A rich, compelling story about a girl's rights with a seedy background of dirty secrets. Samantha usually handles all the drug cases and those related to drugs especially since it was her job when she was back in New York. Drugs leads to hustlers and other petty crimes. But she also works with vice to catch the other monsters lurking the streets."But while I may have lost the prestige of a federal prosecutor's office, I had developed a niche as a part of the vice section of DVD, prosecuting the monsters who lure, coerce, and force women into prostitution. The less-experienced DVD attorneys shied away from those cases because they were hard to prove, hard to win, and hard to take. The career prosecutors who handled the major felony person crimes didn't want them because they were viewed as less important than murders and other violent offenses. But I felt more rewarded by those cases than I'd ever felt prosecuting even complex federal drug conspiracies. Today, however, my plate was full of drug charges. No surprise, the grand jury returned indictments on all four of the cases I presented. Most drug cases are pretty much the same. The only variation tends to be in the type and degree of stupidity involved." I'm positive I gained some serious knowledge of how the court room works and the pace it takes to bring a case to trail. What an eye opener this book was. I believe Alafair Burke and Linda Fairstein rock being advocates for women! Two detectives bring the case to Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid. At first it looked like a murder of a young girl but she was barely alive when the cops arrived after teens found her body in the park. Now it's a case of assault and rape. The detectives think there is an angle to go after and senior DDA in the major crimes unit just wants to pass it off to general."The general felony trial unit is a dumping ground for cases that aren't seen as serious. The trial DDAs often have extremely limited time to spend on them, and the over whelming majority plead out to reduced charges and stipulated sentences during a fast-paced court calendar referred to as 'morning call.' It's the criminal justice system's ugly side. Tim O'Donnell was a senior DDA in the major crimes unit. If he bumped a Major Crimes Team case down to general, he knew it was gone." Samantha Kincaid walked the reader through every step of the crime scene, the detectives working the case and up till it arrived on her door step and then she went the extra mile to fight the fight...."Yeah, well, O'Donnell's mind's not an easy one to change, and I think there's another way to go here because of a vice angle. The victim's a thirteen-year-old prostitute named Kendra Martin. Unlike most of 'em, she doesn't try to look any older. Wears schoolgirl outfits like that one girl used to wear on MTV before she got implants and started running around naked. What's her name? My daughter likes her. Anyway, she looks her age, is my point. Turns out her injuries weren't as bad as they first looked, so the MCT guys know it'll be hard to get attempted murder to stick. But they kept working the case, even after they realized that they could've handed it off to precinct detectives. This case is under their skin."So, these two paragraphs have me all bristled because no woman, teenager or child should suffer from a beating and a rape despite the circumstances such as being a prostitute. Makes my blood boil that some cases are just deemed un-winable across our nation. Something stinks and Samantha decides to take the case and to go for attempted murder. As the case builds: clues are added up and witnesses are gathered... a sinister direction is revealed. An old murder is brought back with new information shedding light that this attempted murder case is similar to a murder that locked up the current prisoners of the crime... committed years ago. Now there are letters being sent to the newspaper office of a killer claiming he has committed these two crimes and much more. He, the Long Hauler, gives very detailed information of what was found at each crime scene. Is there a serial killer taking all the credit now? Will Kendra's rapists get released based off circumstantial evidence? The trial is a bust in a matter of days, but Samantha, undaunted, goes another direction to plead her advocacy in Kendra's case of rape until all the seams are unraveled. Samantha is caught up between greed, a sex scandal, murder and dirty secrets that threaten all who follow its path to the truth. If you are looking for a smart read with witty lines and down to earth characters, pick up this title. Fair warning: the details of the case are harsh and made me sad. Crimes against women need to be stopped and punishments need to be greater. I'm sure Alafair Burke used her expertise and cases from her career as a deputy district attorney in Portland to create such a brilliant first novel in the Kincaid series. I'm excited to get the next two books and then I'll send Ms. Alafair Burke a personal note asking for more of Ms. Kincaid
