“One of the year’s best legal thrillers. Fans of Scott Pratt and Lisa Scottoline may find a new favorite author in Ron Barak.” –Best Thrillers Magazine“This novel should come with a warning: addictive reading ahead. It’s as good a legal thriller as I’ve read this year.” – John Lescroart, author of a dozen New York Times bestselling novels” THE AMENDMENT KILLER is a high-speed, tense political … AMENDMENT KILLER is a high-speed, tense political thriller about one of today’s most fundamental issues, the integrity of our Supreme Court.” – Andrew Gross, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The One Man
” Ron Barak is a writer to watch.” – Anthony Franze, author of The Outsider
“Barak matches Grisham step for step. He had me turning the pages of THE AMENDMENT KILLER from the first page to the last. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.” -Dennis DeConcini, United States Senator, Ret
“A legal thriller with a tense drama where the stability of the government hangs in the balance. It’s timely, tense, and a perfect read in these uncertain times.” -John M. Murray (Foreword Reviews)
“WE HAVE YOUR GRANDDAUGHTER. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO.”
That’s the text message Supreme Court Justice Arnold Hirschfeld receives as hearings commence in the U.S. Supreme Court to determine the fate of the 28th Amendment – enacted to criminalize abuse of power on the part of our political representatives.
In court to defend the amendment, retired U.S. District Court Judge Cyrus Brooks observes his old friend and law school classmate Hirschfeld acting strangely and dispatches veteran D.C. homicide detective Frank Lotello to find out why.
In the meantime, Hirschfeld’s precocious and feisty 11-year-old diabetic granddaughter Cassie, brutally kidnapped to control her grandfather’s swing vote upholding or invalidating the amendment, watches her insulin pump running dry and wonders which poses her greatest threat, the kidnappers or the clock. As Brooks is forced to choose between saving our nation or saving the girl.
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A Constitutional Thriller
I received a request to read and review this novel. Having accepted similar requests, I was pleasantly surprised to discover The Amendment Killer is an excellent novel.
A good novel does not violate the laws of chemistry, physics or logic; the author writes about what he or she knows or finds an expert to vet the work and make sure it is factual; and the story educates the reader. The Amendment Killer meets all of these criteria and is an intriguing well-written story.
Actually the story has two components: Constitutional arguments before the Supreme Court and the kidnapping of an eleven-year-old girl. I was fascinated by the legal arguments and description of how the Supreme Court functions. Article V of the Constitution provides the procedures for amending the Constitution—but what does it really say. Ah, this is the foundation of this novel.
A citizens group, NoPoli, convenes a Constitutional Convention and passes the 28th Amendment, but is such a convention Constitutional according to Article V? The House sues to declare the amendment unconstitutional and the Supreme Court must decide. After reading Article V several times I find the arguments presented both thought provoking and realistic. And the kidnapping element of the story is also well done.
Really enjoyed the book and the way the characters’ personalities were uncovered throughout the book.
Too much legalistic language
Very entertaining.
While the concept of kidnapping a child to force a beloved relative to perform an action that will benefit the kidnapper, is fairly common in crime novels of today, the author “tweaks” his antagonist’s psyche, and bends (but does not break) the reader’s sense of fairness and ultimate justice. One never loses sight of the fact that kidnapping a child is a reprehensible and cowardly act… BUT… Mr. Barak paints a picture of a man who has been unfairly used and shunned by his “comrades in arms” and wants nothing more than to prove his loyalty to them! You need to read this book! Don’t allow yourself to get frightened away by the “legalese”, the author slices through Supreme Court jargon like it’s warm butter! This is a very enjoyable novel!
Unrealistic
Scary premise and much too close to a possible real-life scenario. The flow of the plot is well-paced, the characters mostly believable, albeit at times incredibly foolish and for the young girl, beyond my personal litmus for reality in this context. The 28th Amendment premise at issue is one I find personally unrealistic and virtually impossible to administer with way too many lawyers speak wiggle words, but then that isn’t really the main event for the story. Tossing aside too much practical stuff and allowing literary freedom, this book is works and well worth a read.
Engaging… But historical error, Nixon wasn’t impeached.
A little far-fetched, but a good read if you put that part aside. Nothing like a good conspiracy to keep you turning pages.
