A preacher is found brutally murdered in a Tennessee motel room.
A beautiful, mysterious young girl is accused.
In this bestselling debut, criminal defense lawyer Joe Dillard has become jaded over the years as he’s tried to balance his career against his conscience. Savvy but cynical, Dillard wants to quit doing criminal defense, but he can’t resist the chance to represent someone who might … someone who might actually be innocent. His drug-addicted sister has just been released from prison and his mother is succumbing to Alzheimer’s, but Dillard’s commitment to the case never wavers despite the personal troubles and professional demands that threaten to destroy him.
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It may seem irrelevant (or redundant) to recommend a book that has 13,500 Amazon reviews, but I’m revisiting some of the great legal thrillers of the past three decades. Scott Pratt hit the ball out of the park with the first of his Joe Dillard series. Dillard, a Marine vet with a troubled childhood, is a disillusioned criminal defense lawyer who …
I’m inhaling Scott Pratt’s Joe Dillard series.
It started out a little slow, but the story itself was very interesting. Following along and trying to figure out if Angel was innocent or not had me seriously thinking. Joe Dillard was a compelling character who had to deal with a lot in both his personal life and his career.
Trying to end his career as criminal defense attorney and dealing with …
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A smooth, quick read. I was able to see some things coming but there was that one last twist at the end…
Not a lot of distracting formatting errors, either.
I bought this book on a whim and I’m glad I did. A fan of the genre, Scott Pratt introduces Joe Dillard–a likeable, flawed, stand-up guy–and an defense attorney practicing in Tennessee. Joe is weary of defending people who are invariably guilty, but is drawn into a new case with a client who looks guilty from the start.
The plotting is quick, the …
Joe Dillard was a criminal defense attorney who didn’t like his job. Never did. His plans after law school were to work in the District Attorney’s office as a prosecutor. The problem, the pay didn’t line up with the time and cost of the education required to practice law.
The only choice was to open a law firm. He did with a promise to himself …
A courtroom lawyer who always enjoys a good legal thriller, I just read my first Joe Dillard novel. It won’t be my last. AN INNOCENT CLIENT was very realistic, very down to earth, and very entertaining. I highly recommend it to all who enjoy the legal genre. The only spoiler here is that you’re in for a great read! Nothing innocent about AN …
This was my first Scott Pratt novel, and I will continue to read the whole series in the Joe Dillard Series and then get into his Darren Street series and his stand-alone books.
I was completely taken in by the first one. Besides the fact that it’s an engrossing page-turner, I really like the way each chapter picks up where the last left off. You …
Joe Dillard, a defense attorney, has spent his years as a lawyer defending the worst criminals. He isn’t well liked among the police and the judges but someone has to defend these people. Joe is ready to get out of being a lawyer when a woman approaches him about a case. A preacher has been killed and a young lady that works for her has been …
Good page turner, fast moving mystery, lots of surprises.
Love the twist and turns!!
This was a fun read with a likable main character you can admire.
The story pulled me in from the beginning, but I struggled to keep reading as the story went on for a few reasons that basically come down to personal preference. I am not a mystery genre aficionado, but for comparison, I much prefer the work of Robert Dugoni to this particular type of mystery. I do enjoy a good police/law show, and would’ve …
Scott Pratt has written a diverting legal mystery. He develops his characters well by detailing their past and present. The scene is set well with artful description. His plot is intricately woven. The ending is unexpected.
I enjoyed how the main character had several different clients. We got to see their stories without having to read a whole book on each one. I imagined how much time and energy each one would require, what a workload. This was a good read with interesting characters and it held my interest, I couldn’t put it down.
The Joe Dillard series is one of my favorites. The author creates Joe as someone you would like to know and easy to care about. Each book in the series immerses you in an absorbing tale of Joe fighting for truth and justice. Love the series.