecute Calvin under the newly enacted death penalty law.

Attorneys Terry Tallach and Zach Wilson defend Calvin, who confessed he carried out his plan and killed the six. They see little hope of getting an acquittal so they lean towards an insanity plea as the legal team prepares for septuagenarian Judge Cottonwood, whose bench bias against alleged criminals is well known since his mother was raped and murdered. Instead of a straightforward case, Zach and Terry uncover a terrorist plot in which the six dead men were participants and a seventh member is still going ahead with destructive plans for Independence Day that ties in to a war in Africa that involves the White House.

This is a deep legal thriller that at its best in the court scenes and when the lawyers meet with their client. The media reaction is prejudicial as the Boston Post displays a picture of a bloody terrorizing looking Cal whom their headline calls Monster. Though the story line seems a bit over the top with the ties to the Oval Office the audience will not care as along with Terry and Zach fans will want to know the truth before the spin maestros twist it beyond comprehension. Ed Gaffney writes a fabulous tale that grips readers from the moment Judge Cottonwood shows his bench bias and never slows down until the confrontation with number seven.

Harriet Klausner

Premeditated Murder is one of the few books that once I started reading I could not put down no matter what the cost in lost sleep! The multiple, and seemingly unrelated, threads of the story were all so compelling that the fact that they had to come together kept me turning the pages. Just an amazing book!

I didn't have a lot of time when I started reading this book and that caused a problem. Many things to do, and yet I kept coming back to pick up and read "just one more section." I was hooked.

At first, I was frustrated by the many [seemingly unrelated] story threads. I knew the author was setting up the story, but still I wanted to know - NOW - how they came together. That's what kept me coming back. It's one of the things I ultimately enjoyed the most. The author made me care about the characters, even if, like Natalie, they had only a few scenes. I wouldn't mind getting to know Matt and Sammy better. That's the romance reader in me. And I especially loved the view of family life between Zack and Justin.

Lots of people [ok, lawyers I know] think that "courtroom drama" is an oxymoron. Ed Gaffney made use of that beautifully. I loved the way he advanced his story by inserting bits and pieces from the trial, autopsy reports, etc., which show "real life" courtroom proceedings can be tedious and uninteresting, yet the devil is in the detail.

This was a wonderfully detailed and surprising story. It's a "sucks you in" kind of story by a cool new author.

Wow, White House intrigue (complete with honorable reluctant CIC), terrorist plots (foiled? not foiled? read the book!), courtroom drama, seemingly unrelated petty crimes, first amendment threats, will the author EVER be able to tie this all together?

Yes, Ed Gaffney does tie it all together, and beautifully so. I literally could not put this down till I got to the last page. I know for a fact that there must be some creative genius microbes in the Gaffney/Brockmann household.

JFK