Abused as a child, Janice Williams became a cop to make a difference. When a vigilante starts killing child abusers, she is tasked with capturing the killer. But the vigilante knows her every move. When Janice uncovers the identity of the vigilante, she is faced with the dilemma to do her job to uphold the law or help this person escape a nation-wide manhunt.
In Defense of Innocence is an unrelenting thriller, dealing with darkest matters. The protagonist Janice has a tough job working in the Child Sex Crimes Division. When she discovers the identity of the vigilante, she is faced with a dilemma. In our generation of superheroes adoration, a vigilante has appeal. The pitch alone had me. The writing and character development made this a memorable read. The suspense and twist and turns kept me turning pages.
Janice Williams’ hunt for pedophiles is more than a job, it is her obsession. But limited by protocol and regulation, she is unable to keep up with a vigilante who vows to avenge children in ways Janice cannot. Now forced to protect those she has convicted, Janice’s resolve is further conflicted when it becomes clear the murderer has an inside connection.
The sensitive topic initially made me unsure about this book, but I loved every minute of this read and highly recommend the novel. The narrative keeps primary focus on Janice’s investigation and the unknown vigilante’s hunt, without treading into uncomfortable ground. It is a commentary about Candandian law and a fantastic turn on a thrilling man-hunt.
Beautifully written, In Defense of Innocence is a wild ride with multiple climaxes that keeps the pages turning. A masterful use of changing narration point-of-view furthers the storytelling and challenges the reader’s allegiance.
Who will you root for, those who enforce the law or the one who accomplishes what the law cannot?
This story follows Inspector Janice Williams of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Child Exploitation Center, who is an Olivia Benson of Law & Order Special Victims Unit type of character as she and her police partners are trying to get to the bottom of cases of child molestation/kidnapping of young children that are missing still.
The story is also somewhat told in an alternating format of an unknown assassin who has decided to seek justice against those who have committed these crimes, previously punished with just a slap on the wrist. I actually found myself rooting for the assassin many a time during this story and GLAD that this person was setting the scales of justice right.
From the beginning, the unknown assassin was well-written and I kept wondering throughout the story who the hell it was, which caused the suspense to build throughout the book.
The action scenes describing the assassin confronting the guilty were written in a way that I could almost see them. In Defense of Innocence was a true page-turner and I was completely engrossed throughout the entire story.
I can almost see this as a movie maybe! It had plenty of action, that’s for sure and characters appeared fleshed-out well and very real with their interactions and relationships with each other. Very believable/feasible.
As an American, I really learned a lot about Canadian law and how their government works in regards to sex-crimes works, particularly how there seemed to be such a callousness towards victims of the First Nation communities of natives. I declare this book a good-read and I will definitely be on the lookout for Dave Wickenden’s next book!