This was my first book by author Ron Barak and all I can say is “Why didn’t I find out about him sooner”. I love thriller/mystery books but add in all the legal stuff and courtroom drama and I’m hooked. The author was so great at explaining what was going on in the Supreme Court that I believe I learned a little bit as well. He’s writing was great and had you jumping back and forth between different characters and scenes. The characters were all well written, each with such different personalities. After reading the book, I took a pause and said “yep this really could happen”.
The story is about the fate of the 28th Amendment with a group who wants it gone so files suit with the Supreme Court. One of the highly respected Judges, Arnold Hirschfeld, gets a text message staying they have is granddaughter and wants to make sure the Judge votes the kidnappers way. The story goes through a lot of drama of the poor 11 year old girl who also unfortunately has diabetics. I think she is the hero of the story on how calm she stayed during the entire time she was kidnapped. A retired district court judge also starts to wonder why Judge Hirschfeld is saying things different that what he thinks he should be saying during the proceedings and begins to suspect something was up. So along the way Detective Frank Lotello is asked to find out what was happening. During the entire book, people were starting to wonder why Judge Hirschfeld is acting the way he was but no one was to know what really was happening in his family. The story goes on between the kidnapper, the Judge, the POTUS, the newscaster women and a few others. It is so well written and I think true to life that you start to think this really could happen.
Bottom line for me is this is not the only book I’m going to read by author Ron Barak. Look out John Grishman, Mr. Barak is great!
An unusual plot, a story that could actually happen, tho I doubt the 28th amendment as described in the book could ever happen. I enjoyed it.
I read The Amendment Killer today and coincidentally tonight I attended speaking tour event of John Dunne from Ireland. Mr Dunne’s talk: “if we want government to do less-> then we have responsibility to do more,” really drove home the points that Ronald Barack made in his novel. In America it is ‘we, the people’ that are empowered by the Constitution; as opposed to some countries where government empowers the few. Ultimately, when the Supreme Court is under attack in The Amendment Killer, and also the right of the people to take responsibility-> the Court rallys, as it grapples with the issue of the people’s right to amend the Constitution. The Amendment Killer is not just a well written, entertaining read-> but also provides a civics lesson.
A child kidnapping story, but without all the horrible parts those usually involve. This is a relatively benign mystery story and not a bad read, but nothing too great, either. Everything centers on putting pressure on a Supreme Court Justice, and there is some credibility to the plot given how crazy the world has become, but there are also a lot of coincidences that stretch credulity too far for the story to be a four-star read or better. Nevertheless, it lacks the excessive violence, crudity, and sex that are often used as substitutes for ideas, so I’ll give it credit there. I don’t have problems with hard-boiled stories as long as the tough parts truly serve the story. In this case, we have nothing hard-boiled, however. It is a bit Pollyanna-ish, but that isn’t always a bad thing, The young kidnapped girl does a good job of taking care of herself in difficult circumstances, including handling her diabetes. This could possibly be a Young Adult novel with supervision- read it first and decide. The idea is planted that the child will be killed, but the kidnapper falls for her a bit in an avuncular way, and things work out for the best.
Good read. Kept your interest
The ending was different than I expected.
slow, unbelievable plot and characters
The book’s premise is not at all believable. I couldn’t even finish it, it was so badly written.
The Amendment Killer – There’s pages of advanced previews before the reader even gets to the table of contents, not something I care about reading. I was glad to see the Epigraphs, which I have always found these interesting. The author takes care to introduce history of The Constitution and The Amendments, which I’m not even sure is being taught in our schools anymore. Mr. Barak shares information, not only to make the story flow smoothly, on a variety of subjects that helps the uninformed reader understand what they are reading.
This is a well written, intriguing, fast paced, substantial book. It keeps the reader’s attention until the end, making it hard to put the book down, even for another cup of coffee. This is my type of book, and I found it thoroughly enjoyable, mesmerizing and truthful. The characters run the gamut on characteristic traits, some more developed than others; and their actions and emotions involves the reader, provoking a gamut of responses to the story. The twisting plot never loses the reader’s attention. If you remember the first time you saw Die Hard in the theater and how you verbally reacted throughout the movie, you understand what I’m trying to explain. Or for the younger crowd, The Shooter or The Accountant.
The author’s writing style and presentation makes him an author of future interest. If you like Grisham, De Mille, Baldacci and company, you’ll like this author just as much as I do. I recommend this book and author highly. 5*
It was ok but I got lost in a lot of the lawyer language and “bad guy’s mindset”. Unlike some books, I didn’t mind having to put it down to do something else.. I’ve read much better!
Did not enjoy the book. Didn’t finish it.