No Legal Grounds
Bell, a former trial lawyer and Christy Award–winner (Final Witness), offers a disappointing faith suspense story that illustrates this genre's recent preoccupation with sexual violence against women. Attorney Sam Trask has his hands full with his rebellious 17-year-old daughter, Heather, the lead singer of Screech Monk. Nicky Oberlin, a shadowy figure from Sam's college past, shows up unexpectedly, and for reasons that are inexplicable until the closing pages, stalks Sam and his family. More troubles pile up: a dog is poisoned, credit cards are mysteriously maxed out, Sam's law practice suffers, a rattlesnake attacks and a child from out of wedlock is revealed (a stock plot element in Christian fiction).  [...] Awkward prose is scattered throughout (e.g., "the lights of the city illuminating the night sky like forbidden candy"), and Bell relies upon heavy back-to-back dialogue to move the plot along. Readers will want to skip this one.(Apr. 13)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.