( 5 reviews )
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Posted: Aug 18 2007
I picked up Premeditated Murder, the first novel by lawyer-author Ed Gaffney, because I'd heard of him through his wife Suzanne Brockmann, one of my favorite romantic suspense authors. Overall I found the book readable and the main characters enjoyable, although the plot of the story ended up being sort of far-fetched and some of the storylines almost totally extraneous. The main plot involves two close friends and law partners, Zack Wilson and Terry Tallach, who take on a nightmare indigent defense case. The perpetrator freely admits to a massacre in which he shot 6 people dead in cold blood, and further admits to carefully planning and preparing to carry it out. He has a reason for his behavior but it is nearly unbelievable--yet it is the only shot the lawyers have at avoiding a near certain guilty verdict and death penalty. Intertwined with this is a tumble of other plots--one involving a likeable US President-by-accident who uncovers a frightening top level government plot, an aspiring investigative reporter in Detroit who is doing her best to figure out another branch of that plot, and a planned terrorist attack on the Fourth of July--that all somehow come together in the murder case. Certain of the storylines, such as one involving a cop and an injured teenager, ended up going nowhere, and others, like the one with the reporter, were sketchy. Their only relevance seems to be in setting up characters for later reappearances. Nevertheless I did find myself turning pages quickly even though I was less than totally satisfied by the end. I did like the main characters well enough to try another Gaffney book, and hope that the potential I see in the pacing, dialogue and likeable characters develops as he continues to write.
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Posted: Jan 22 2006
This is my first review, so I am going to ask that everyone reading this hang tight -- Terry and Zack are two criminal defense attorneys set to defend a coldblooded killing "monster" who admits to killing six college students who turn out to be terriorists. They believe everyone is entitled to a fair trial and take on the seemingly unwinable task of defending their client. Then, much to Zach's uneasy dismay, this monster turns out to be all too human, all too likeable. But is he innocent of murder? The twists and turns throughout this book are interwoven with tales of Zach and Terry's life that allow the reader to see inside and get to know these two goofy good guys. They make the job of defending this killer suddenly take on a different meaning. And make the obvious outcome of this trial for Zach to be totally unacceptable. I would like to see more of Matt & Sammy, the chemistry between them is wonderful. The rest of the plot is sort of convuluted and the reader has to work to keep in mind where the story is going, but he does a great job of tying it all together. For a first time out, it was a home run. I loved it. I can't wait on his next book -- will Zach and Terry be back? I would like also to say thanks to Suzanne Brockmann for mentioning that her husband was writing his first book -- she plugged it in one of her acknowledgements, but Ed Gaffney is the one who hit it out of the park!
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( 2 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 5 2005
This book has exactly four stories that supposedly merge at the end, but: 1) The main story, the terrorists' one is a real thriller and will keep you reading all the time (when you can find this story among the pages of the book.) 2) The story of the journalist is overly long and after reading too many pages that says nothing at all you'll find exactly two paragraphs that are very important to the main story. This means that this story could be written with many less trees. 3) The president's story is good enough but the first two assignments he has to do are worthless and a waste of time. Those you definitely can skip them. 4) The story of the 17 years old drunk kid definitely doesn't have anything to do in this book.
