Hey, 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 $10 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: Legal Thriller
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
WINNER OF THREE AWARDS
2019 AMERICAN FICTION AWARD
NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCY AWARD - Best Legal Thriller OF 2019
SILVER MEDAL WINNER 2019 READERS' FAVORITES AWARDS
Chosen by
Wiki.ezvid.com among their list of 10 Gripping and Intelligent Legal Thrillers
The
courtroom scenes are wonderfully written...the characters are well described
and the author paints a picture of each in the mind of the reader...Strong
plot, strong characters and a strong writing style that I really enjoyed. This
one is a definite "thumbs-up." Strongly recommend! I look forward to
reading additional works by N. Lombardi, Jr.
~
Kim M Aalaie, Author's Den
One
of my favorite suspense novels of the year. It will make you question the legal
system.
~
The Eclectic Review
The
courtroom action is excellent, trimmed to the most gripping parts of the trial,
with plenty of emotional impact...a fairly realistic portrayal of the way
small-town US society works...a fast-moving story with plenty of dramatic
moments, and a big twist in the final pages.
~
Crime Review
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 THREE:
“Mr.
Bodine, I’m Hamilton Fiske, deputy district attorney. I’ll be prosecuting this
case.”
“Didn’t
we meet last year at the meeting of the New Jersey Bar Association?” Bodine
asked, as his daughter collected their papers and put them in their briefcase.
“Yes,
I believe we did.”
“Thought
so. I never forget a voice.”
That
comment threw Fiske off-center for a moment. “I just wanted to, well, shake
hands so to speak, before we come out fighting.”
“Is
your hand out there in the air, waiting for mine? Cause if it is, you can put
it back wherever you had it. I don’t shake hands these days. And while you’re
at it, you can remove that smug smile off your face. I don’t have to see it, I
can tell by your tone. You’ve already pissed me off, and this is just the
arraignment. So I’m not exactly in a gentlemanly mood. And if you try to set up
my client by having him mingle with the others, there’ll be hell to pay.
Getting my drift, son?”
Fighting
words for sure, but the word that provoked Fiske the most was the condescending
“son,” just as Bodine had figured it would. “Is that a threat, Mr. Bodine?”
Emily
tugged at her father’s arm with the covert message that he quit this repartee.
He turned to leave, but not before saying, “No, Mr. Fiske, just a consequence.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.**
Did you find this review helpful?
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:
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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 $10 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.**
Nick ~ Good morning! Welcome back! It is so great to have you here again! Congrats on all your exciting awards and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Ally, for such an elaborate post and your enthusiastic review
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI've read this book. It truly deserved all the awards
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading thrillers!
ReplyDeleteGreat cover.
ReplyDelete