The Sentence: The gripping provocative new legal thriller for 2023 from the author of VOX
£7.60
The gripping new thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling phenomenon, VOX
‘Shocking, emotive, urgent and original’ Chris Whitaker
’A non-stop thrill ride’ Jeffery Deaver
’Queen of the “what if” thriller. Unflinching, unguessable and unputdownable’ Simon Lelic
’Thrilling, topical and timely … I ripped through this in a few days’ Louise Swanson
’Provocative, inventive and compulsively page-turning’ David Koepp
The one decision you can’t take back
Prosecutor, Justine Boucher has only asked for the death penalty once, in a brutal murder case.
In doing so, she put her own life on the line. Because, if the convicted are later found innocent, the lawyer who requested the execution will be sentenced to death.
Justine had no doubt that the man she sent to the chair was guilty.
Until now.
Presented with evidence that could prove his innocence, Justine must find out the truth before anyone else does.
Her life depends on it.
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by Vicky Young
Compared to her other books, this really wasn’t as interesting. The ending was a little disappointing for me.
by ClareR
I mostly enjoyed this book, however found the actions of Justine at the end of the book a little unbelievable, still worthy of a read! Due to a new law in her state, any lawyer who asks for the Death Penalty will be expected to take the punishment themselves if the person on Death Row is subsequently found innocent. The prosecutor in this case Justine, decides to take on a case after her husband dies, but she is in the throws of horrendous grief. Despite prior to her husbands death she was against the death penalty and was actually highly visable in a group trying to abolish it. She is sure she has the right man. She gets her conviction, but is it a straight forward as the evidence presented?
by read-along-with-sue
Christina Dalcher really does write a good dystopian thriller! This time, the US government has decided that the way to end capital punishment is to make the prosecutors responsible for any miscarriages of justice pay with their own lives. So if an innocent person goes to the electric chair, the prosecutor will follow them – and all without a trial. That trial already happened when the wrong person was deemed guilty.
This is such a tense read! Justine Boucher had always campaigned against the death sentence, but when her husband is brutally murdered, she is given a case where the person on trial appears to be guilty without question. But as time goes on, and Justine asks more questions, it begins to look as though there is more to the ‘guilty’ mans case. The parts from Jake Milford’s (the prisoner waiting on death row) diary entries are heartbreaking.
This throws up the question of just who is this State Remedies Act for? It still satiates the need for blood, for someone to pay with their life for the life that’s been taken. Ok, in my opinion, this is why a death penalty will never work. How can we always be 100 percent sure that someone is guilty? Is it worth killing the majority if one innocent person slips through the safety net?
It was interesting to read how Justine had gone from being a member of Vita with her husband, campaigning for the abolishment of the death penalty, to making sure that the man she was prosecuting was killed. I think this proved that once you put a human with all of their emotions and opinions in to the equation, it will always be nigh-on impossible to have an impartial verdict.
This is a really tense read, and the fact that we never really know how it ends was the icing on the cake for me – frustrating, but oh so good. It certainly leaves the reader with a lot to think about.
by Dawn
????3.75⭐️
This is my first book by this author. Read by Laurel Kefkow and Greg Locket the narrators do a good job.
It has a speculative feel. Here the legal system in the US has been revamped. The Prosecutor in the case can ask for the death penalty, but if after execution the person is subsequently found innocent the Prosecutor pays the price with their own life.
Justine Boucher only asked for the death penalty once, but what if she was wrong.
I found the premise of the story very intriguing and original.
Justine is the main narrator we also hear from death row inmate Jake. It moves between the past and the present. I found the past scenarios of Justine boring, although it identified her early thought processes and beliefs, but they were heavy going.
The tone is very anti capital punishment, and manages to incorporate some of the horror stories surrounding the different methods of execution. To be honest it doesn’t need those. The argument is about whether capital punishment it’s self, not the mechanics of it which it goes into quite a lot of depth about. It also brings in another prosecutor going through the process of the Remedies act.
It explores the complexities of people, what affects their thoughts and behaviours, and varying shades of right and wrong bringing in the question of justifiable homicide. This was the element that I enjoyed the most.
It tries to cover a lot, and it affects the pace which is slow throughout. It feels longer than the 336 pages.
If you like good clean clear endings which I do, you’re going to be disappointed with this ending.
My overall thoughts I liked the premise, I enjoyed listening, there was enough going on. I liked the inclusion of the convicts POV. I didn’t like one of the paths that the story took, and I wasn’t a fan of the ending. It’s worth a read/ listen if you enjoy death row stories.
by read-along-with-sue
Not a read I was expecting it to be like.
I’d put this under Legal Thriller (I don’t have a shelf for that on Goodreads!)so I’ll leave it at the selection I’ve made already and it’s sort around that area Genre wise.
It’s a very good plot. I liked it a lot.
It left me thinking of the Laws of the land around Moral laws which are two different things.
It’s bit like A life for a life….type of thing. If you sentence someone to execution/death because you are sure they are guilty then later you find out you were wrong but now if anyone else finds out…..well you’re literally on the chopping block yourself for getting it wrong!
A Life for a Life.
The ending of the book was a surprise and in my eyes somewhat hypocritical…..however, the writing was good, the author and narrator (I listened to this) had my attention so I’ve given it a favourable 4* as it made me think long after I finished reading it.
So if you like books with dilemmas, morality of decisions, two sides to every story…..why not chose this one?