JUDGMENT DAY by Sheldon Siegel
Sheldon Siegel has built his career on writing legal thrillers that feature law partners Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez. The last novel to feature them was THE CONFESSION which was published in 2004. So we were well overdue for a new story from him, and it has arrived. JUDGMENT DAY catches up with Mike and Rosie and involves them one of their most dramatic cases yet.
In this story the law firm of Daley and Fernandez takes on the case of Nate Fineman, a man who is sitting on death row. He has been convicted of murder but maintains his innocence. Mike and Rosie are hired to make his final appeal and they are under a strict deadline as his execution is only a week away.
As they work on the case it appears the only way they can help this man is to prove some of the members of the San Francisco Police Department were corrupt. If what Fineman says is true, he was framed by these police officers. Daley’s deceased father was one of the cops who was involved with the case.
On the home front the case has implications too. Daley and Fernandez are great at working together as lawyers, but they couldn’t make a go of it as marriage partners. Still they have a deep love for each other and for their two children. As they delve deeper and deeper into this case they begin to receive threats against themselves and their family. It takes a powerful resolve to soldier on when your family is being threatened.
The book is written as a countdown to the final execution. Time is of the essence and you can almost feel the minutes ticking away thanks to Siegel’s taut writing style. The mere act of the characters driving from one locale to another can burn up precious minutes and add to the dramatic impact of the story.
Siegel knows how Mike and Rosie would act and react to any given situation so he is on sure footing with their aspect of the story. He also shines his brilliance on creating the characters of Nate and other supporting characters. They all come to life on the pages thanks to Siegel’s skills, as do the varying locations where the lead characters travel to work the case.
This is a very exciting and enjoyable story to read. It has suspense and romance in its pages and fills the readers’ every need. If you thought Siegel was good in the past, well hold on he just got better. It has been four years in the making but this is a story worth the wait.
For a fully satisfying read you can’t do better than JUDGMENT DAY. Pick it up and you won’t be able to put it down.
JUDGMENT DAY is published by Macadam Cage. It contains 400 pages and sells for $26.00.