Supreme Justice

The three main characters from "Executive Privilege," private investigator Dana Cutler, FBI Agent Keith Evans, and attorney Brad Miller, are back in Supreme Justice. Brad is now working for Supreme Court Justice Felicia Moss. One of the important cases of the session is one regarding a woman charged with killing her lover twice. The first case was thrown out after a jury was selected but the second time, Sarah Woodruff was convicted and put on death row. She is trying to get a new trial based on evidence the government kept out of the trial. Justice Moss wants to give the matter more consideration but one of the justices becomes enraged that she's even considering it. Soon after that, someone attempts to kill her and she's saved by show more Brad.

There are a number of plots and subplots going on that all merge and get tied together at the end. In this case the ending left me hanging a bit. Overall the book was a fast and fun read, especially because I'm a fan of legal based thrillers. While this book can be read as a standalone, there are references to events in the first book. I like the characters and plan to read the next book in the series, Capitol Murder. show less

Fast read; before you can really be too bothered you're just about finished. Nothing makes sense, practically nothing is plausible. It really is an insult. But. Slightly sympathetic characters, slightly interesting locale.

Supreme Justice has a well placed plot with an inventive twist. Margolin's characters are always well crafted, plausible, and sympathetic. I am not so certain that this plot is as plausible as the players.

My concern is that Margolin is slipping down the Patterson path with a serial cast, short chapters, and certain sequels. My primary criticism of Supreme Justice is the set up for the next episode. Margolin gets great credit for not brand naming co-writers.

Many of Margolin's early works were edge of the seat, can't put it down quality fiction. Supreme Justice is more of an oh, here's another one.

A conspiracy surrounding state secrets threatens the life of a Supreme Court Justice and her clerk (the star of an earlier book by Margolin). Aside from the ludicrous premise at the center—a conspiracy involving whether or not the Supreme Court will grant cert on a particular case—the factual minutiae are surprisingly accurate. Too bad they’re delivered, assembly-line style, every couple of pages. Infodumps are hard!

Brad Miller returns as clerk to a Supreme Court Justice. While he is hoping for a return to normalcy, corruption reaches the court and he is asked to quietly look into it with the help of Dana Cutler. As they investigate they find the corruption reaches deep into Washington power circles and their lives become in danger. While not his best, Supreme Justice is a very good political thriller. It has a strong storyline and great characters.

Wow! If this is "not his best," I need to go back and read some of his previous books. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it kept me guessing until the end. The storyline moves quickly and the characters are believable although a lot braver than I would be if found in any of these situations.

I enjoyed it but didn't like the way it jumped around.