Hi lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host N.
Lombardi Jr. and his new book, “Justice Gone”!
For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click
on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the
end of this post to enter to win a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Nick
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
Justice
Gone
by N.
Lombardi Jr.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Thriller (Legal)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
When
a homeless war veteran is beaten to death by the police, stormy protests ensue,
engulfing a small New Jersey town. Soon after, three cops are gunned down.
A
multi-state manhunt is underway for a cop killer on the loose. And Dr. Tessa
Thorpe, a veteran's counselor, is caught up in the chase.
Donald
Darfield, an African-American Iraqi war vet, war-time buddy of the beaten man,
and one of Tessa's patients, is holed up in a mountain cabin. Tessa, acting on
instinct, sets off to find him, but the swarm of law enforcement officers gets there
first, leading to Darfield's dramatic capture.
Now,
the only people separating him from the lethal needle of state justice are
Tessa and ageing blind lawyer, Nathaniel Bodine. Can they untangle the web
tightening around Darfield in time, when the press and the justice system are
baying for revenge?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT ONE:
Justice Gone
In memory of Kelly
Thomas, who was beaten to death by members of the Fullerton Police Department
on July 5, 2011.
Chapter 1
Bruntfield,
New Jersey, just another banal town in a part of the country that nobody thinks
about, was about to become famous; or rather, more aptly put, infamous. People
sauntered past lackluster shops unaware that in a few days, the lackadaisical
streets would bear the rabid frustrations that divided the nation; a pus-like
bitterness that was held in check by the demands of everyday survival and the
distractions offered by obsessive consumerism and brazen media.
Some
would inevitably blame the cascade of events on the weather, since the origins
could be found on a hot summer day in 2006. Sure, just about all summer days
are hot, but this one was close to the record, and humid to boot. By the end of
July, the Northeast coast was suffering under a sweltering heat wave. Despite
the humidity, no one could remember the last time it had rained. A hundred-year
drought was predicted, they’d said.
Bruntfield,
among the many places under this curse, had its water supply so severely
depressed that the city authorities were forced to impose water rationing. As
if that wasn’t enough, the excessive load on air conditioners led to incessant
brownouts. With the weather nothing less than insufferable, suffocating,
oppressive, even provoking, tempers flared along with the temperature. But the
local situation, as bad as it was, was about to get worse.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MY BOOK REVIEW:
This book was such an intriguing, suspenseful, thriller read
that is truly ripped straight from the headlines!
This book is thought-provoking, compelling, well-researched,
with complex characters, elaborate plot points, and touches on multiple topics
including real-world issues.
I found myself thoroughly invested in the storyline and totally
caught up with the character’s outcomes.
This
book hit on one of America’s toughest tragedies that we are still working
through today – the homeless population, especially that of our war vets vs.
the police. It’s a very ugly battle and
this book spares no detail on its case featuring this particular dilemma.
I
liked the main characters, Dr. Tessa Thorpe, Donald Darfield, and his
brilliant, witty lawyer, Nathaniel Bodine.
It was not hard not to get wrapped up and invested in these characters,
especially that of Donald and wanting to make sure he is treated fairly, and
that the actual guilty person goes to jail not just the convenient or most
obvious person. I enjoyed the feisty
lawyer, Mr. Bodine. I was curious to see
what he had up his sleeve next. I couldn’t
help but wonder if him being blind was a play on justice. I liked Tessa, but I wanted more from
her. I felt she could be this strong,
fierce character and I am hoping in her upcoming books she takes on a more
powerful role.
I
really like that this book takes real-life issues head on and allows the reader
to easily connect with the characters and explore their take on the case. This would be a great book for book club as
it would easily spark over many intriguing debate topics!
This book has a great storyline that flows, terrific writing
style with detailed scenes, well-developed characters, is fast paced, and keeps
you completely entertained through the last page.
I
really liked the in-depth amount of research the author did while constructing
this book. It was clear Mr. Lombardi Jr.
was very familiar and well-versed on criminal procedures, legal procedures, war
veteran disabilities, mental health difficulties, PTSD, police brutality cases,
mass media, etc. The author provided so
much detail and such vivid descriptions it made the scenes easy to picture.
There are some
predictable scenes. However, there are
still a few very unexpected twists and turns that you won’t see coming!
I
enjoy police procedural books and I have to say this book did seem to fall into
that genre too, while still staying true to its legal thriller category. Since this book spends almost half of its
pages inside the courthouse there is still quite a bit of legal jargon, but
thankfully it’s done in an entertaining, tasteful, and understandable fashion,
and without being overly dumbed down.
Warning! There are some very intense, graphic detail scenes in this
book. I have to admit it was a bit hard
to read some of those passages, as they were quite dark, and I’ll be honest I
did skim past a few of those lines here and there.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book and would
absolutely recommend it! I think all
legal thriller, mystery, suspense, police procedural readers will like this
book too! So, add it to your TBR List
and get to reading - you won't be disappointed!
**Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an
honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations.**
If so, please, please, please mark it as helpful on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R1HN1579KU7V3P
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
N. Lombardi Jr, the
N for Nicholas, has spent over half his life in Africa, Asia, and the Middle
East, working as a groundwater geologist. Nick can speak five languages:
Swahili, Thai, Lao, Chinese, and Khmer (Cambodian).
In
1997, while visiting Lao People's Democratic Republic, he witnessed the
remnants of a secret war that had been waged for nine years, among which were
children wounded from leftover cluster bombs. Driven by what he saw, he worked
on The Plain of Jars for the next eight years.
Nick
maintains a website with content that spans most aspects of the novel: The
Secret War, Laotian culture, Buddhism etc. http://plainofjars.net.
His
second novel, Journey Towards a Falling Sun, is set in the wild frontier of
northern Kenya.
His
latest novel, Justice Gone was inspired by the fatal beating of a homeless man
by police.
Nick
now lives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH NICK:
Website:
Email:
nick@plainofjars.net
Facebook:
BookBub Book Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Amazon UK eBook:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
Kobo eBook:
Apple iBooks eBook:
Google Play eBook:
The Book Depository Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million eBook:
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
Waterstones Paperback:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Nick will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to
a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this
blog. This does not cost you anything,
it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Nick ~ Good morning! Welcome back! It is so great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Ally - Yes, back so soon. I want to thank you for all your support
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteHow did you come up with name of the book?
ReplyDeleteHi Bernie
DeleteIt's from a line in the story "Justice gone to hell" I just shortened it.
This book looks like a winner!
ReplyDeleteHi Bernie
ReplyDeleteIt's from a line in the story "Justice gone to hell" I just shortened it.
The book sounds really great.
ReplyDeleteWow! Congratulations on publishing a book tackling some tough and painful issues. I'm always planning to write a book that probes these deepest sorts of issues but haven't quite gotten there yet. My new novel, Joy After Noon, (I stumbled upon yours when I was checking mine for comments) does tackle challenging stuff like dealing with step-children and the shadow of the perfect first wife, now deceased. So maybe my "deep" is just a different kind of depth. Anyway, sounds intriguing. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete