ARC BOOK REVIEW: Mystic Wind by James Barretto

 

Publication Date: September 6, 2022 Format: Kindle Genre:  Legal Thriller

Publisher: Oceanview Publishing Length: 401 pages Buy:  Kindle | Audio

Synopsis

Boston star-prosecutor-turned-corporate-attorney Jack Marino has risen fast and far from his upbringing in the Mystic housing projects. But after he's savagely beaten in retaliation for his work as head of the District Attorney's Urban Gang Unit, he's fired because his powerful boss is running for governor and fears the beating may have shaken Jack's formidable confidence.

Jack lands a plush suite at his father-in-law's mega law firm, making big money practicing corporate law. Although he seemingly has everything—money, privilege, and an heiress for a wife, what he doesn't have is his own self-respect.

When he is given a chance to get back into criminal law—this time as defense counsel in a capital murder case—he finally feels alive again. But to save his client from death row, he'll face a criminal network far more organized and powerful than he could have imagined.

The case will take Jack back to the projects he thought he'd escaped. He'll risk personal and professional ruin, and ultimately his very life, to fight the corrupt forces determined to see his client go down—forces that may have already given absolute immunity to the real killer.

Review: 

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley.com, I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a great book on par with early John Grisham and Scott Turow.  Jack Moreno was a District Attorney prosecuting gang violence, until a violent attack left him with ptsd and a hesitancy in the courtroom. 

After being fired from the District Attorney's office he goes to work for his father in law doing corporate law which is sucking the life out him. His wife, also an attorney is thrilled with his being out of criminal law. Then he receives a call from a judge asking him to take on a criminal case that he can't refuse. 

The legal manipulations after that and the political maneuverings are terrifying in their ambition. Its what happens when people lose sight of what is right and only focus on what will get them elected. It becomes not about the law but about ambition and huge mistakes get made. 

This is a very ambition novel and it reminds me a bit of the The Firm in its twists and turns.  This is definitely an author that I will be keeping an eye on. Well created characters and a great story that really sucks you in.  I wouldn't be surprised to see this turned into either a TV series or a movie at some point in the future. 

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