N Lombardi Jr

This is a sophisticated legal thriller which tantalises you to the end. My first encounter with this author and his style and craft have ensured he is on my 'read more of' list!

Justice Gone is about a homeless war veteran, Jay, who is beaten to death by police for committing no crime at all. When three policemen are shot dead, outraging the community, the police are convinced another war veteran is their man: Donald, a close friend of Jay, so obviously, someone seeking revenge. His counsellor, Dr Tessa Thorpe, knows he's innocent, so she has to place her trust and confidence in lawyer, Nathanial Bodine to prove it: a lawyer who is minutes away from retirement and...blind.

It's a well-structured look into the prejudices against and tolerance of both veterans and police. Lombardi tackles it with skill and the result is a compelling thriller.

This is the first in the Dr Tessa Thorpe thrillers. I'm not actually quite sure why it was a Tessa Thorpe thriller as such. She didn't actually feature that prominently. There were a number of unanswered questions about her past. For instance, why she found herself on the wrong side of the law some years earlier. The lawyer, however, was much, much more interesting as was her co-worker, Casey, in whom I was way, way more interested: a dark and enigmatic character there, without doubt. Though again, where was his background?

I shall look forward to another 'Tessa Thorpe' mystery, but I'd really rather like the blind lawyer and Casey to be in the cast.… (más)

This is a ripped from the headlines novel. It's about police brutality, veterans, PTSD, and homelessness in a story that is made even bigger by the news media. It's about people trying to make a difference despite the feelings of frustration that they feel.

The novel begins with a homeless veteran being beat to death by three police officers. The city officials decide that they will hide the fact that there is a video of the beating and they will protect the police officers. Someone else has a different plan and the three officers are murdered at their homes. A multi-state manhunt is started as they look for Darfield, a black friend of the murdered veteran since they were in combat together. The person with the most knowledge of both men's mental health is Dr. Tessa Thorpe who did psychological counseling for both men. She becomes very involved with the background behind the accusation and helping to find a way to exonerate Darfield. The main trial lawyer is a brilliant blind attorney who has to prove Darfield's innocence and fight against the people and the media who have decided that he is guilty.

This book is very well written and is a good look at issues that are happening today. The characters are very believable and there is real tension throughout the book. When I read a book with a trial in it, I usually skip over the trial information but in this book, I read every word and learned a lot about the justice system. Dr. Tessa is a wonderful caring person and I look forward to future books in this series that involve her.

This is the best legal drama that I've read in a long time and I highly recommend it.… (más)

We seem to be living in a world in which few of us really trust anyone in authority anymore – we are all cynics. Elected officials, law enforcement officers, news media employees, and federal and state bureaucrats have all been accused of pushing personal agendas with little fear of being held accountable for their unethical actions. Those of who grew up in what we want to believe were simpler times are probably more upset by this noxious atmosphere than those born into it during the last couple of decades. They have, after all, known no other world.

Nick Lombardi has been around long enough to see the world for what it is – and having spent half of his life living outside the United States, he has seen it at its worst and at its best. Lombardi’s Justice Gone takes a questioning look at what we call justice these days, a concept that is not nearly as black and white as we naively used to believe that it was. The novel tackles several front-page issues that trouble this country: homelessness, the huge number of broken men and women being produced by America’s endless wars, the perception of racially motivated police brutality, government cover-ups, and out-of-control and unethical government prosecutors and investigators. But don’t let that scare you away because Justice Gone manages to do all of that within the framework of an intriguing legal thriller.

Justice Gone is book one in what Lombardi plans as a series featuring Dr. Tessa Thorpe, a veteran’s counselor in charge of a clinic specializing in helping damaged veterans put their lives back together before it is too late. Tragedy strikes when cops decide to arrest one of Tessa’s patients on the streets for a crime he knows nothing about. Not recognizing the veteran’s confusion and panic for what it really is, the cops viciously beat him to death right in front of a bus station surveillance camera. And when that tape is leaked to YouTube all hell breaks loose.

Another of Tessa’s patients, Iraqi war veteran Donald Darfield, was the dead man’s best friend and because of something that happened in Iraq, he feels responsible for his friend’s life. Donald, though, has plenty of war-related problems of his own, and after viewing the YouTube video he disappears. When three of the policemen responsible for beating his friend to death are themselves murdered, it is inevitable that Donald be charged with the crimes. And this is when Justice Gone becomes a legal thriller.

Lombardi takes his readers through the whole legal process, all the way from jury selection, to evidence and witness gathering, to the legal strategies of both sides. In the process, he creates one of the most interesting defense teams that I’ve run across in a while: a colorful father-daughter team that manages to turn Nathanial Bodine’s physical handicap into a distinct advantage. Mr. Bodine is blind but that doesn’t mean the man can’t see. He has developed his other senses so acutely that he always knows exactly where he is in the courtroom – unless he wants to pretend otherwise for his own reasons. He and Emily have been working together long enough to have their routine so perfectly choreographed that it appears spontaneous to jurors. And it works every time. Any prosecutor underestimating the skills of Nathanial and Emily Bodine is making the mistake of his life.

Bottom Line: Justice Gone is a beautifully set-up legal thriller, and fans of the genre are certain to be entertained by the efforts of the Bodine legal team. While I am curious about what the second Tessa Thorpe novel will offer, I am just as caught up by a wish to see the Bodines in action again. My only quibble with this one is that the book’s “big reveal” seems a little sudden in appearance and resolution considering the length of its buildup… (más)