We happened to have read the second book in this (Asst. District Attorney) Samantha Kinkaid series first, and liked it quite a bit. In “Calls”, debut novel for both the author and Samantha, the pacing, the “voice”, the details, and the plot just seemed a little off. White the story about an assault was later complicated by a similar older case, much of the book kind of dragged along on technicalities – and Samantha’s on-again, off-again, relationship with a detective, unlikely on an active case to begin with, did nothing to inspire or entertain.The Kinkaid tales model Burke’s exact role (and Portland OR location) in real life – so she’s obviously writing about what she knows. However, interestingly, Burke abandoned the Kinkaid set after three tries; and moved along to a currently 5-book NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher set, after the author’s own relocation to the Big Apple. Perhaps we might try one of those police procedurals to see if Ellie is a bit more engaging than Samantha.-----------As a total aside, perhaps our favorite author, Lee Child, once replied to a reader question that the female fictional character he would most like to date is …... drum roll ……. Samantha Kinkaid! Plus Child’s famous leading man Jack Reacher once had a two-night stand with a woman in Portland named …… Samantha. How ‘bout that!
What do You think about Judgment Calls (2004)?
This is a debut novel that is as good as some other authors' later works!! I guess she DID inherit some ability from her father! (James Lee Burke)The writing in this book was tight and riveting...I sat up late trying to get to the end!! I did guess an important plot point about mid-book, but I read LOTS of mysteries, and that is not an unusual occurance. Even though I had a hunch, I wasn't absolutely certain until it played out..and actually began to doubt myself toward the end, only to be vindicated in an unseen manner.This book stars Samantha Kincaid, a deputy district attorney in Portland, Oregon, who works in the Drug and Vice Division. I was interested in the setting, as an aunt of mine lives just outside of Portland, and though I haven't visited many times, I was familiar with a few of the landmarks. (In particular Powell's bookstore, which many on this forum are also probably familiar with!)The back of the book said that the second book in the series was to be published in 2004--I haven't investigated to see whether that has happened or not, or how many more Sam Kincaid books are out there, but they will be on my to-read list if they exist!
—Sfdreams
I really enjoyed this book. I don't usually care for long courtroom scenes in a novel, mostly because I have such a low opinion of lawyers, judges, juries and the legal (not justice) system in general that they just serve to aggravate me and raise my blood pressure. But Samantha Kincaid is such a likeable character, and the descriptions of the inner workings of the court, with all of its failings, were of course so true-to-life (written as they were by someone who really knows what she's talking about), that I thought the amount of courtroom drama was not too high.It's a good, well-written story with an ending I didn't see coming. And I REALLY appreciated the handling of the the Vinnie character. It's always a nice surprise when an author doesn't feel the need to "go there" (I don't want to be specific, but if you read the book you'll know what I mean). I look forward to the further adventures of Samantha and Chuck.
—Heidi
After reading and enjoying Alafair Burke's Long Gone last year, I was intrigued to sample some of her earlier novels.First up is the first entry featuring district attorney Samantha Kincaid, Judgement Calls. As I've said elsewhere, it feels like legal thrillers are a dime a dozen these days, so it's going to take something really interesting or a good twist to make a new one stand out.And while Kincaid is an interesting character and one I'd like to spend more time with, I can't say that Calls is really plowing much new ground. Kincaid is brought in by two detectives to pursue justice in a case where a young girl has allegedly been sexually assaulted. One problem is the girl makes extra money by turning tricks. However, Kincaid quickly uncovers there's something more to the story than meets the eye and before you know it, there's a web of intrigue and suspicion being weaved.The novel has its moments, but there are several moments that Kincaid takes us out of the story by getting too caught up in explaining legal details that don't necessarily have the greatest impact on the story. It feels like Burke wants to show off her knowledge rather have the knowledge come organically from the story.
—Michael
