Overview
Los Angeles D.A. Rachel Knight is a tenacious, wise-cracking, and fiercely intelligent prosecutor in the city's most elite division. When her colleague, Jake, is found dead at a grisly crime scene, Rachel is shaken to the core. She must take over his toughest case: the assault of a young woman from a prominent family.
But she can't stop herself from digging deeper into Jake's death, a decision that exposes a world of power and violence and will have her risking her reputation—and her life—to find the truth.
With her tremendous expertise in the nuances of L.A. courts and crime, and with a vibrant ensemble cast of characters, Marcia Clark combines intimate detail, riotous humor, and visceral action in a debut thriller that marks the launch of a major new figure on the crime-writing scene.
Synopsis
Los Angeles D.A. Rachel Knight is a tenacious, wise-cracking, and fiercely intelligent prosecutor in the city's most elite division. When her colleague, Jake, is found dead at a grisly crime scene, Rachel is shaken to the core. She must take over his toughest case: the assault of a young woman from a prominent family.But she can't stop herself from digging deeper into Jake's death, a decision that exposes a world of power and violence and will have her risking her reputation--and her life--to find the truth.
With her tremendous expertise in the nuances of L.A. courts and crime, and with a vibrant ensemble cast of characters, Marcia Clark combines intimate detail, riotous humor, and visceral action in a debut thriller that marks the launch of a major new figure on the crime-writing scene.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Clark, the lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson trial, makes a triumphant fiction debut that catapults her to the same level as Linda Fairstein, her fellow assistant DA turned legal thriller novelist. Clark's alter ego, L.A. deputy DA Rachel Knight, suffers a shocking loss when a close colleague is suspected of committing a murder-suicide. Unable to reconcile her view of the accused with the official investigation, Knight persists in digging on her own, even though her office has been recused from the case. The workaholic also has her hands full with a case she inherited from the dead prosecutor—the rape of a 15-year-old girl, Susan Densmore, whose doctor father, a prominent financial backer of Knight's boss, is convinced that he knows who the assailant is. Clark (Without a Doubt with Teresa Carpenter) deftly handles the multiple plot lines. Readers will want to see a lot more of Knight, who combines strength of character and compassion with all-too-human foibles. (Apr.)The Daily Beast
Marcia Clark, the lead prosecutor on the O. J. Simpson murder case, takes us inside the legal world of Los Angeles in her exciting first novel.... Combining great storytelling with her expert knowledge of the Los Angeles legal system, Clark crafts a thrilling debut.Michele Leber
A remarkably accomplished debut novel.... Clark offers a real page-turner here, with smart, fast-moving prose; a skillfully constructed plot; and a protagonist well worth knowing...A top-notch legal thriller that will leave readers wanting more.— Booklist
Wendy Witherspoon
There's a new voice in L.A. crime fiction...the plot races along, and Clark adds just enough smart lawyer talk to keep us edified. It's sure to satisfy Law & Order fans.— Los Angeles Magazine
Joyce Saenz Harris
If you love Los Angeles murder mysteries — sunny Southland noir drawn with unsentimental wit and panache — then you're probably still in mourning for writer Stephen J. Cannell, whose untimely passing last year left a gap on the genre's bookshelves. However, a possible successor to the Cannell crown has arisen in the unlikely form of Marcia Clark. Yes, that Marcia Clark, the former LA deputy district attorney who was lead prosecutor on the O.J. Simpson murder case. Who knew this dame could spin a good, page-turning yarn? But she can. Our prediction is that Clark has a future in popular fiction, one spelled S-E-Q-U-E-L-S.— Dallas Morning News
Ellen Shapiro
Brainy, resolute, a bit wardrobe-challenged: DA Rachel Knight seems a lot like author Clark, who was lead prosecutor in the OJ Simpson murder trial. But the shoptalk here has more panache than its real-life version as Knight and her buddies - a fellow prosecutor and an LAPD detective - play the angles to clear a colleague suspected of a murder-suicide. Clark's plot is gritty and intriguing, but it's the hilariously potty-mouthed characters that make this debut thrill sing. 3-1/2 stars— People
Library Journal
Clark is the former Los Angeles district attorney who cowrote Without a Doubt, a best-selling nonfiction account of the O.J. Simpson trial that she prosecuted. Her fiction debut introduces Rachel Knight, a prosecutor in the Special Trials section of the L.A. DA's office. Knight is shocked to discover that one of the victims in a seedy motel slaying is her colleague Jake Pahlmeyer. When the FBI treats the crime as a murder-suicide and casts Jake in the role of murderer, Rachel is compelled to investigate further. At the same time, she is assigned one of Jake's unfinished cases involving the rape of the daughter of one of the DA's most generous supporters. Both investigations have the potential to end her career and possibly her life. VERDICT Rachel Knight is a heroine along the lines of V.I. Warshawski and Kinsey Millhone. Employing a quick and humorous writing style, not to mention surprising plot twists, Clark most likely has another best seller on her hands. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/10.]—Lisa O'Hara, Univ. of Manitoba Libs., WinnipegKirkus Reviews
A corker of a debut novel in which a brainy, plucky female prosecutor refuses to rush to judgment.
A 15-year-old girl is raped. The Latino boy she'd been tutoring is the sole suspect. She's rich, the daughter of Frank Densmore, a prominent member of the medical profession. He's poor, a prominent member of the Sylmar Sevens, an L.A. street gang. Actually, Luis Revelo isn't all that poor thanks to modest but steady profits from various sorts of petty larceny. Still, it's the street-gang part that matters. Since he happened to be in the vicinity at the time of the crime, and since he is who he is, it's clear—to most of the cop brass, as well as to arrogant, self-important Dr. Densmore—that Luis is their perp. ADA Rachel Knight begs to differ—as does her close friend LAPD Detective Bailey Keller. Savvy women that they are, both see go-slow signs. To begin with, Susan, the victim, simply won't identify Luis as her molester. It was dark, she was terrified, but it isn't Luis, she insists, who put the pillow over her head. The fact that Dr. Densmore insists that it is does little to persuade since neither Rachel nor Bailey react positively to arrogance and self-importance. Meanwhile, closer to home, there's an equally bedeviling case, the murder of a friend and associate. Here, too—because they're forced to unsettle certain folks in high places—Rachel and Bailey, careers on the line, proceed with caution.
That the novel is marked by authenticity is no surprise given Clark's credentials—she was, after all, lead prosecutor in the headline-grabbing O.J. Simpson trial—but what may surprise some readers is the quality of the writing, plus the considerable charm of Rachel and her buddies.