An Innocent Client (Joe Dillard Series)

I enjoyed this book for many reasons. There were several substantial themes interwoven into the story line - legal, thriller and human interest. Each of these was strongly written and there was a good balance among the themes. There was enough descriptive and explanatory writing when it was required without there being too much. This resulted in a pacy novel with good characterisation which evoked sympathy and interest. The whole story was well written so that the words did not grate or get in the way; my interest was held throughout. This was the first book written by Scott Pratt that I have read and I will certainly look for more.

It's always a bit of a gamble when trying an author you haven't read before - however, in this Scott Pratt novel my gamble paid off and I was rewarded with a rather good read. It kept me engaged, the story flowed quite nicely and he didn't do masses of waffle to show how much he knows about the law - I think he got the level of 'factual bits' just right. In my humble opinion, many authors fall into the trap of using a novel to show off their knowledge of a particular topic and forget that the point of a fictional novel is to entertain, not educate - that's what academic text books are for. I've bought his next two Dillard novels and look forward to reading them. I'd certainly recommend having a read of Mr Pratt's books - most enjoyable.

I really enjoyed this book. I admit it first caught my eye because of the coincidence of a shared surname but the reviews were encouraging and so I purchased! I do enjoy a good legal/courtroom drama and was a well thought through and plotted story. This story does not have the grittiness of Joseph Teller's tales but they are just as good as anything by Steve Martini, especially his earlier books. The only real mystery, to me, was the very final page where the author explains that this is a self published book and he'd appreciate a review on Amazon to help promote the books. I am more than happy to do so, my puzzle is why no published has not taken up his books and promoting them in bookshops? They are certainly good enough. I have also read book #2 and have the third ready to read.

First time I'd read this author and when I finished the book I ordered up the next two in the series. Good characterisation and the story line moves along at a reasonable pace. Dillard is a defence lawyer fast becoming disillusioned with defending the guilty and wishes for just one innocent client to come along. He is asked to defend a young runaway charged with the murder of a preacher. Has he finally found his innocent client?

I've never heard of Scott Pratt before choosing a free Kindle book, and now i'm reading a book of his every night! What a cracking series the Joe Dillard books are, i've been hooked from the first sentence. Scott really makes you root for the protaganist and care about him and his family. The characters come to life immediately and there is not page after page of trying to figure out who's who and whether they matter or not. I was surprised at every turn and didn't even guess about the outcomes of several of the stories. Totally recommended reading.

Some readers have made a favourable comparison to John Grisham, I have to say that I feel that comparison is way off the mark. The book is very light on the courtroom action with the outcome very obvious from the early stages of the book. Having said that, I found it an enjoyable read and an admirable first foray into a crowded market. The let down for me was the cliches characters, the defensive lawyer with a heart of gold and a family to match, the corrupt prosecution and police team, irascible judges, a madam straight out Dolly world and an "innocent" defendant who again from an early stage was clearly not all she seemed to be. On the up side Mr Pratt is an entertaining writer with a lot to work with.

Superb. I loved this story and Joe Dillard and his family as well. I have number 4 downloaded already but always read series' stories in their correct order so have number 2 in my wishlist to purchase. If it's anywhere near as good as this one I'll not be disappointed in the least. Because I'm such a picky-arse I won't let him off the hook regarding mistakes because I don't other authors. There were apostrophe errors and the odd missed word too but nothing too horrendous. I do like his dedication the start of the book as well. There were some highly amusing lines throughout despite the serious story which I appreciated along with the-most-bizarre-passage-in-a-book award for "after the cat found the dick" !! I would highly recommend this new author to anyone. Give him a try.

I'm a sucker for legal fiction novels that actually have some points of law in them! I've read and re-read all of Lescroat`s Dismas Hardy books, (the `master' as far as I'm concerned) and was looking around for something similar.) I greatly enjoyed this one by Scott Pratt - the lawyer himself was a character that I could empathise with. An excellent read. I shall read some of his others now. (Came across this writer because of Amazon's 'if you like 'such and such', then you may like this' functionality ... and then by reading the reviews - with the reviews, it's like being part of some huge book group. Very useful.)