From Publishers Weekly
In contrast to the rewarding emotional intensity of Putney's previous romance, The Spiral Path, her latest stumbles under the weight of predictable plotting and a romance that fails to ignite. Corporate attorney Val Covington resolves to turn her life around by starting her own practice and focusing on cases she cares about. While working out of a remodeled church, she meets the troubled but warm-hearted Rob Smith, who arouses both her desire and her innate wariness. He pitches in to help when Val's longtime assistant asks her to save her former lover, who's facing execution for a crime he claims he didn't commit. While the race-against-the-clock plot proceeds by the numbers, Val becomes Big Sister to an emotionally scarred young girl who bonds with her remarkably fast. The romantic relationship, meanwhile, charts a talky course that forces Val to confront some emotional insecurities instilled by her unsupportive father. Along the way, complex problems find glib solutions-in one instance, a teenage mugger reforms after a single lecture-and all loose ends are neatly tied. Putney's fans will enjoy her smooth prose and likable cast of characters, but the serious social issues she tackles cry out for a more honest treatment.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Move over John Grisham. When high-powered corporate attorney Val Covington receives a million-dollar windfall, she decides to go out on her own to work for genuine justice. Kendra, her talented paralegal, agrees to join her under the condition that she take on a last-ditch effort to prove the innocence of death row inmate Daniel Monroe, who is facing imminent execution. Val finds an excellent investigator (and love interest) in Rob Smith, the owner of the remodeled church she rents for office space, who has his own reasons for fighting against the death penalty. On the road to saving an innocent man, and enriched by her experiences as a Big Sister, Val's life and relationships change dramatically over the course of Putney's well-crafted, suspenseful page-turner. With fully realized characters and a finely designed plot, Putney presents a convincing look at what is right and what is wrong with our system of justice.
Diana Tixier HeraldCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews